What's Going On With Uber Stock Thursday

Uber Technologies, Inc UBER stock is trading higher Thursday amid reports of the launch of full-length video ads for the first time across the company's ride-hailing app, food delivery service Uber Eats and alcohol sales platform Drizly.

Video ads will run on the primary Uber app while users wait for their drivers to arrive and during their trips, the Wall Street Journal cites Mark Grether, vice president and general manager of Uber Technologies' advertising division. 

The ads will also appear on tablets installed inside certain Uber cars.

Also Read: Uber Launches Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing in North America Marking Sustainability Efforts

The Uber Eats app will play video ads after customers place orders and continue until their deliveries arrive. Drizly will run them in search results on its app, website, and other site areas.

Uber will debut its video ad products this week across the U.S. before expanding to markets including the U.K., France, and Australia later this year, said Grether. He said the company will install in-car tablets on a city-by-city basis in the U.S.

Uber hopes to use the new products to cross-promote its services.

Grether said the ads can be up to 90 seconds long, which is far longer than ads on most mobile platforms.

Uber will initially sell ad inventory directly to buyers through brand takeover packages. Uber later this year will allow the purchase of ads via a programmatic exchange that automates the bidding process, Grether said.

Grether said Uber is on track to meet its goal of $1 billion in ad revenue in 2024. Uber's session volume surged to nearly 6 million vs. the 100-day average of 5 million.

Price Action: UBER shares traded higher by 4.13% at $42.98 on the last check Thursday.

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