🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

inDrive ads could top $150 million a year if it matches Uber per-user ad revenue

• Uber hit a $1.5 billion annual ad run rate by Q1 2025, using 156 million Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MAPCs) in Q2 2024 as a proxy for roughly $10 per user each year 12.
• If inDrive nears that per-user level on a slice of its 360 million downloads across 48 countries, ads could bring in $150-300 million a year, with results tied to active users and ad load 3.
• Journey Ads on Uber post a 3% click-through rate and a $45 cost per thousand impressions (ad views) 4. Tests at inDrive produced hundreds of millions of impressions in mid-2025, and global consumer brands plus banks bought in, which signals demand in emerging markets where inDrive is strongest 3.

Programmatic ad platforms and demand-side platforms (DSPs) could tap inDrive if self-serve tools appear

• In Europe, Uber opened programmatic access to Journey Ads via Google’s Display & Video 360 (DV360, Google’s ad-buying software) and The Trade Desk (a major independent ad-buying platform) 1. That lets marketers buy at scale without a direct sales relationship 1.
• Ad tech firms plus demand-side platforms (DSPs) should check if inDrive offers programmatic integration or a self-serve portal (tools that let advertisers purchase ads directly) 3. Marketers focused on emerging regions can gain an early edge by setting direct partnerships and testing placements in Pakistan or Latin America, with nearly 40% year-over-year (YoY) ride volume gains in Pakistan 3.