A potential flat tire doesn't matter when your car is on fire!

[ryan.leslie]

Respectfully, worrying about Vehicle Top Ads hurting future VLA performance is like worrying about the possibility of getting a flat tire when your car is on fire!

Vehicle Top Ads is a beta and only OEMs can participate. The concern is that it may have an adverse effect on VLA performance, time will tell, but you know what is DEFINITELY having an adverse effect on your VLA performance right now?

Competing with your "partners" that are using YOUR inventory AGAINST you!

Do a few "near me" searches for vehicles you have in inventory. Scan that VLA grid and look for ads run by Cars, Carfax, Autotrader, Truecar, CarGurus, Auto List etc, with your city as the location. Click that ad and you'll see why an OEM only beta shouldn't be keeping you up at night.

Your 3rd-party "partners" are fishing out of your tackle box. They're using your inventory as bait to draw consumers to an SRP that introduces them to every competitive vehicle in the market.

Vehicle Top Ads should NOT be your top concern... Your car is on fire... stop worrying about potential flat tires.

If you'd like to discuss strategies and tactics to prevent this, reach out. I'd be happy to share a resource with you.

PS. I'm not anti-3rd party, shoot, I worked for three companies that had marketplace listings and still have friends there. They have a place in the marketing mix, but I firmly believe that place is not VLA with YOUR inventory.

 

[Zack_AF]

Just saw your Linkedin post before hopping over here. Totally agree with you as I like 3rd party sites but their business model is a bit of a double edged sword. Dealers get expanded reach at the cost of sending competitors leads and bidding against themselves on keywords for their own vehicles.

Almost seems like they don't have much of an option in this day in age. How well would they survive without VLAs?

 

[ryan.leslie]

Just saw your Linkedin post before hopping over here. Totally agree with you as I like 3rd party sites but their business model is a bit of a double edged sword. Dealers get expanded reach at the cost of sending competitors leads and bidding against themselves on keywords for their own vehicles.

Almost seems like they don't have much of an option in this day in age. How well would they survive without VLAs?

I'll repeat part of my comment from LI here for discussion...

I was working for Cars in ‘08. We were running Superbowl commercials to help drive eyeballs to inventory. We were investing heavily in marketing a brand consumers could grab onto in order to benefit our dealers.

Contrast that with this...

Today Marketplaces are using a dealer’s inventory as bait to drive eyeballs to their marketplace. It is the polar opposite.

There is no excuse for landing a shopper that clicked on a VIN specific ad on an SRP.


"How well would they survive without VLA?"

I have thoughts on this. The biggest benefit to listing with a 3rd party is access to a national audience. Consumers will drive, fly, or ship that unicorn on your lot, and probably at top dollar. 3rd Party would survive and thrive by helping dealers connect with a geographically larger audience than VLA can economically serve.

 

[Zack_AF]

Totally agree. What do you think is the cause of the pivot?

What I’m saying is, given how well VLAs perform, in a way it seems like their historical value prop of offering nationwide exposure is being used as a disguise while they sell leads that dealers could otherwise obtain themselves (locally speaking). Not saying that’s their entire business model but it does make me wonder how much of it is.

 

[ryan.leslie]

Totally agree. What do you think is the cause of the pivot?

I don't think that enough dealers are aware of this yet. Dealers are smart, but they are busy. My guess is that they will demand change once they are aware. I've yet to meet a dealer that wants thier inventory used as bait to market their neighbor's inventory.

What I’m saying is, given how well VLAs perform, in a way it seems like their historical value prop of offering nationwide exposure is being used as a disguise while they sell leads that dealers could otherwise obtain themselves (locally speaking). Not saying that’s their entire business model but it does make me wonder how much of it is.

To your point, it illustrates the importance of a solid VLA strategy for dealers. Hey, I'm about as free market as you can get. The 3P's have the right to do it, but it should be opt in... The inventory belongs to the dealer.

The 3P didn't pay the auction and acquisition fees, they didn't pay to recon it, they aren't on the floorplan, they didn't pay the photographer to take the pictures, they aren't paying the feed provider to export, you get the point... they are marketing inventory at the dealer's discretion, the dealer needs to be able to tell them how NOT to market it in order to protect their interests.

...and I'll say this again a little louder... in NO WORLD should a VIN specific ad land on an SRP... ever. That is the biggest sign of foul play here in my opinion. Maybe you can say this is a benefit if the click landed on a VDP, but thats a big maybe, you're still giiving up retargeting and every leak on the page, but to an SRP... c'mon.