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STRAVA Integrations – The Sponsored Version

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Am I imagining this or have STRAVA *SPONSORED* Integrations just gone live?

The feature was announced back in September 2018 but, for the life of me, I can’t remember seeing it until today in my feed.

It’s a nice little feature, that’s of some passing interest, which also gives the chance for STRAVA to get a bit more revenue…don’t forget, they have to cover the running costs of your free account after all.

There are some examples from my feed shown below and the enhancements seem to be these types:

  • If you are using a certain device then STRAVA will kindly just flag it up and I assume this is done for ‘free’. It’s actually quite interesting when I see the relatively high number of WAHOO logos in my feed. So you can see the WAHOO example here

  • Then there are sponsored versions of this where presumably WAHOO kindly hands over a few cents for the display of their name and the inclusion of a link. This is basically targetted advertising.

  • Here is an example from a WATTBIKE session where, clearly, there will normally be no route image so, instead, a WATTBIKE ad is displayed. STRAVA *DO* clearly mark this as sponsored.

  • Instead of a semi-blatant ad like that, there could be details about what was done in the workout. For example, I think this image shows the workout target for a particular Wattbike session

  • Whereas this image would show what was achieved in the workout

STRAVA say that these integrations can appear as either a “specific header”, “custom image” or “enhanced map” and that you can disable displaying ads FOR YOUR ACTIVITIES here: Settings > Partner Integrations. I’d be interested to see what an ‘enhanced map’ looks like (please post the image URL below in comments).

I’m guessing that these ‘integrations’ might eventually morph into out-and-out ads to promote new products and product sales.

TAKE OUT: Why not?

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8 thoughts on “STRAVA Integrations – The Sponsored Version”

  1. I like the concept in theory, but not in execution. Meaning, I like the contextual information added that it was done on a Wattbike, or Wahoo, or whatever. But I dislike the ‘Sponsored’ logo. As do a number of pro athletes.

    The reason is simple: We’re not sponsored (or they aren’t, by that brand). So in some cases, someone might look at my feed and assume that specific Strava post was sponsored by Wahoo, where I’m the one being sponsored. Same goes for other brands.

    For pro athletes, the right to use sponsorship is all about money. And yes, they can disable the option, but I’m still unclear on why on earth there even needs to be a ‘Sponsorship’ tag to begin with.

    I’ve had the discussion with Strava for over a year (when it started), and they state that it’s due to legal requirements to notify the user. But that doesn’t hold water (and other companies I’ve talked with agree). After all, there’s banners in Zwift that don’t say sponsored, but are. And what about Strava’s own various events/competitions, they don’t say sponsored for every badge you earn in your feed that others see.

    Maybe I’m just old and grumpy.

    2. Agree, “Done* on/with XY” would be perfectly fine. “Sponsored” is wrong.

      * with link to product page; for those who like to see what it is

  2. I see them for a quite long time already (mostly Suunto and Polar, Wahoo is a bit newer).
    Too make it short: It *annoys* me very much.
    When I was using a Suunto 9, the first thing I did was disable the so called “sponsored” thing because it annoyed people who follow me.

    Rather than the possibility to disable it for yourself I’d take the option to disable it for activities of other people (e.g. I don’t want to see it). I’m a paying Strava user, not because I need one of their features but because I want to support them for giving me that platform.
    But if they start to act like that (for me that’s nothing else than advertisement with another name), I’ll stop doing so.

  3. Agree with Ray. I disabled sponsored integrations the instant I saw the first “RiphRaph ran with Suunto” header on a newly posted activity because it makes it look as though Suunto were sponsoring me personally, which is not the case, and it instrumentalises me to advertise Suunto, which I object to when nobody asked me whether it was OK with me.

    1. Looks like it
      Is the “PR” note on the map new as well? I noticed one of those last week on oen of my rides but couldn’t remember seeing it before (nice feature either way)

      1. I believe so, yes. It’s not something that I’ve seen before. When you click/tap for the detailed map though, it reverts to the standard view. Would be better if it was the ‘enhanced’ version there too. Still, nice feature as you said

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