Dive Brief: 

• Lyft Media and advertising platform StackAdapt have teamed to launch programmatic, in-app advertising within the Lyft app, according to a press release. 
• The offering will allow StackAdapt clients access to Lyft’s U.S. in-app ad inventory, enabling brands, merchants and agencies to target millions of Lyft riders through hyper-localized ads. 
• The move also includes a partnership with Kevel, a provider of API-based media ad serving technology, to enhance StackAdapt’s programmatic capabilities. The partnership comes nearly two years after Lyft implemented in-app advertising to support its media network, Lyft Media.

Dive Insight:

Lyft’s partnership with StackAdapt and Kevel provides advertisers with an opportunity to build awareness with consumers on the go. Lyft has more than 40 million active riders per year, including commuters, eventgoers and travelers, meaning there are a lot of audiences with known intentions for marketers to reach.

“[This partnership] opens an extraordinary advertising avenue for agencies to engage a mobile, diverse audience,” said Greg Joseph, vice president of inventory development at StackAdapt, in release details. “Together, we’re transforming the local ad experience by connecting brands, agencies, merchants, and restaurants to consumers at meaningful points in their daily lives.”

The collaboration grants StackAdapt clients access to Lyft’s in-app ad formats, which leverage trip intent to enable marketers to deliver targeted messages with a consistent presence, per release details. Lyft Media’s digital offerings, available in the Lyft app nationally, include formats like video and poster units along with first-party targeting and measurement capabilities. 

The partnership may also be a harbinger of more programmatic activity in the retail media network space. With the integration of Kevel’s ad-serving technology, StackAdapt can help ensure precision targeting for its clients and enable brands to deliver tailored and data-driven ad experiences to Lyft’s users.

The latest advertising push from Lyft continues its efforts to court advertisers to its platform. Last March, Lyft Media enlisted data giant Oracle to improve the sophistication of its ad targeting and Nielsen to help with measurement and audience verification. Those deals arrived as Lyft implemented in-app video ads nationally. Around the same time, the company also appointed Brian Irving as marketing chief. Lyft introduced in-app advertising in August 2023 to support its media network, which launched a year prior. 

The collaboration between Lyft Media and StackAdapt also comes just two months after the latter announced it had raised $235 million in funding from investors including Teachers’ Venture Growth, the investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Intrepid Growth Partners.