Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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Google is expected to cash in on most of this year's digital display ad spending, according to eMarketer. The frm predicts the search engine will bring in about $3.11 billion in 2013, up from $2.26 billion in 2012. Facebook, which was pushed out of the top spot last year, should expect $2.75 billion of ad revenue in 2013, up from $2.18 billion last year, the frm says. Google released fndings from its "Constant Consideration Research Study" in January on its "Think Insights: Automotive" page. Brand infuence can be won or lost during pre-, inand post-market moments. satisfed with what Google is ofering. During the 2013 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in February, Google Cars' listing of vehicle pricing was called out during a heated discussion between Michael Rose, Google's industry expert for the auto vertical, and vAuto Founder Dale Pollak. Te exchange was captured by several attendees on their smartphones. Pollak called out Google for "arguably touching of the race to the bottom" by publishing transaction prices. "We're certainly seeing some trauma in the industry recently because of similar programs," he said. Rose f red back, saying he does not expect MSRPs on Google to drop as more dealers join the service, adding that dealer-installed options like alarm systems are the cause of price fuctuations. "We're not part of the race to the bottom … We know our average prices are higher than the average price being sold," Rose responded. "We've gotten a lot of feedback from dealers. Our price being wrong is not one of them." MAKE ROOM Media reports have foated that Google Dealers in the San Francisco Bay area are piloting Google Cars, where car shoppers can search inventory at local dealerships without ever leaving Google. could soon expand its new service into other markets, but a spokesperson for the company says there are no such plans at this time. "We are continuing to get feedback to make improvements to the beta feature and look forward to helping to connect more users who are looking to purchase a car with the dealers who can get them the cars they want." Vehicle merchandising sites are also keeping tabs on Google Cars. Representatives from Edmunds, AutoTrader and Cars. com tell F&I; and Showroom that their respective sites bring something diferent to the table than what Google is testing. Tat goes for Facebook, too. Te strictly auto-focused sites claim that Facebook and Google act more like partners than rivals, adding that they have not seen any impact from the piloting of Google Cars. "Naturally, when they launched in Northern California, many of us were nervous about the potential impact to our business. And then nothing happened," says Seth Berkowitz, president and COO of Edmunds. "We saw no downturn in trafc, no fall in lead volumes, and our business continued to grow with dealers in Northern California." Kevin Filan, AutoTrader's vice president of consumer marketing, says it's too early to predict the impact Google Cars will have on the way consumers shop for cars. "Consumers are now spending over 18 hours shopping for a vehicle, with 60 percent of that time spent online," he says. "Tey utilize several sites throughout that process, so we shouldn't see a new ofering from a company such as Google or Facebook as an either/or option when compared to AutoTrader.com." Cars.com's Chief Marketing Ofcer Linda Bartman concurs. "Facebook and Google are also destinations, but they're not built to take a car shopper through the purchase process in the same way," she says. Edmunds' Berkowitz ofers a diferent take on the race between the two digital media giants. "I've been to well over a hundred dealerships in the past 12 months, and all of them lament how difcult it is to contend with the fragmented reviews industry," he says. "Tey have to monitor and encourage people to post on Edmunds, Cars.com, Google, Yelp, DealerRater, etc. Should Facebook emerge as the winner in that space, we will happily post their reviews if it helps our customers evaluate dealers." M AY 2013 • AUTODE ALE R MONTHLY.COM 17