• Uber is offering bonuses to some drivers for completing more rides or referring new drivers.
• The bonuses can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars.
• Uber has used such extra pay in the past to attract drivers to the platform.

Uber is offering ride-hailing drivers something that many haven't seen in years: Big bonuses.

The ride-hailing service is coaxing some drivers to take more rides, offering up to several hundred dollars in "incentive" pay if they complete a set number of rides within a set time period, according to several screenshots of the offers seen by Business Insider.

In one example, a driver was offered $525 if the driver completed 45 trips within a few days. Similar offers involved smaller payouts and fewer trips, but paid out proportional amounts of $10 to $12 per trip.

That's a huge pay bump for many drivers, who make as little as a few dollars per trip, said Sergio Avedian, an Uber driver and senior contributor to the gig-driver-advocacy blog and YouTube channel The Rideshare Guy.

The bonuses might also be Uber's attempt to get more drivers on the road to meet rider demand during busy periods like Halloween and the holiday travel season, Avedian said.

"This may tell the story that they need supply," he said. "They're saying that we need to get everybody out there."

Some drivers have also gotten messages from Uber encouraging them to refer friends to sign up as drivers or get those who haven't driven in a couple of years back on the app, according to screenshots seen by Business Insider. Payment for those referrals can reach up to $1,225.

The payments are a potential boon to Uber drivers, whose pay can vary significantly between cities.

Uber drivers have to cover their own costs, such as car maintenance, since they are independent contractors, not full-time employees. Rising gas prices have eaten into drivers' pay after the US and Israel started a war with Iran earlier this year.

An Uber spokesperson did not provide details on why the company is offering the payments.

Uber has used targeted incentive payments before.

In 2021, demand for rides began to outpace the number of available drivers after many had stopped driving during the pandemic.

In response, the company decided "to invest fast and to invest aggressively in attracting drivers back to Uber" and increased the number of active drivers on the app by 65% between January and November that year, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on an earnings call at the time. Uber later pulled back on the extra pay.

"When we were coming out of the pandemic, they were short tons of drivers," said Avedian, who was driving for Uber at the time. "It was crazy bonuses out there."

More recently, riders have been paying more per mile and waiting longer for their rides to show up, according to a study published last month.

Do you have a story idea about Uber? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Los coches eléctricos y totalmente autónomos Waymo, de Alphabet (empresa matriz de Google), desembarcarán en los próximos días en la Comunidad de Madrid. En un primer momento lo harán en periodo de pruebas, con la idea de estar ya totalmente operativos en la región a partir de 2027. Así lo ha anunciado hoy la compañía, que también ha especificado a este diario que los coches rodarán en entornos urbanos reales en Madrid capital, Alcobendas y Getafe. Es decir, en lugares en los que hay peatones, cuya visualización y gestión supone para estos vehículos el principal desafío técnico (y el mayor peligro público).

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• GoDaddy's CEO said Dara Khosrowshahi once gave him career advice that changed his leadership.
• Aman Bhutani said Khosrowshahi told him he'd never gain ad experience if he didn't start speaking up about it.
• The advice prompted Bhutani to push through the discomfort of learning new functions.

Getting a seat at the leadership table is a challenge in itself — but speaking up confidently once you get there is a different beast.

Aman Bhutani, CEO of the domain registrar and web-hosting company GoDaddy, said he received advice on navigating those moments from Uber's current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who at the time led Expedia and served as president of the brand. Bhutani was then the company's head of technology, and reported to Khosrowshahi.

Khosrowshahi gave him a chance to discuss advertising in a senior-level meeting they were both attending. While Bhutani was initially excited about the opportunity, he said that eagerness didn't come through.

"Sitting in this room of leaders, where there were people that had way more experience and expertise than I did, I didn't speak up," Bhutani told Business Insider.

Bhutani said he regularly spoke up in meetings about product, engineering, and other areas where he felt confident about. However, while advertising was a core interest, he hesitated to weigh in. After several meetings, Khosrowshahi pulled Bhutani aside and gave him feedback that the GoDaddy CEO said changed his career.

Khosrowshahi asked why Bhutani didn't share his perspective on functional marketing, since the topic was so critical for the business. Bhutani explained he didn't have "any actual experience" in marketing. Khosrowshahi's response, Bhutani said, was simple.

"'And if you don't talk about it, you never will,'" Bhutani said, recounting Khosrowshahi's reply. "'If you don't talk and make mistakes and say the wrong things and get beat up by the CMO, how are you going to learn?"

Khosrowshahi reminded Bhutani that Bhutani wasn't afraid to be wrong on the product-tech side. He told Bhutani that he should approach marketing the same way, even if he didn't have the same background.

That advice has since taken Bhutani far, he said. Bhutani later took over presidency of the Expedia brand from Khosrowshahi in July 2015, with marketing and advertising teams reporting to him.

Bhutani said that in his last job and current position as CEO of GoDaddy, he's had the chance to learn about every part of the business. That means he can speak with accountants, marketers, and auditors in their language. He said he has grown to enjoy learning about new functions, and seeks out people and situations where he's pushed to do that.

"I enjoy the stress and the discomfort of being in an uncomfortable space," said Bhutani, who has been GoDaddy's CEO for seven years now. "I enjoy the idea that I'm learning something new. It keeps me young. It keeps me happy. It keeps me engaged."

Bhutani learned that it's important to share his perspective, but said there's often a fine line between adding value and speaking just to prove you belong in the room.

Bhutani said another piece of feedback that stuck with him from his last job — positive this time — was from a board member who told him he has a good "tongue-to-ear ratio" and "brain-to-mouth ratio." In other words, he knows when to listen and think, rather than speak just to fill silence.

"I think if we all listened a bit more and thought a bit more, we would all do a bit better," Bhutani said.

El jugador del Real Betis Héctor Bellerín ha interpuesto una querella contra el youtuber y creador de contenido Mikel Angulo tras las manifestaciones “de contenido homófobo” realizadas por el comunicador sobre la figura del futbolista durante la emisión de uno de sus directos, en las que llegó a tildarlo de “maricón encubierto”. Según ha podido conocer Europa Press, la querella le imputa un delito de odio en concurso ideal con un delito de injurias graves hechas con publicidad y ha sido interpuesta ante la Sección de Instrucción del Tribunal de Instancia de Sevilla.

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