Ripping you off Stage 3
Uber solved real coordination problems (liquidity, payments, trust signals). For riders it can still feel like surplus—until you zoom out: take rates, surge, and driver-side economics show where value pools. Treat it as stage 3 extraction: useful product, asymmetric capture.
The promise
Its first promise, and how much is kept · Scoring
60% kept
“Everyone’s Private Driver”
Why it’s rated 3
The criteria it meets, with sources · Method
- Alignment 0 of 3
- None
- Lock-in 0 of 4
- None
- Extraction 2 of 7
-
- E3 Squeezing the other side Nov 2, 2023
- E5 Data grab Aug 26, 2024
- Decline 0 of 3
- None
Result Two or more extraction criteria, or lock-in plus at least one, so stage 3.
News signals
Sourced reporting, tagged by strategy
Dec 15, 2025
FTC and 21 states broaden Uber One deceptive-billing case
Dark patternsRegulatory risk
Aug 26, 2024
Dutch regulator fines Uber €290M for unlawfully transferring drivers' data to the US
Data enclosureRegulatory risk
Nov 2, 2023