- Oct 20, 2015
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- Abe
Someone here must know. I've scoured the internet, called/emailed Yahoo, asked my website provider (Dealer.com), and no one seems to know.
How do we get our inventory on Yahoo Autos?
- Thread starter Mid-Grade Ford
- Start date
- Oct 28, 2012
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- Chris K
- Oct 20, 2015
- 44
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- Abe
I guess they used to but their partnership ended back in ~2012.
http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/cars-com-and-yahoo-split-someone-please-explain.2645
http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/cars-com-and-yahoo-split-someone-please-explain.2645
- Oct 28, 2012
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- First Name
- Chris K
- Oct 20, 2015
- 44
- 17
- Awards
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- Abe
Oh nice, thanks. I've never heard of Detroit Trading. I wonder if they exclusively power Yahoo Autos listings or if they are just one of many companies that have deals with Yahoo.
- Oct 20, 2015
- 44
- 17
- Awards
- 2
- First Name
- Abe
OK, I've done a bit more research. Now I've learned that 3rd party lead aggregating companies are a thing and Autobytel and Detroit Trading are just two competing companies in that industry.
So now I'm wondering, is it even possible to list your inventory on Yahoo Autos without going through one of these lead aggregating companies? I don't like how these lead aggregators refuse to tell you where their leads are coming from. Sure, they will list our inventory on Yahoo, but then when we get a lead from that Yahoo listing, they won't tell us it's from Yahoo? That seems shady. I don't see any reason they would want to keep the lead sources secret unless a large portion of the their leads are from junk sources.
So now I'm wondering, is it even possible to list your inventory on Yahoo Autos without going through one of these lead aggregating companies? I don't like how these lead aggregators refuse to tell you where their leads are coming from. Sure, they will list our inventory on Yahoo, but then when we get a lead from that Yahoo listing, they won't tell us it's from Yahoo? That seems shady. I don't see any reason they would want to keep the lead sources secret unless a large portion of the their leads are from junk sources.
- Oct 28, 2012
- 411
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- 5
- First Name
- Chris K
Exactly,
It's kind of a shady practice all in all. No one really wants to talk about just how dirty it is.
It's kind of a shady practice all in all. No one really wants to talk about just how dirty it is.
- Apr 25, 2011
- 14
- 7
- First Name
- Jake
I’d like to point out a couple of things, Ibrahim and Chris:
1. Yahoo Autos, just like many other classified sites, gets their data from aggregators because they don’t want to be in the classified business (at least for now). Hiring hundreds/thousands of reps to sell dealer packages, service accounts, building an inventory management system, marketing, etc. is a whole different ballgame, just ask Autotrader. This doesn’t make Yahoo Autos bad, it’s just the way they choose to do business...they focus on the display of vehicles and not the other more time consuming (and expensive) aspects of it.
2. Many aggregators power Yahoo Autos, including the ones you mentioned Cars.com, Detroit Trading, and even my own company. Yahoo does not charge aggregators for this, but if you want your vehicles on Yahoo Autos you probably do need to go through an aggregator as I’m not aware of any direct listings on their site.
3. Some classified sites we send vehicles to (such as Vast.com and Oodle.com) syndicate content for further distribution. A vehicle we send to Vast for example, can literally end up on thousands of other sites. Some will be more well known such as AOL Autos or Yahoo Autos, while others will be sites that some kid designed in his parents basement. The latter is made possible by the actual companies (Vast/Oodle) because they have an API giving anyone access to “plug in” to their inventory for display on their own classified sites.
4. I don’t see this as a “shady” or “dirty” practice; we as providers/aggregators are trying to get the most exposure for each and every client we work with. Here’s the caveat though, and where my philosophy digresses from that of my competitors. Most providers send vehicles in such a way that the leads are routed back to the provider and THEN to the dealer, not directly to the dealer. They do this for one of two reasons. First, for some sites this can mean backlinks to the dealer’s site, improving SEO and retaining some control over how the shopper engages the dealer. Second, a small number of providers send in such a way that the leads come directly from the 3rd party sites (e.g. Yahoo Autos). This, in my opinion, offers more transparency to the dealer as to which sites are performing best. So why would a provider opt to have ads link back to the dealer site rather than allowing shoppers to submit contact forms on partner sites like Yahoo? Simple: it makes them look better. Even if half of the shoppers abandon the dealer site after linking to it, it still makes the provider look better by having more traffic/leads on the dealer site than they would without using the partner site. This of course may come at a cost though. Let me break it down in an example for clarification:
Dealer A uses a company that sends to Vast.com for distribution, and that company sends in a way that each ad links back to the VDP on the dealer site. No actions are performed on AOL Autos other than searches. Any leads must come from the shopper filling out a contact form on the dealer’s site, and naturally there will be some abandonment.
Dealer B uses a company that sends to Vast.com and that company sends in a way that each ad is hosted on AOL Autos. Contact forms are sent direct to the dealer from AOL Autos.
