In today’s Digest, we look at Uber expanding its advertising business beyond its own apps, Electronic Arts launching an in-game advertising platform, and Walmart expanding retail media measurement across YouTube campaigns.

Uber boosts $2bn ad business 

Uber has expanded its advertising business by launching offsite advertising through partnerships with platforms including Google and Meta. The move marks the first time Uber has sold advertising inventory beyond its own ecosystem, extending its reach as it seeks to accelerate growth in a business that has already surpassed USD$2bn in annual ad revenue.

Alongside the expansion, Uber introduced new advertising formats across its platforms. These include sponsored rider discounts within the Uber app and brand takeover placements on Uber Eats.

EA launches in-game advertising

Electronic Arts has announced ‘EA Advertising,’ a new platform designed to integrate brands directly into gameplay across its portfolio of sports and interactive titles. The system enables dynamic, real-time ad placements such as stadium signage, scoreboards, broadcast overlays and custom in-game content. This will effectively embed brands into the gaming experience rather than relying on traditional display advertising.

The company said the offering builds on its global reach of more than 120 million monthly players, including high engagement across franchises like Madden NFL and EA SPORTS FC. EA Advertising will also support custom brand integrations, in-game challenges and reward-based activations, alongside a proprietary ad server for measurement and targeting. 

Walmart enables offline measurement on YouTube

Walmart has launched a closed proof-of-concept enabling advertisers to measure how YouTube reach and awareness campaigns translate into in-store and online sales. The initiative, developed through an expanded partnership with Google and its Display & Video 360 platform, allows select advertisers to connect video ad exposure with real-world purchasing behaviour using Walmart’s first-party shopper data.

The system combines online and offline purchase signals to identify high-intent audiences and assess how upper-funnel video campaigns influence omnichannel sales. Walmart said the effort, which will eventually extend beyond YouTube to other platforms, is part of a broader push to make its retail media ecosystem more open and interoperable.