Apps like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram offer a never-ending supply of short-form video content that can keep you hooked for hours. This is exactly what you expect when you open these apps. What you might not expect, however, is what you'll find when you open the Uber Eats app. But here we are.
The company revealed its new short video business in an interview with TechCrunch. You'll encounter this TikTok-style content when you first open Uber Eats, and the app as a whole. It sounds like it will work similarly to Instagram, opening up a full vertical player that lets you swipe through different videos.
However, unlike any of the apps mentioned above, this content is not simply uploaded and delivered via algorithms tailored to each user. Instead, Uber Eats hosts videos directly from the restaurants themselves, showcasing whatever food or service they want. Additionally, Uber Eats will only show you videos from restaurants near you. It 's unclear how close you need to be to the restaurant to receive the video, but I imagine if you were likely to order Uber Eats, you would see their video.
Uber Eats wants to clarify that these videos are not ads, as the company does not charge restaurants for the privilege. On the restaurant side, this might feel like a free experience of uploading videos to TikTok or Instagram.
Look, this story initially made me laugh because, come on — even Uber Eats is doing short videos? But I kind of like the approach here: It's unique in that you can only see videos of restaurants near you, so you can get a better idea of where you want to order from. I had looked at images of the restaurant on Google Maps before deciding whether to try it, so why not add a video demonstration?
Of course, those of us who know what we want and just want to get our order may find these videos intrusive. I'm not sure if you can turn off these videos, but my initial guess is you can't. You can't turn off videos in other apps, so I doubt Uber Eats will offer a toggle for this.
