Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

Dealers are experiencing issues with Google My Business overriding their curated photo selections and instead displaying irrelevant user-submitted photos (toilets, construction sites, chairs) on SERPs, with Google support offering only manual removal as a solution that doesn't scale across multiple client accounts. The thread reveals that Google changed its policies from allowing dealers to define specific photo types (profile, logo, cover) to a system where any uploaded photo may be chosen for display, while user submissions are also prioritized unpredictably. No practical workaround or solution emerges from the discussion, leaving dealers frustrated with the lack of control over their business listings' visual presentation.

A dealership manager asks for recommendations on free Facebook apps to manage inventory and business page content, but the thread consensus strongly advises against relying on page apps or organic content—instead emphasizing that Facebook's real value lies in paid advertising with sophisticated targeting capabilities. Multiple experienced dealers explain that business Facebook pages are rarely revisited after being liked, making Lead Ads integrated with CRM systems (like LeadsBridge) a far more effective use of Facebook than static page management tools.

Craigslist implemented a CAPTCHA on login that blocks automated updates to listings (deletions, price changes, vehicle swaps), though initial API posting still works. The debate centers on whether vendors should use CAPTCHA-bypass services to restore automation: yagoparamo strongly advises against it due to legal risks and potential account bans, while Alexander Lau argues vendors and dealers can accept that risk themselves. The key insight is that attempting to circumvent CL's security measures exposes dealers to account suspension and potential litigation, making it a decision dealers must make knowingly rather than one vendors should facilitate.

A digital strategist shares a strategy for increasing car sales by using service department interactions to identify and incentivize trade-in opportunities—specifically by attaching promotional "checks" to service repair orders for vehicles in favorable equity positions. The discussion reveals that dealerships can leverage equity-mining software tools like DealerSocket's RevenueRadar or AutoAlert to systematically identify service customers as sales prospects, with some dealers augmenting this by performing appraisals on lifts and offering test drives while customers wait for service.

A dealer shares news about Clarivoy and Dealer Inspire's partnership to improve ROI attribution by de-anonymizing the 80% of dealership customers who browse online but don't convert through trackable website leads. The discussion shifts to technical skepticism about how de-anonymization actually works, with participants debating whether the solution relies on device IDs or fingerprinting given browser limitations that have crippled traditional cookie-based tracking methods.

A credit union in Colorado seeks a vendor to host an online auction platform for 3-5 repossessed vehicles monthly, ideally with the ability to embed or link it from their website without building custom code. Respondents suggest exploring eBay integration with an embedded store, checking out WideStorm by DealerPeak as a potential automation tool, and contacting DealerSimplified, though no definitive solution is confirmed as currently available in this niche market.

A GM seeks peer recommendations and direct experience with Auto Alert, a marketing tool, and wants to speak with someone actively using it. One dealer immediately offers to share his experience across multiple locations, providing his contact number. The thread demonstrates quick community willingness to provide practical, real-world guidance on vendor tools.

Ed Brooks from Cars.com argues that dealers overly focused on price-driven leads miss opportunities to compete on other factors—reputation, product quality, and sales expertise—collectively called the "New Four Ps of Automotive Marketing." While commenters acknowledge that price-focused strategies can work for certain dealers and customer segments, the consensus is that the most effective approach combines all four factors rather than relying on price alone to drive lead generation and conversions.

The thread discusses a viral incident where a California couple caught a dealership employee joyriding their Special Edition Chevy Camaro through a fast-food drive-through, with the customer filming the confrontation and posting it to social media. The case raises broader questions about whether employee joyriding is a widespread dealership problem and the reputational damage that social media exposure can cause. The thread invites dealers to share whether they've experienced similar incidents and how they handle the risk.

Salete initiates a discussion asking automotive industry professionals to identify and discuss dealers, vendors, or Internet Sales Management (ISM) companies they consider "best in class" across various operational areas like processes, sales techniques, compensation, and progressive practices. The post invites recommendations and benchmarking examples, citing independent dealers like Ecarlink and Texas Direct as models worth emulating. The thread appears designed to crowdsource best practices and identify industry leaders worthy of replication.