Dealer B will likely get more contacts, even if only slightly more. Dealer A will likely be happier with their provider because it looks like all leads are coming directly from the provider, but in reality, Dealer B is getting more action.
Personally I would prefer to be Dealer B and get more leads, but my company is not the “normal” company in this regard. Making it look like we’re providing more leads (or at least being able to better show accountability for those leads) is less important to me than actually providing our clients with more leads. Simply “looking great” to our clients is an insurance policy, but does a disservice to the clients, something I’m not willing to do.
So on to my last point: getting listings on Yahoo Autos. I honestly don’t even know which of our partners syndicates to Yahoo (the list of their partner sites is staggering, and they don’t even offer a complete list). My suggestion to you would be to list on either Vast or Oodle as they’re the largest free aggregators. Here are some good starting points:
http://www.vast.com/about/autos/auto-dealers.html
http://www.oodle.com/info/feed/
Hope this sheds some light on a fairly complex issue which as you know, is difficult to get any info on. Except of course here on DealerRefresh!
1. Yahoo Autos, just like many other classified sites, gets their data from aggregators because they don’t want to be in the classified business (at least for now). Hiring hundreds/thousands of reps to sell dealer packages, service accounts, building an inventory management system, marketing, etc. is a whole different ballgame, just ask Autotrader. This doesn’t make Yahoo Autos bad, it’s just the way they choose to do business...they focus on the display of vehicles and not the other more time consuming (and expensive) aspects of it.
2. Many aggregators power Yahoo Autos, including the ones you mentioned Cars.com, Detroit Trading, and even my own company. Yahoo does not charge aggregators for this, but if you want your vehicles on Yahoo Autos you probably do need to go through an aggregator as I’m not aware of any direct listings on their site.
3. Some classified sites we send vehicles to (such as Vast.com and Oodle.com) syndicate content for further distribution. A vehicle we send to Vast for example, can literally end up on thousands of other sites. Some will be more well known such as AOL Autos or Yahoo Autos, while others will be sites that some kid designed in his parents basement. The latter is made possible by the actual companies (Vast/Oodle) because they have an API giving anyone access to “plug in” to their inventory for display on their own classified sites.
4. I don’t see this as a “shady” or “dirty” practice; we as providers/aggregators are trying to get the most exposure for each and every client we work with. Here’s the caveat though, and where my philosophy digresses from that of my competitors. Most providers send vehicles in such a way that the leads are routed back to the provider and THEN to the dealer, not directly to the dealer. They do this for one of two reasons. First, for some sites this can mean backlinks to the dealer’s site, improving SEO and retaining some control over how the shopper engages the dealer. Second, a small number of providers send in such a way that the leads come directly from the 3rd party sites (e.g. Yahoo Autos). This, in my opinion, offers more transparency to the dealer as to which sites are performing best. So why would a provider opt to have ads link back to the dealer site rather than allowing shoppers to submit contact forms on partner sites like Yahoo? Simple: it makes them look better. Even if half of the shoppers abandon the dealer site after linking to it, it still makes the provider look better by having more traffic/leads on the dealer site than they would without using the partner site. This of course may come at a cost though. Let me break it down in an example for clarification:
Dealer A uses a company that sends to Vast.com for distribution, and that company sends in a way that each ad links back to the VDP on the dealer site. No actions are performed on AOL Autos other than searches. Any leads must come from the shopper filling out a contact form on the dealer’s site, and naturally there will be some abandonment.
Dealer B uses a company that sends to Vast.com and that company sends in a way that each ad is hosted on AOL Autos. Contact forms are sent direct to the dealer from AOL Autos.
Dealer B will likely get more contacts, even if only slightly more. Dealer A will likely be happier with their provider because it looks like all leads are coming directly from the provider, but in reality, Dealer B is getting more action.
Personally I would prefer to be Dealer B and get more leads, but my company is not the “normal” company in this regard. Making it look like we’re providing more leads (or at least being able to better show accountability for those leads) is less important to me than actually providing our clients with more leads. Simply “looking great” to our clients is an insurance policy, but does a disservice to the clients, something I’m not willing to do.
So on to my last point: getting listings on Yahoo Autos. I honestly don’t even know which of our partners syndicates to Yahoo (the list of their partner sites is staggering, and they don’t even offer a complete list). My suggestion to you would be to list on either Vast or Oodle as they’re the largest free aggregators. Here are some good starting points:
http://www.vast.com/about/autos/auto-dealers.html
http://www.oodle.com/info/feed/
Hope this sheds some light on a fairly complex issue which as you know, is difficult to get any info on. Except of course here on DealerRefresh!
- May 1, 2005
- 4,501
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- First Name
- Jeff
What inventory management service are you using (homenet, vauto, VIN, lotwizard, etc.) ??
- Oct 26, 2015
- 1
- 0
- First Name
- carl
Vast is a MAJOR player and will get your inventory exposed to many different audiences. Detroit Trading is a wholesaler of audiences and leads and they tend to be more grey then black or white, but that is because they are just a platform for trade and not always in control of the companies and data that is sold on their platform.
