Uber Zero

Seldom, if ever at all, have I read such a long, elaborate and so well thought-out post about something — like Uber Zero — that doesn’t make any sense at all.

Free, ad-supported Uber rides are inevitable, and if Uber doesn’t do them, a different competitor – perhaps Google! – will do it.

To which my only counter-question is: What is it, 1998 all over again?

There are three aspects of this post that trouble me. The first is: what’s wrong with actually paying for a service? Why does everything always have to be paid for by somebody else (by an advertiser)? The second is: what kind of ads would they show me? Ads for a new car, for example? But why should I pay for a new car when I can get a nice one plus a chauffeur for free? And why can’t I get the car for free as well, while advertising something else? Where does the nonsense stop? And the third: doesn’t advertising work when the cost of adding one more ad is basically zero and all profit? Think newspapers, television, Google, Facebook etc. In this case, every ride costs on average 20 bucks. Which means the CPM would be 20,000 USD. What kind of luxury product can spend that kind of money in ads? Worse yet: in ads “targeted” towards people that won’t even pay for their cab ride…