Brand Ads Intern

Uber rival inDrive scales beyond ride-hailing to capture more consumer spending. First piloted in July 2025, inDrive's ad business has served more than 2 billion impressions and attracted over 2,000 paying advertisers a month. Known for letting riders and drivers negotiate fares, inDrive spent the past year adding businesses such as advertising and groceries to its core ride-hailing service. Now the Uber rival is scaling those bets, installing new leaders as its ads, delivery, and financial-services businesses show early signs of traction across its largely emerging-market user base. Piloted in July 2025 and rolled out to its top 20 markets in January, inDrive's advertising business has since expanded to 25 markets, serving more than 2 billion impressions and attracting over 2,000 paying advertisers a month, the company told TechCrunch. About two-thirds of those advertisers are repeat customers. The Mountain View, California-based firm, which operates in over 1,200 cities across 48 countries, sees an opportunity to build an advertising business around an audience that can be harder for brands to reach through other platforms, Andries Smit, inDrive's chief growth business officer, said in an interview. "We're in very clear emerging markets. Our segment is very different, and we can really help brands connect with a new audience in a different way," Smit told TechCrunch. inDrive is now pushing what it calls "Ride Media," which is designed to capture passengers' attention while they wait for a driver and during a trip. The company can currently target users based on places they have visited over a specified period, though it plans to add real-time targeting capabilities. The push reflects a broader playbook among ride-hailing companies, which uses a large base of riders and drivers to build businesses that generate revenue beyond the relatively thin economics of matching passengers with cars. Uber has increasingly layered delivery, advertising, and other services onto its mobility network, while inDrive is betting that its reach across emerging markets can give it a similar opportunity with a different, more cost-conscious customer base. There are early signs that inDrive is getting users to venture beyond rides. The company said 13% of its monthly transacting users used both mobility and at least one delivery service in 2025, as it looks to cross-sell services to customers already using its core ride-hailing business. The number of loans taken out by drivers through inDrive.money in Latin America also jumped 118% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, the company told TechCrunch. The service, which offers short-term credit to drivers, is available in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Indonesia. Smit declined to disclose how much capital inDrive has earmarked for its newer businesses in general. However, he said advertising, financial services, and delivery require relatively little funding to scale, while groceries and food will account for the bulk of its investment. That investment could take inDrive deeper into another space long dominated by Uber and other delivery platforms. The company is testing prepared-food delivery with partners, according to a person familiar with the plans, though the effort remains in early stages. The company declined to share further details on the tests. The food-delivery tests come as inDrive has hired Raphael Zennou, a former Delivery Hero executive, as vice president of food and groceries. The company has also brought former Google executive Max Silin to lead the ads business, called inDrive.Ads, and promoted Valentin Laykov to oversee its delivery business. Moreover, Alexander Kurchin will continue to lead inDrive.money. Zennou previously helped oversee quick-commerce operations serving 21 million monthly customers at Delivery Hero, while Silin spent more than 11 years at Google in roles spanning digital media, monetization, and programmatic advertising. These appointments bring experience in delivery and advertising, the two businesses that have become important extensions of larger consumer platforms. It is still unclear how financially significant these newer businesses are for inDrive. The company declined to disclose revenue from its advertising business or its share of overall revenue. Smit also would not say when he expects ads to become a material contributor to inDrive's business. The pace, Smit said, will depend not only on growing inDrive's advertising inventory and advertiser base, but also on the expansion of businesses such as groceries and food, which can create more opportunities for advertising. "You'll see a nice multiplier effect," he said.

