- May 1, 2005
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OMG, I remember when there was a HUGE STINK over this. A competitor had the option to purchase that banner space BUT "only if your dealership opt-out."
Autotrader - Screwing Dealers and Helping Competing OEM's
- Thread starter Ryan Everson
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OMG, I remember when there was a HUGE STINK over this. A competitor had the option to purchase that banner space BUT "only if your dealership opt-out."
- Mar 21, 2012
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Yeah like most banner ads I don't think many customers will click on the banner ad so I'm not so much worried about "leakage". Although it could potentially convince a customer to flip brands if the creative is enticing enough.
I'm more worried about it causing us to miss out on phone calls, showroom visits, and leads because our dealership information is buried. It goes against all website conversion best practices. Sure a customer can still find our info if they really want to, but there's a reason it's a website conversion best practice and that's because it translates into more results.
If this was a free or discount inventory listing site I could care less as that comes with the territory. This however is a vendor that I'm spending over a million dollars on annually. They better be doing everything possible to drive results and show their value to me, and this ad location clearly does the opposite.
Do you really think an OEM would refuse to advertise if they weren't guaranteed this specific display ad placement? I doubt it. Do you think a dealer might cancel their subscription over this? I guarantee it.
Autotrader just needs to revise the VDP layout a little bit like Cars.com and CarGurus to feature the dealership contact info above the fold. Problem solved.
- May 1, 2005
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Touché
@reverson - you're response is SPOT on. And I guess we are agreeing that banner ads, when creative/effective and positioned right still have persuasion that we like to place value on...
ATC has been doing this since 2006! Anyone here think they are going to change?
- Mar 21, 2012
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Yeah it's crazy to me that dealers are saying "who cares about this because nobody clicks on banner ads anyways".
BUT I bet if I look at their digital marketing budget there's $1,000+ /mo dedicated to display ads.
So clearly they must see value in banner ads, they would just rather bury their head in the sand regarding this issue because it's the easiest thing to do.
AND that is precisely why Autotrader is able to get away with it.
It will take educated and principled digital marketing savvy dealerships like us to force them to make a change.
I guess it's time for you guys/gals in stores to leave autotrader a strongly worded yelp review.
Honestly though what are dealers going to do about this? @Stauning what do you recommend?
Honestly though what are dealers going to do about this? @Stauning what do you recommend?
- Feb 11, 2015
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It's not necessarily about the CTR (they know the click through and overall sales attribution sucks), those banner ads still influence visitors the same as a billboard would if you drove by it. Reach and influence, blah, blah, blah... neuromarketing.
- Mar 21, 2012
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Exactly. There is certainly a degree of banner ad blindness nowadays but I feel like in this location on the page it’s tough for users to ignore.
- Mar 21, 2012
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Create a post like this on DealerRefresh and hope it gets the attention of a higher up at Cox?
- Mar 15, 2012
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Honestly though what are dealers going to do about this?@Stauning what do you recommend?
No (further) comment.
(However, if I were to comment further, this is a mess and ATC needs to beg for forgiveness.)
- May 1, 2006
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Interesting that this came up on a Tuesday, because it was discussed at length many moons ago by a lot of us before the forums existed. I just scrolled through: Uncle Joe, Jeff, Alex, Lightnup, Paul Rushing, Dennis Galbraith... some guy that went by JL that couldn't disclose his real name because he wasn't sure if his employer would still employ him... ah, the good old daysThe interaction on this old blog post from 2008 birthed the forums in my opinion, and as much as has changed, here we are discussing monetization of user-generated content (dealer inventory) and the appropriateness of "leaks" that may distract the user (ad placements) almost exactly 10 years later!
If you are up for a trip down memory lane, this is a good one: https://www.dealerrefresh.com/blueprint-series-third-party-lead-providers/
Create a post like this on DealerRefresh and hope it gets the attention of a higher up at Cox?
DealerRefresh and Autotrader, specifically, have a long history. We bitch and they react. Sometimes it takes a while, but usually practices change for the betterment of the dealer. Although we can't take 100% of the credit I think DealerRefresh at least shoots the flare in the sky for them to come looking.
Here are some other instances where we cried and some changes were made:
Is Autotrader's pricing worth it? - circa 2005
Autotrader pricing is ridiculous - circa 2007
Autotrader blitzing needs to stop - circa 2008