Lyft Media and Lyft Ads: Lyft's advertising business, explained

Lyft knows where people go, not what they buy. Its targeting rests on trips: the destination, the time, the ride type and the venues a rider visits (Lyft Ads, Targeting). Lyft has no food delivery arm, so it lacks the basket data that Uber Advertising and DoorDash Ads can use. It sells context instead: concert-goers, airport travellers and commuters, reached while they are on the way.

Half the inventory is physical. Lyft built its media business on Halo rooftop screens and bikeshare stations in cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco (Lyft, 8 August 2022). Today it also sells car wraps and branded bikes; Google's Gemini covered thousands of Bay Wheels bikes in San Francisco in 2026 (Lyft, 7 May 2026). That mix of an app and street-level digital out-of-home (DOOH) sets Lyft apart from most networks in our directory, though Uber also sells car-top screens.

Lyft rents the plumbing for offsite reach. Rider audiences travel to CTV, video and display through Microsoft Curate as a deal ID that works in The Trade Desk, DV360 or any major DSP. Brand data comes in through LiveRamp (Lyft Ads, Targeting). The business is still small: Lyft's own 10-K calls Lyft Ads "nascent" (Lyft 10-K, FY2025).

In-app. Display, video and poster carousels run across busy screens in the app. Vertical Video is a full-screen, non-skippable unit for riders who chose the cheaper Wait & Save option. Sponsored Map Vehicles let one brand take over the Lyft map nationally for a day. Sponsored Rides by Mode let a brand pay for ride discounts (Lyft, 12 June 2025). In early 2026 Charles Schwab ran a first-to-market format with a quiz and a surprise discount code (Lyft, 7 May 2026).

Street level. Car wraps, city takeovers and bikeshare branding put brands on vehicles and docks (Lyft Ads). The 2022 launch also included rooftop screens and in-car tablets; we could not confirm whether tablets are still sold. The in-store and out-of-home media explainer covers how physical screens are measured.

Offsite. Audience extension carries Lyft segments to CTV, online video and display. Lyft launched a self-serve version for partners in the first quarter of 2026 (Lyft, 7 May 2026).

Pre-built segments include travellers, commuters, retail shoppers, restaurant goers, sports and entertainment fans, and business users. Lyft says these come from real ride behaviour, not third-party data. Custom audiences can be built from the Rider Graph, which Lyft says can expand a seed audience up to 90 times (company claim) (Lyft Ads, Programmatic).

What stays inside: trip records stay with Lyft; segments are matched through LiveRamp or activated through Microsoft Curate deal IDs. What advertisers receive: delivery, reach and outcome reports, plus metrics such as impressions and conversions in their own DSP. Lyft notes that some targeting is "not available in certain states", which reflects state privacy laws. The 10-K warns that law limits ad personalisation and could limit it further.

Lyft does not observe the purchase, so it relies on partners. Kantar, Nielsen and IAS measure brand lift; Foursquare, NCS and Kochava tie exposure to store visits, offline sales and online conversions; DoubleVerify, IAS and Nielsen ONE Ads verify delivery (Lyft Ads, Measurement).

Published results are company claims. Lyft reported a 76.78% Nielsen on-target rate and Kantar lifts of 7.9 points in favourability and 9.5 points in purchase intent (Lyft, 12 June 2025). It says riders spend about 24 minutes with Lyft per trip, waiting and riding.

1. Contact Lyft Ads. Use the contact form on ads.lyft.com for in-app, wrap and bikeshare campaigns.
2. Pick the moment. Choose in-app formats for the wait and the ride, or physical media for a city.
3. Add audiences. Use pre-built segments, Rider Graph lookalikes or your own data via LiveRamp.
4. Extend offsite. Take the Microsoft Curate deal ID into The Trade Desk or DV360, or let Lyft run programmatic for you.
5. Book measurement. Choose a lift, visit or verification partner before launch.

It suits:

• brands that want to reach people on the way to stores, venues and airports;
• local and event advertisers in large US cities;
• buyers who want rider audiences inside their existing DSP.

It suits less:

• performance teams that need closed-loop sales data from the network itself;
• advertisers outside the US;
• brands that want shopping-basket targeting.

• Lyft Ads revenue from a Lyft document; the run-rate figure comes from a press summary.
• When Lyft Media was renamed Lyft Ads.
• Whether in-car tablets and rooftop screens are still sold.
• Minimum spend for direct and programmatic campaigns.

1. Lyft, "Introducing Lyft Media" (8 August 2022). https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/introducing-lyft-media
2. Lyft, "Lyft Media introduces new ad solutions to engage riders on the move" (12 June 2025). https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/lyft-media-introduces-new-ad-solutions-to-engage-riders-on-the-move
3. Lyft, "Lyft Q1 2026 Prepared Remarks" (7 May 2026). https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/lyft-q1-2026-earnings-prepared-remarks
4. Lyft, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (filed 11 February 2026). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm
5. Lyft Ads, homepage, Programmatic, Measurement and Targeting pages (accessed 9 November 2026). https://ads.lyft.com/
6. The Globe and Mail, "Lyft Inc. Earnings Call Signals Profitable Growth" (12 February 2026). https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/LYFT/pressreleases/196367/lyft-inc-earnings-call-signals-profitable-growth/