Quite an interesting read. As someone who's been in the industry for a while now, I've seen a lot of bad SEO simply because the clients don't know any better. Of course this allegation takes it to a whole new level if it's true. Dealer education on these issues (whether it's through DealerRefresh or some other industry site) won't stop it from happening, but it can stop it from happening on such a large scale. Kudos to Tim and those who have reposted the original article...

Not a promo, but I've used the Google Analytic code with stellar success for determining what top keywords were used to arrive on our website - for free - and with incontrovertible accuracy! We found Google shows us what terminology 90%+ of our visitors are entering into the search box to find us. We also know through our website vendors back end tools that 87% of our total visitors are coming through Google. With that said, why would I need 800 more keywords, when I know exactly via Google what people are keying in to find us? So now that we know the keywords and terms people are searching to find us, we tag images, videos, and everything else with those search terms and keywords discovered through Google Analytic's. Add those terms to page titles, page meta tags, H1 and H2 - and you're getting better results better than any SEO expert can promise. 

@razasau88 http://t.co/FUqyG90M

There we go on the cars in EUO PSA Peugeot Citroën, the struggling French automaker, has been ordered by an appeals court to temporarily halt carrying out its plan to shed workers in France. But the company said the ruling would not affect its overhaul in the long run. The Paris Court of Appeals partially overturned a September decision by a lower tribunal, agreeing with a union complaint that Peugeot had failed to adequately discuss its revamping plans with workers at Faurecia Intérieurs Industries, an auto parts maker in which it owns a majority stake. The appeals court reached the decision Monday, but did not make it public until Tuesday. The appeals court held that Faurecia — which is also seeking to cut jobs — must formally consult with its workers before Peugeot can begin putting its own plan into effect. Faurecia said Tuesday that it would begin the consultation process “without delay.” A Peugeot spokesman, Pierre-Olivier Salmon, said the decision would have little practical effect on the company's plans because “we’re only in the negotiation phase now, anyway.” The appeals court left untouched the tribunal’s dismissal of the union’s request to overturn Peugeot’s restructuring plan. Peugeot is battling to regain its footing in a European auto market that shrank by more than 8 percent last year. It is particularly vulnerable to the slump because it does not have a large presence in high-profit luxury vehicles and is dependent on the European market, including southern European countries that have been badly dented by the sovereign debt crisis. The company said last year that it would close its plant in Aulnay-sous-Bois, near Paris, and was aiming to cut 8,000 jobs of the roughly 97,000 people it employs in France. Peugeot said it hoped to achieve the staff cuts mainly by offering early retirement and buyouts. It has also said it will not replace some other departing workers as it seeks to reduce its total French work force by around 11,200 jobs by mid-2014. Strikes and other industrial actions have become common, with union employees on Monday interrupting production at the Aulnay facility for a time. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA

In order to keep up the recovery momentum in the world economy, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde today asked countries and their leaders to "I will pursue with 'do not relax' principle. The forecast is for a very fragile recovery in 2013 and that is why I will emphasise on do not relax," Lagarde said here at the World Economic Forum(WEF) Annual Meeting. Speaking at a session on the global economic outlook, she said central banks across the world have taken some tough decisions in the recent past and some political leaders are also doing their part on recovery process. "Some difficult decisions are still due in the US and Europe. Follow the 'do not relax' principle and not let complacency come into their efforts. The competitiveness of Eurozone has to be there," she said, adding that growth has certainly picked up in the US. "For emerging economies, particularly China, re-balancing the business model towards more domestic and more consumption- oriented and less export-focused is going to be there," the IMF Managing Director said. The panellists noted that the recovery process has only began and was far from over.  I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA

Solid economic news seems to be everywhere these days. The stock market is on a tear, initial jobless claims are at a five-year low and gas prices are below $3.50 a gallon. The country averted the full impact of the fiscal cliff and pushed off a debt-ceiling showdown that threatened to destabilize the global economy. Despite all that, consumer confidence as measured by the Conference Board’s index dropped to its lowest level since November 2011. The big-picture plusses were not enough to outweigh the hit to Pocketbooks inflicted by the 2-percentage point payroll tax increase that took effect at the start of the year. “Consumers are more pessimistic about the economic outlook and, in particular, their financial situation,” the Conference Board’s Lynn Franco said in a statement accompanying the report. “The increase in the payroll tax has undoubtedly dampened consumers’ spirits and it may take a while for confidence to rebound and consumers to recover from their initial pay check shock.” The index of
 
consumer attitudes came in at 58.6, down from a revised 66.7 in December. Economists had been expecting a reading of 64. “In one word: ‘Awful,’” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomic Advisors. “Today’s report presumably reflects fiscal cliff fears and, perhaps, the first hit from the rise in the payroll tax. The danger now is that these numbers could slide even further, even though expectations are already low enough to point to a decline in spending.” The Conference Board report reflected responses through January 17, and economists will be looking to Friday’s release of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index to see if the pocketbook pessimism continued throughout the month. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA

