It's been a busy few weeks. Between the end of February and the middle of March, Vugo was on television four times, in Chicago, in New York and nationally on CNBC. If you missed them, here they are in one place.
Chicago: the right to put ads in the car
A year ago, we went to court over Chicago's ban on advertising inside rideshare cars. On February 23, CBS Chicago's Matt Yurus reported on where that fight stands: a company pushing for the right to put digital ads inside Uber and Lyft cars in Chicago, with some of the revenue going to drivers.
New York: a green light from the court
The same day, CBS New York covered the news from Manhattan, where a judge gave the green light to "a Minnesota company that wants to put advertising in vehicles driven for companies like Uber and Lyft." That company is us. We wrote about what the decision means when it came down.
A first look in the back seat
Two weeks later, CBS New York's Dave Carlin took a first look at the screens coming to the back seats of rideshare cars, with videos and games for riders, and asked the question every new medium has to answer: will people like it?
We think the answer depends on the experience. A screen that's worth watching, with content people choose to engage with, makes the time in the car better. That's what we're building.
CNBC: can advertising make rides free?
On March 14, I joined CNBC's Squawk Alley to talk about the bigger idea behind Vugo: making ride-sharing free. Advertising paid for much of the internet, and we believe the same model can pay for more and more of the ride. It's a goal we first put a date on with Fast Company last year, and one my co-founder James Bellefeuille wrote about at length this week in the case for free transportation.
Thank you
Thank you to CBS Chicago, CBS New York and CNBC for telling the story, and to the drivers and riders who were part of it. If you're a brand that wants to reach people on the move, or a driver who wants to earn more from every hour on the road, get in touch.