Global Contact Center market activity | september 2026. by King White, on Sep 4, 2026, 9:00:00 AM Site Selection Group (SSG) tracks global contact center expansions, new openings, consolidations, and downsizing activity through ongoing market research across onshore, nearshore, and offshore locations. Our monthly data is designed to help contact center leaders better understand where the industry is growing, shifting, and recalibrating worldwide. Global contact center hiring activity slowed sharply in August 2026, with 2,500 announced jobs across 6 new sites and expansions - the smallest monthly total of the year so far - partially offset by 363 jobs tied to two downsizing operations. Real estate firm JLL landed the month's largest single announcement with a 1,600-job new site in Hyderabad, while Delivery Hero opened a 500-job new site in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The U.S. saw a rare public-sector entrant, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed a new site in Nashville, Tennessee. Through the first eight months of 2026, SSG has tracked more than 46,553 announced jobs across 90 expansions and new sites globally - with 20 closures or downsizings accounting for 7,134 displaced positions. August 2026 Snapshot | Metric | Total | | Jobs Added (Announced) | 2,500 | | Jobs Reduced | 363 | | New Sites / Expansions | 6 | | Closures / Downsizing | 2 | New Sites & Expansion Announcements | Company | Jobs | Location | Industry | Type | | JLL | 1,600 | Hyderabad, India | Other | New Site | | Delivery Hero | 500 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Retail | New Site | | ibex | 400 | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | BPO | Expansion | | Gevekom | N/A | Nairobi, Kenya | BPO | New Site | | Dept. of Homeland Security (ICE) | N/A | Nashville, TN | Government | New Site | | XP Plus Solutions | N/A | Cebu, Philippines | BPO | New Site | Closure & Downsizing Announcements | Company | Jobs Impacted | Location | Industry | Type | | SCR Medical Transportation | 250 | Chicago, IL | Healthcare | Close | | TMobile | 113 | Irving, TX | Telecommunications | Downsize | Regional Highlights India Delivers the Month's Largest Deal JLL's 1,600-job new site in Hyderabad was the single largest announcement of August, extending India's run as the anchor market for large-scale, enterprise-driven site commitments. Hyderabad continues to draw sizable back-office and support operations on the strength of its deep talent pool and established delivery infrastructure. Southeast Asia and the Philippines Add New Sites Delivery Hero opened a 500-job new site in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while XP Plus Solutions added a new site in Cebu, Philippines. Both moves reflect continued diversification of delivery capacity across Southeast Asia even as overall monthly volumes cooled. Caribbean and Central America: ibex Expands in Honduras ibex expanded its Tegucigalpa, Honduras operation by 400 jobs, reinforcing Honduras's growing role as a nearshore delivery point for U.S.-facing BPO work. Africa: Kenya Adds a New Entrant Gevekom's new site in Nairobi marks a fresh entrant into the Kenyan market, broadening Africa's delivery footprint beyond the Egypt- and South Africa-led activity that has driven the region's growth for most of 2026. U.S. Market: A Public-Sector Entrant Alongside Continued Downsizing The U.S. market's lone new-site announcement in August came from outside the traditional BPO and financial services base: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed a new site in Nashville, Tennessee. On the downsizing side, T-Mobile reduced 113 positions in Irving, Texas, and SCR Medical Transportation closed a 250-job operation in Chicago, Illinois - continuing the pattern of telecom and healthcare-adjacent downsizing seen at points throughout 2026. What It Means for Contact Center Leaders August activity shows that companies continue to prioritize locations offering: * Scalable labor pools * Competitive wage structures * Multilingual talent * Proven outsourcing ecosystems * Operational flexibility * AI-enabled workforce models At the same time, August's slower pace - the lowest monthly total of 2026 so far - combined with continued U.S. telecom and healthcare downsizing, suggests some markets may be entering a more selective, consolidation-focused phase heading into the fall. Conclusion Site Selection Group tracks global contact center openings, expansions, consolidations, and labor market shifts each month to help companies understand where the industry is growing, evolving, and becoming more competitive. Our research spans onshore, nearshore, and offshore markets to provide timely insight into location trends shaping the contact center industry. If your organization is evaluating contact center location strategy, outsourcing opportunities, labor market conditions, or portfolio optimization, our team is available to help you make informed decisions. SSG operates exclusively on behalf of corporate clients - we never represent landlords or outsourcing providers - so our advisory is always conflict-free. About Site Selection Group Site Selection Group is a full-service location advisory, economic incentive, and corporate real estate firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. SSG specializes in the contact center industry and works exclusively with companies operating contact centers on location strategy, outsourcing advisory, and contact center technology evaluation. Learn more at siteselectiongroup.com.

Germany's Delivery Hero has raised its full-year 2026 outlook following second-quarter results. The online food delivery service now projects adjusted EBITDA between €960 million and €1 billion, up from previous guidance of €910 million to €960 million. Revenue is expected to grow 17–19% on a like-for-like basis, revised from 14–16%. For the first half of 2026, Delivery Hero reported revenue of €7.75 billion, up from €6.88 billion year-on-year. Group gross merchandise value grew 10.1% like-for-like to €25.7 billion. Adjusted EBITDA reached €427 million, up 3.9% from the prior year. The company posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of €392.4 million, compared with €396.3 million a year earlier.