Request ID: FOI-2037-2122 Date published: 30 December 2021
You asked
• Could you please list how many adverts have been displayed on the London Transport Network in 2021 that relate to
o a) Cryptocurrency
o b) Investing
o Please list the amount of adverts according to type of transport (underground, bus, overground etc)
• Please provide a full list of all companies that have paid for these types of advertisements
• Can you also let me know how much each company has paid for advertisements on the tube in:
o a) 2021
o b) over the last 5 years
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2037-2122
Thank you for your request received on 5 December 2021 asking for information about advertisements placed on our network.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:
1. Could you please list how many adverts have been displayed on the London Transport Network in 2021 that relate to a) Cryptocurrency
Please see the information requested in the table below:
Figure 1 - Name of company and number of adverts displayed on our advertising network in 2021* relating to cryptocurrency Year of Booking Company No. of adverts (all formats) Length of time booked 2020 Crypto.com 4 x D6s 1/1/2020 - TBC 2020 Luno Money Ltd 150 x Supersides 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 250 x New Bus for London (NBfL) 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 150 x 16 sheets 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 320 x 6 sheet 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 320 x 6 sheets 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 150 x Supersides 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2020 Luno Money Ltd 250 x NBfL 14/12/2020 - 10/1/2021 2021 Etoro 200 x 6 sheets 15/11/2021 - 28/11/2021 2021 Etoro 20 x 58 sheets 15/11/2021 - 28/11/2021 2021 Etoro 2200 x TCPS 15/11/2021 - 28/11/2021 2021 Floki 300 x Supersides 18/10/2021 - 31/2010/21 2021 Floki 300 x Lift & Escalator Panels (LEPs) 18/10/2021 - 31/2010/21 2021 Floki 2200 x Tube and Rail Car Panels (TRCPs) 18/10/2021 - 31/2010/21 2021 Floki 78 x D6s 18/10/2021 - 31/2010/21 2021 BOTS 3300 x TCPs 18/10/2021- 31/10/2021 2021 BOTS 3300 x TCPs 01/11/2021- 14/111/2021 2021 BOTS 3300 x TCPs 29/11/2021- 12/12/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 719 x 6 sheet 19/04/2021-02/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 200 x Supersides 17/05/2021- 30/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x bb (New Bus for London) 17/05/2021- 30/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x 12 sheet 17/05/2021- 30/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x 04 17/05/2021- 30/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 4400 x TCPs 17/05/2021- 30/05/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 150 x Supersides 14/12/2020- 10/01/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 250 x BB 14/12/2020- 10/01/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 200 x Superside 14/06/2021- 27/06/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x bb (New Bus for London) 14/06/2021- 27/06/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x 04 14/06/2021- 27/06/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 75 x 12 sheet 14/06/2021- 27/06/2021 2021 Luno Money Ltd 4400 x TCPs 14/06/2021- 27/06/2021 2021 Win Investing 1 x Superside 18/10/2021- 31/10/2021 2021 Win Investing 2200 x TCPs 18/10/2021- 31/10/2021 2021 Gadget Geek 24 x Supersides 29/11/2021 - 13/12/2021 2021 Gadget Geek 64 x LEPs 29/11/2021 - 13/12/2021 2021 Gadget Geek 1100 x TCPs 29/11/2021 - 13/12/2021 2021 Coinbase 95 x D6 19/07/2021 - 01/08/2021 2021 Coinbase 20 x D6s 19/07/2021 - 08/08/2021 2021 V3 Digital 37 x 16 sheet 28/06/2021- 11/07/2021 2021 V3 Digital 4 x 48 sheet 28/06/2021- 11/07/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 15 x Superside 12/07/2021- 25/07/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 10 x Superside 12/07/2021- 25/07/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 30 x 4 sheet 12/07/2021- 25/07/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 10 x Superside 26/07/2021- 08/08/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 15 x Superside 26/07/2021- 08/08/2021 2021 Hakuna Matata 35 x 04 26/07/2021- 08/08/2021 2021 Puglife 21 x D6 1/6/2021 - 14/06/2021 2021 Hex 36 x 16 sheet 12/07/2021- 25/07/2021 2021 Hex 8800 x TCPs 12/07/2021- 25/07/2021 2021 Bitcoin Point 42 x lower rears 94 x Lower Deck (LD) 08/11/2021- 05/12/2021 08/11/2021- 05/12/2021 2021 Kraken 533 x 6 sheets 20/09/2021 - 12/12/2021 2021 Kraken 257 x D6 20/09/2021 - 03/10/2021 *Quarter (Q) 1-2 (April 2021-September 2021) b) Investing
We are unable to provide this information as it is not a defined category that our media partners report against.
2. Please list the amount of adverts according to type of transport (underground, bus, overground etc)
We do not hold this information. Most advertising campaigns are purchased from general distribution packages, which include assets across multiple modes, such as DLR, tube, and TfL Rail. a) Please provide a full list of all companies that have paid for these types of advertisements
See Figure 1. 3. Can you also let me know how much each company has paid for advertisements on the tube in: a) 2021 b) over the last 5 years
We have provided the revenue from all cryptocurrency campaigns on our networks from 2018/19 to Q1 and Q2 in 2021 in Figure 2 below. Some of the campaigns will have featured non-cryptocurrency content.
Figure 2 - Revenue from all cryptocurrency campaigns and all trading platform campaigns on TfL’s advertising network* Year Total Revenue (£) 2018/2019 444,361 2019/2020 165,023 2020/2021 (Q1-Q2) 215,861 TOTAL 825,245 *We do not receive revenue from adverts on buses, however bus adverts do still have to comply with our advertising policy. The campaign details for bus campaigns are included in Figure 1 *Includes revenue for a campaign for Kraken which started in September 2021 but runs until December 2021
Our media partners classify advertising sales into a range of pre-defined categories using the sales representative’s best judgement based upon the copy to be shown in the advertisement. Please note that the figures provided above is the gross figure received, it is not what TfL receives from these campaigns. Please note that any revenue received by TfL from these campaigns forms a small proportion of TfL’s overall income from commercial media. We are not able to break these figures down into quarters, as they are booked as one campaign. For example: ‘Etoro’ booked a campaign with four advert designs; two of which were for cryptocurrencies and the other two for stock investments. Therefore, the whole campaign has been included in Figure 2. We do not hold data from before 2018, as that was the first year that we requested to see all cryptocurrency bookings from our media partners. Prior to that any cryptocurrency advertising was not recorded as a separate category.
In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to provide the information we hold on the revenue received from each individual company as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2) – prejudice to commercial interests.
In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied as disclosure would be likely to prejudice our commercial interests as well as those of our media partners, by affecting our ability to achieve best value from our advertising estate.
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that we can benefit the public purse by achieving the best value from our advertising estate outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes.
If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
