T-Mobile acquires Octopus Interactive rideshare adtech platform

Today, T-Mobile announced the acquisition of Octopus Interactive, an adtech platform that manages a network of interactive screens in Uber and Lyft ridesharing cars. The move expands the T-Mobile Marketing Solutions business, while opening it up to a younger audience and tech-forward media partners.

Current Octopus clients include audio publisher Audible, OTT streaming service Philo and Fox Entertainment, among others.

Octopus’s rideshare network allows advertisers to launch geo-targeted campaigns to Uber and Lyft riders in a captive out-of-home environment. Using the interactive video screens in the ridesharing vehicles, passengers can view specially-curated premium video, play games and win prizes.

The Octopus network of rideshare vehicles has grown 35% over the last quarter, reaching 5 million unique riders per month, according to a company release.

Read now: Uber OOH selects Vistar Media as SSP programmatic partner

Why we care. Adtech has transformed the OOH space over the last year, and as the pandemic continues with new variants like Omicron, ridesharing services might offer an alternative to those who still have health concerns about riding mass transit.

The rideshare audience is significant, so brands are ready to advertise as adtech solutions to reach them evolve. In November, Uber sales were up 124% year-over-year, and Lyft sales were up 101% YoY.

About The Author

Chris Wood draws on over 15 years of reporting experience as a B2B editor and journalist. At DMN, he served as associate editor, offering original analysis on the evolving marketing tech landscape. He has interviewed leaders in tech and policy, from Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, and Vivek Kundra, appointed by Barack Obama as the country’s first federal CIO. He is especially interested in how new technologies, including voice and blockchain, are disrupting the marketing world as we know it. In 2019, he moderated a panel on “innovation theater” at Fintech Inn, in Vilnius. In addition to his marketing-focused reporting in industry trades like Robotics Trends, Modern Brewery Age and AdNation News, Wood has also written for KIRKUS, and contributes fiction, criticism and poetry to several leading book blogs. He studied English at Fairfield University, and was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He lives in New York.