BoBo (Our Product)
Pros:
- Extra revenue stream to our currently-proposed method (of taking a cut i.e. service fee from what users pay for a trip)
- This business model scales really well, especially as the number of users increases
- We can reduce the cut or service fee that we take, reducing the total cost that users have to explicitly pay for
Cons:
- By using user data, we are treating users partially as the product
- Can make users uncomfortable and not trust us (as we are contributing to the culture of surveillance)
- Can ruin the user experience and even make users leave our product if another ad-free one is created → ads can also make the app distracting and full of “clutter”
- Ad prices are low (ex. $0.60/user for FB) which means it won’t contribute much unless our user base becomes quite large [at least compared to taking a service fee, which might be more since it is dependent on (# of rides) as opposed to (# of users)]
- Collecting more data means need to be very careful about data control, privacy, ethics
Internet:
Pros:
- Makes it more accessible for people who can’t explicitly pay money (they are of course paying with their data or attention)
- This accessibility can help get more users (ex. younger people or those in developing countries) which can further increase revenue
Cons:
- User is the product
- May contribute to creating echo chambers, filter bubbles, or other forms of ideological isolation
- Incentives to produce and share content that generates pageviews and mouse clicks, not thoughtful engagement
- Escalating culture/norm of surveillance
- Must collect more data to make targeted ads more effective
- Revenue from each user is very low (~$0.60) so you needd a large user base for substantial revenue
- Most online advertising compete for your attention since they don’t follow your interest
- “free cultural labor
