Digital payments company PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) has reportedly hired Mark Grether, who formerly led Uber’s (UBER) advertising business, to lead the effort as senior vice president and general manager of its newly-created PayPal Ads division.
Grether will be responsible for developing new ad formats, overseeing sales and hiring staff to fill out the division, The Wall Street Journal reported.
PayPal (PYPL) plans to build an ad sales business around the reams of data it generates from tracking the purchases as well as the broader spending behaviors of consumers who use its services, the report said.
The company aims to “sell ads not only to its own customers, but to so-called non-endemic advertisers, or those that don’t sell products or services through PayPal.”
Earlier this year, PayPal unveiled six enhancements to the PayPal (PYPL) and Venmo product lines as the company seeks to reinvigorate its business. The new features, which apply artificial intelligence to the PayPal’s data, include faster checkout and personalized cash-back offers for shoppers and increased visibility for businesses.
In the quarter ended-March, the company topped Wall Street estimates on better-than-expected total payment volume and rising transactions per active account, sending the share up.
