[pmorici]

I disagree. Uber employs extremely deceptive advertising to recruit drivers and encourages them to do things like buy new cars then turns around and cuts the amount drivers get paid. This has the effect of totally screwing them over. It's a pretty exploitative situation for people who actually rely on it for income to pay their living expenses.

[branchless]

I think people need to ask themselves - if it's half the price of a regular cab how can this be?

Either tax drivers are being exploited by their employers who are pocketing most of the wealth generated, or uber drivers are underpaid. Or taxi firms are insanely inefficient and uber has undercut them with their web 3.0 brilliance.

[khuey]

The correct answer is "all of the above".

[vacri]

Most people have no business training, and don't know about how to look for hidden costs. It's easy enough to think that taxis are that expensive solely due to the overpriced medallion system, which crops up in newspapers every now and again. Most people wouldn't understand that Uber's profit largely comes from shifting the risk from themselves to the drivers.

[BurningFrog]

Can you show some examples of this advertising?

[pmorici]

Facebook ads that say "Make $70k per year driving for Uber" When the reality is you would be hard pressed to make even half of that.

[zaroth]

The article gives some examples.