Just Eat Takeaway.com has launched a new AI-powered advertising platform designed to help restaurants, retailers and consumer brands target customers across its European delivery network.

The new platform, JETads, is now live in all 14 of the company's European markets. Just Eat Takeaway.com said it gives advertisers access to an audience of 59 million active consumers, 592 million annual orders and more than 342,000 restaurant and grocery partners.

The company added JETads uses AI to analyse billions of interactions between consumers and merchants on the platform. The system aims to identify customer intent and deliver adverts based on when and what people are most likely to order.

The platform supports three groups of advertisers. Restaurant and grocery partners can promote their businesses in search results and browsing pages, while fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands can advertise as shoppers build their baskets. Brands outside the food and grocery sectors can display adverts after customers complete an order while they track its delivery.

The platform runs on the Prosus Large Commerce Model, an AI model developed by Just Eat Takeaway.com's parent company, Prosus. According to the company, the model analyses customer behaviour to predict purchasing intent and improve the relevance of advertising.

Examples include recommending different restaurants depending on the day of the week or identifying households that regularly place larger family orders.

Just Eat Takeaway.com said the platform also provides closed-loop measurement, allowing advertisers to track how campaigns influence basket additions and completed orders.

The launch forms part of the company's wider AI strategy, which focuses on using data and machine learning to personalise customer experiences, improve logistics and create new commercial opportunities for partners.

David Vismans, chief growth officer at Just Eat Takeaway.com, said: “We built JETads from scratch, for the AI era. The timing gave us the chance to ask what advertising should look like if you design it properly today, instead of copying what already works.

“The goals haven't changed: helping advertisers reach the right audience with as little friction as possible, and bringing a more relevant offering to our customers. With the scale of JET and the AI of Prosus behind us, we can make partner investment genuinely efficient.”

Last month, Just Eat was forced to apologise after its AI-generated pictures depicting food items did not turn out as planned.

The tool, which was being tested, put together images including bacon and eggs floating in a glass of cola and potato chips in muffins.

A Just Eat spokesperson told the BBC the firm was “in the process of removing” the incorrect images, and would stop making more until the AI was further developed.

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