Uber plans to show ads on its app, Lyft launches new parking reservation feature

Yahoo Finance Live checks out shares for ride-share giants Uber and Lyft as the competing services launch new features on their apps.

Video transcript

DAVE BRIGGS: My play, as I mentioned, also a twofer. It's a ride hailing twofer. Let's start with Uber now, targeting you and launching ads across the app for the first time. While this represents a potentially massive revenue opportunity, experts say it could raise concerns about consumer privacy. Previously, most Uber ads had come over its Uber Eats app. General manager of Uber advertising saying recently, cars will become our next living rooms. We spend 8 hours a week in a car, so it's a huge opportunity.

Lyft users also can now search, reserve, and pay for parking spaces directly from the app simply by tapping the steering wheel icon bottom-right corner of the home screen. This is a partnership between Lyft and Spot Hero. If you're not where we are in New York or Chicago, Spot Hero is how we all find discounted parking spaces. Lyft shares are down 70% year to date and about 2% today. Uber fell as well, but just about 1/2% and down 38%.

And just when I thought that was all, there was more news, Josh. It was that Uber is testing tablets in San Francisco and Los Angeles, of course, to run ads. I'm shocked it took this long for Uber to test a tablet--

JOSH SCHAFER: And match the cabs.

DAVE BRIGGS: --where you have a captive audience.

JOSH SCHAFER: And match the cabs in New York, which already do that.

DAVE BRIGGS: Isn't that interesting where Uber is now following cabs? I mean, it's-- we've come full circle.

JOSH SCHAFER: Well, it comes around. One thing I want to say, too, on that Lyft thing, Seana, I think is interesting is how much more they're going to get you on the app now, right?

SEANA SMITH: Yeah.

JOSH SCHAFER: Uber is so good at getting me on the app for Uber Eats and things like that. Now, Lyft, you're not even getting a ride, but they're getting you back on that app. That, to me, is impressive innovation.

SEANA SMITH: It is, and it's really smart on their part. We talked about the fact that they need to diversify their business model. They need to find new avenues in terms of revenue. And this is a smart play, I think, by them. Dave, you mentioned that 70% year to date drop. It doesn't-- I guess it's more so I don't know how much the upside potential is, but it's definitely not a downside risk, I don't think.

Teaming with Spot Hero, getting people to use their app more and more because I think the data has shown when you take a look at the ride numbers, Uber clearly has the advantage here. People tend to search Uber first before going to Lyft. So if you get yourself more accustomed to using Lyft in two pretty key markets, I think it can be a huge opportunity for them. And back to the ads real quick, Uber's ad chief saying that he wants it to become a billion dollar plus business by 2024. So really--

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, that's of 140 million in '21, though. That's almost 10x.

SEANA SMITH: It is. It is. Ambitious goals, and they're laying it out there. They needed to do something. We've talked about the fact that they needed to be more innovative. Two things that they're doing-- I think it's a step in the right track.

DAVE BRIGGS: I just want to disagree with you guys on Lyft because why am I going to look for parking space if I'm a ride hailing app? If I'm not driving, why do I need a parking space?

SEANA SMITH: That's why you say right now, but what are you going to say two months from now after you've gone to it a few times?

DAVE BRIGGS: Only if they link and give me some loyalty points. I'm just going to--

SEANA SMITH: They might.

DAVE BRIGGS: --use Spot Hero. OK.

JOSH SCHAFER: Just don't complain to us about not finding a parking space.

DAVE BRIGGS: No, it sounds good.