The Dutch seems to come fast in Philips Philips Electronics agreed to sell itsaudio and video business to Japan's Funai Electric Cofor 150 million euros ($202 million), quitting a traditional sector to focus on its more profitable appliances and healthcare operations. The Dutch group had already hived off its troubled television business by setting up a joint venture with Hong Kong-based TPV last year, after struggling for years to compete with lower-cost Asian makers of consumer electronics. With consumers going online for music, films and games rather than buying CDs and DVDs, Philips decided to get out of home entertainment even though it was profitable last year, Chief Executive Frans van Houten said, adding that the business was shrinking and "margin dilutive". "This completes the repositioning away from consumer electronics," van Houten told Reuters Insider. In future, the consumer division will focus on appliances such as shavers, toasters, juicers and coffee makers. Philips shares rose 1.4 per cent to 22.2 euros, trading at the highest level since April 2011. Analysts welcomed the deal as "an important divestment" that could fan hopes of further disposals in the consumer portfolio. Philips, which will also receive licence fees from Funai, reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 355 million euros - widening from a year-ago loss of 160 million euros - as it cited previously flagged provisions and charges. The group had already warned last month that it would take a provision of 509 million euros to cover an European Union fine for cartel practices in its television business, and that restructuring charges would be higher than previously estimated. Philips reported three consecutive quarters of better-than-expected net profit in 2012, after struggling with weak economic growth, fragile consumer spending and government budget cuts in several markets. The fourth-quarter results showed that underlying profit improved significantly following job cuts, disposals and a focus on core businesses. Adjusted quarterly earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) was 875 million euros - up almost 50 per cent from a year ago and the best quarter in the past two years. Sales rose 3 per cent to 7.161 billion euros. Analysts had forecast adjusted EBITA of 847 million euros, a net loss of 308 million euros and sales of 7.161 billion euros. Sales and profits rose at the healthcare division, which sells home oxygen kits, hospital scanners and ultrasound systems, and at the consumer business. Excluding restructuring and acquisition charges, EBITA for the lighting business - which has been hit by a slowdown in the construction market - also rose from a year ago. Philips said it was on track to achieve its end-2013 targets of sales growth of between 4 and 6 per cent, a margin on EBITA of 10 to 12 per cent and a return on invested capital of 12 to 14 per cent. Mistakes are part of the dues that one pays for a full life. -Sophia Loren, actress (b. 1934)  I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
 
 
 
The UK's problem does have an economic problem of being dependent on financial services and not having much else, of course it isn't run efficiently, food has to be imported and the cost of living is high, this squeezes the middle class, in addition Cameron targeted spending cuts mostly at the middle class in order to please liberals who want the poor taken care of and the wealthy, the wealthy are important but often don't feel the pain, not for taxes, but for what the middle class goes through with high cost of living for basic goods and services, ask many lower and middle income folks and they will till you while the UK is great for opportunity, its simply not as great as the United States. In addition, who knows what Scotland will do, break up? I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA

@Sell my car today I Agree with you.

The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. -Jean-Paul Sartre, writer and philosopher (1905-1980) I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA

I am happy when reading your blog with updated information! thanks alot and hope that you will post more site that are related to this site.

This is such a great post, and was thinking much the same myself. Another great update.

Mike, I realize it's probably been a couple of months since we've been in touch, but I just noticed this comment and realized that we've got a ton of new functionality since we last spoke (automatic fully-formatted HTML email, automatic texting to mobile numbers, etc.
 
Contact us if you're interested in seeing how our product has evolved!

Thanks for this great post, i find it very interesting and very well thought out and put together. I look forward to reading your work in the future.

This post sort my query which i am looking for. Thanks for the author for this nice post.

In mid 2007 I finally registered the domain AutoVideoQuote.com because having been the ISM for about 7 years at that time, I thought video was a great idea - despite not too many auto pros at the time being in agreement with me, including some DR people. But I saw the need early for personalized video responses to set oneself apart, and video is simply like nothing else, the next best thing to being there. After looking at the architecture behind this new product, it's exactly what I envisioned, but never got going myself. Perhaps we can partner up - who wouldn't love to send out AutoVideoQuotes? Nobody else is! This is why I love the car business, so many great minds constantly at work.