Cars.com announced an aggressive fourth quarter 2017 marketing campaign featuring multi-media advertising to promote new pricing tools and its database of five million reviews. The thread is minimal, consisting mainly of the company's press release with one brief positive reply from a forum member sharing Facebook video links to the campaign spots. No substantive dealer discussion or insights about the campaign's impact emerged.

Cars.com announced the hiring of Darren Haygood as senior vice president of commercial strategy in September 2017, bringing nearly 20 years of automotive industry experience from previous roles at Transparency AI and Dealer.com. The announcement highlights Cars.com's strategic focus on delivering value to dealer partners through data-driven insights and mobile attribution expertise. The thread appears to be an industry news post with no substantive dealer discussion or commentary visible in the excerpt provided.

Cars.com announced a new feature called "Salesperson Connect" that allows consumers to contact individual salespeople at dealerships directly through the platform before visiting the lot, positioning Cars.com as the only third-party site offering this capability. The feature integrates DealerRater review data with Cars.com's Vehicle Details Pages to personalize the car shopping experience and facilitate early engagement between buyers and sales staff.

A digital marketing professional shares her perspective after returning to the US from five years abroad, noting how dramatically the expectations of online shoppers have evolved. The thread explores how dealership websites must match the seamless, intuitive digital experiences consumers now encounter everywhere else in their lives. The key insight is that car dealers risk losing shoppers whose baseline expectations have been set by best-in-class e-commerce experiences.

Russell James, owner of a newly opened independent dealership, is seeking recommendations for indirect lending sources to finance customer vehicle purchases. The thread likely contains responses from experienced dealers and vendors sharing their preferred lender contacts and advice for establishing lending relationships as a startup operation.

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Dealer.com's platform was inflating direct traffic metrics in Google Analytics for approximately 16% of their client sites due to tracking code from a third-party Edmunds.com integration that was overwriting Google session IDs with each website event. Wikimotive identified and resolved the issue by deactivating the problematic integrations, though the decision to reactivate them is pending discussions with Edmunds. The discovery began when dealers and marketing professionals noticed unusual traffic patterns starting in August following Dealer.com's site updates.

Automotive dealers debate whether HTTPS is essential for their websites, with most agreeing it's important for security and user trust but disagreeing on urgency. While Google treats HTTPS as a minimal ranking factor, the thread emphasizes that proper implementation matters more than the ranking benefit—poorly executed migrations can cause SEO problems, and modern browsers will increasingly flag non-HTTPS sites as insecure. The consensus is that HTTPS is now standard practice (especially with free certificates from Let's Encrypt), and major website platform providers should handle the transition rather than leaving it to individual dealers.

Steve Stauning outlines the foundational principles of used car profitability — buying right and reconditioning faster — arguing these well-known axioms are consistently underexecuted at most dealerships. The thread explores the processes and discipline required to implement these strategies effectively, emphasizing that simplicity in concept does not mean simplicity in execution. The key insight is that dealers who master these two areas gain a measurable edge in both turn rate and gross profit on used inventory.

Dealers seeking to track user interactions across different website platforms via Google Analytics struggle with inconsistent event trigger implementations—some vendors like Dealer.com provide native support while others like CDK require custom workarounds through Google Tag Manager. The community consensus is that standardized event tracking across dealer CMS platforms doesn't exist, and the practical solution is to either capture all events and filter them through separate GA views/dashboards, or implement custom HTML attributes and event listeners tailored to each platform's specific code structure.

A dealership (Napleton Infiniti) faced major public backlash after using FSU parking to store vehicles during a hurricane without permission, then compounded the crisis by asking customers not to leave bad reviews and deleting hundreds of negative comments. Forum members debate crisis management strategy, with consensus that the dealership should have hired a PR firm before making any public statements, and that continuing to engage on social media is escalating rather than resolving the damage.

A new automotive industry professional asks where to find marketing compliance rules for 10 major brands (Acura, Mazda, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Mini, Subaru, Chevrolet, Cadillac). A respondent explains that each OEM provides downloadable PDFs with brand-specific compliance points broken down by media type, which can be obtained directly from dealers or through OEM programs. The original poster reports success in accessing the materials, though the thread ends before detailed guidance is provided.