It is great to finally post on Jeff's site with all of you. You have all been correct for years and being in the spin zone was very difficult. Luckily, I didn't buy into the hype and wanted to be a true "consultant" giving my dealer clients an unbiased view. And even when I was with AT.com I told them to take different internet related initiatives. It's funny how all their training is about Radio, TV, and Print but they never talk about competitors (Dealix, Cars.com, Carsoup.com, and "online" competitors)
Bottomline, they will continue hire and turn more people that are happy making less money each year and becoming a "service/contract renewal/up selling robots" to the same 30 dealers in each territory, spouting Exposure and staying away from "leads" terminology having no clue about keeping the client's best interest before thiers, and they will keep raising rates until Dealers don't accept them anymore.
When a customer searches for a car as I have many times and they start narrowing down their choices after using many online resources they are going to contact you whether you are in the free standard listings or Premium listings if you have that specific car at the best value.