Hey Mike,
It's all good. As we discussed, we're focused on making the process as simple and easy as possible. We have begun integrations with other automotive platforms as well, so keep an eye out for those. Good discussion and if you have other ideas for us, please send them along. We're building a platform for auto dealers, so the more input from the industry, the better.
-Len

Hey Mike,
It's all good. As we discussed, we're focused on making video as simple and easy as possible. We have begun integrations with other automotive platforms as well, so keep an eye out for those. Good discussion and if you have other ideas for us, please send them along. We're building a platform auto dealers so the more input from the industry, the better.
-Len

Len,
 
Let me again say that I like your product.  I like what you're doing, and I do see the value in what you are offering.  As it stands, I can upload videos to any number of free services like screencast.  They allow for private hosting and give me the ability to simply send a link to a customer in an email so there is no embedding.  Youtube has it's downside, but files can be made private there as well.  Your platform does provide extra branding and the ability to create a personal relationship with the customer by putting his/her picture beside the video.  There are many things I like about your product.  In fact, your product is the only one I'm aware of that is even attempting to do something like this.  Simply put, I like where you're heading, but I think it's a little clumsy at the moment and it's not quite there yet.  Maybe it's me.  This is one man's opinion.  I know you talk to many dealers, and if I'm the odd man out then then I'll just have to wait for someone to create a product that is more in line with what I'm looking for. 

Hi Mike (@mcampo2501),
I appreciate the time you spent with me on the phone yesterday. Interesting comments, but I'd respectfully disagree with your assessment that you can do most of this yourself and that the only thing you're getting for your monthly investment is the mobile upload. You're leaving out the simplification of sending the videos to your customers, the dealership and sales rep branded communication, the moderation, etc. 
 
For example, how are you sending the video? If you're embedding it in an email, then there is a good chance it won't be received by the recipient (the file size is way too big). How do you personalize each email for each of your reps so that the video is embedded in it and it looks like a video postcard? Where do you host the video if you're not just sending embedded via email? If you're putting it on YouTube, you know that your competitors are advertising against you and you're sending your customers away from your dealership. How are you tracking that the video was viewed? There is no way to do the above unless you have a platform that hosts and serves the videos, like Authntk.
 
It really is as easy as having the salesperson shoot the video and hit submit. From there, the sales manager is alerted via email to review the video and then they can approve it and can email the link to the prospect. Quality control is a requirement for many of the dealers we've talked to.
 
The point of Authntk is that we want to make the process super simple, and we'll continue to evolve and enhance our platform to that end. Editing is another whole issue and to your point, something that no BDC agent or salesperson is going to do. 
In my experience, prospects don't expect fully polished, studio production quality video. I believe that they just want to see the vehicle and have some kind of information on the salesperson who they'll be meeting so that when they walk in to the dealership, they feel like they've already met. Relationships really do sell more vehicles.
Len Ostroff
CEO, Authntk (www.walkaroundvideos.com)

I really like the concept here of simplifying video communication.  I recently spoke with the good folks at Autntk and feel like there's something there, but I don't get the feeling there's a finished product yet.  If I already have a webcam and am making my own video in windows movie maker, the only thing I'm getting for my monthly investment is the ability to shoot with my mobile device and have a more instant upload to the streaming service.  Yes, the player is a nice touch, and the reporting is valuable.  But if I want to do any editing, I'm going to have to download the video and upload again when I'm done.  This process is basically the same as what I'm able to do now, for free.  The way I see this being successful, is if it worked like Jing.   Shoot your video and instantly get a link back to insert into your email.  If the BDC agent or salesperson has to do anything more than shoot the video, they're simply not going to use it as much as they should.  In short, this is a service that has a lot of value and dealers need.  This specific solution needs a little more polish and needs to further simplify the process before it makes sense to spend any money on.  I'm anxious to see how this product evolves. 

@Dealerrefresh I am going to try it. Facebook has been really slow on iPhone and aggravating.

@EleyDuke let me know if you use it and how it works out for you.

I'll probably use this for my online business so I'll be able to do business while on the go.

Different Josh here, just saying, no comparable app for Android?  First app I'm getting for my soon-to-have iPhone5.  I've been wanting to use something like this on my Android.  What's the story re: iPhone only?