
Firefly raises $30M to bring more ads to Ubers, Lyfts and taxis - jbredeche
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/30/firefly-series-a/
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JohnFen
> He also described the Firefly approach as a “win-win-win scenario” — not
> just for drivers and advertisers, but also for local businesses, nonprofits
> and local governments, to whom the company has committed 10% of its
> inventory.

It's interesting how he left customers out of this description. I guess "win-
win-win-lose" probably didn't test well.

I'll avoid using any service that adopts this, and can only hope that there
will remain at least one who doesn't.

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ativzzz
I sat in a ride a few weeks ago with a monitor in front of me hanging on the
backseat, that I had no way to turn off, playing ads the whole time.

I guess this is ride sharing's path to being profitable, more intrusive
advertising. Or pay a premium to get an ad-free ride.

If this is the future of ride sharing, looks like owning a car isn't going out
of style anytime soon.

I don't like this, but it seems being advertised to at every possible moment
is the price we pay for our societies' current modern development

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deogeo
> being advertised to at every possible moment is the price we pay for our
> societies' current modern development

It's the opposite - advertising is a parasitic phenomenon, leeching talent and
resources that could otherwise be spent more productively, and what we get in
return is an information environment skewed to make us spend money, and a
landscape marred by this visual cancer.

But ads are in no way a fact of life we have to get used to - they _can_ be
defeated, or at least kept at bay. Some cities have banned them:
[http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5338](http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5338)

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A2017U1
Ads considered harmful.

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spookybones
I am going to wear an iPad around my neck, sit in the middle seat, and display
ads in the Uber driver’s rearview mirror. This is the last frontier.

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pmoriarty
More ads. Just what we fucking need.

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cwkoss
Any Uber with advertising in the passenger cabin instantly gets 1-star rated.

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joeblubaugh
These LED grids are bright, often animated, and distracting to other drivers
and cyclists. Cities and DMVs should regulate their use.

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roflchoppa2
this crud is dangerous for motorists and distracts drivers with images on
motorways. Im surprised this is permitted in California, and not seen as a
misuse of the laws that keep screens away from drivers. (ie no double DIN
displays showing movies, cellphones, etc)

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rchaud
How much longer before they turn on the webcams on the tablets they'll be
giving drivers (I assume this is how it'll work) to ensure that users are
actually watching the ads?

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Nextgrid
> Firefly raises $30M to bring more cancer to Ubers, Lyfts and taxis

Fixed that for you.

It’s a shame that 30M is being burned to make the daily routing even worse for
hundreds of thousands of people instead of improving it.

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rajeshp1986
I wonder why Uber and Lyft hasn't come with their own version of screens on
the back showing ads.

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sjg007
Maybe they will.. uberAd ride or something. Might be cheaper than the regular
uber or become a pool default.

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nathanaldensr
More ads! Just what the world needs! Congrats, folks!

