Is Cargurus taking my money and then competing with me?

[Todd Caputo]

I could use your help understang this...Is CG is taking our inventory, bidding it up on search, only to force dealers to buy their ‘cheaper’ subscription and then jack rates?? Am I seeing this correctly ?

 

[Alexander Lau]

If that's their ploy, it's a bit dastardly.

 

[Alex Snyder]

I could use your help understang this...Is CG is taking our inventory, bidding it up on search, only to force dealers to buy their ‘cheaper’ subscription and then jack rates?? Am I seeing this correctly ?

This needs some investigation for sure!

 

[Alex Snyder]

Welp, I guess this is what it looks like. It is my understanding this dealer pays for CarGurus PPC.

 

[Todd Caputo]

Looks like I am onto something?

 

[Alex Snyder]

 

[TeddyJTurner]

Welp, I guess this is what it looks like. It is my understanding this dealer pays for CarGurus PPC.

View attachment 3606

Not sure I'm following this one! You are running SEM through CG? And your cars are also listed on CG? And CG runs their own SEM as well?

 

[Alex Snyder]

Not sure I'm following this one! You are running SEM through CG? And your cars are also listed on CG? And CG runs their own SEM as well?

I think you're following it quite well. The part you're missing is the rate increases @Todd Caputo mentioned in the first post.

 

[Steve Stauning]

I advise my clients to stay away from PPC provided by anyone who is also listing your inventory. You simply cannot serve two masters; and CarGurus, to their credit, has done a phenomenal job profiting from their offerings. (Check out their earnings compared to Cars.com, for example.)

 

[Eric Miltsch]

I advise my clients to stay away from PPC provided by anyone who is also listing your inventory. You simply cannot serve two masters; and CarGurus, to their credit, has done a phenomenal job profiting from their offerings. (Check out their earnings compared to Cars.com, for example.)

Completely agree Steve. Dealers need to understand why CG is going after the land grab: To create shareholder equity!

Spending your money to help drive more traffic back to a 3rd party site that creates an opportunity for shoppers to see the competition even faster is mind blowing for me.

Dealers continue to struggle with understanding how to optimize your own site to capture more leads.

Stop using legacy platforms when it’s been proven that your own site can attract and convert more shoppers for less money.