Automotive Marketing

Accompanying the Winter 2007 AdWords Auto Industry Newsletter was an announcement for a new Goo product. The Google Auto Knowledge Center has Google’s newest advertiser training documentation. These pages include tips for text advertisement copywriting and organizing campaign structure. The Knowledge Center will also archive past versions of the industry newsletter in case you missed my blog post about the first one.

In a section called “Product Solutions”, you will find a link to a Local Business center help topic explaining how to create a business listing to show up on Google Maps. I explained why this is valuable last week.

There are two Google services that have become extremely powerful within the last 12 months. They are Google Maps and Google Local, and over the past year they have been blended into a new search result for your business name.

The effort is called Google Universal search, and what it means is that now, along with traditional documents, other types of media will be awaiting your next Google search. Other types of media like big, fat maps.

Maps big enough to dominate positions 1, 2 and 3 on the results page. Maps so big that if you can find a way to get 2 of them to show up for the same result the whole page is practically yours.

So, about Google Maps. The service is not the leader in the overall maps & driving directions realm, but things are getting interesting. In February of this year of 2007, Google Maps ranked 3rd in usage to MapQuest and Yahoo Maps according to compete.com.

Still, in typical Google fashion, the feature launches are exciting thought exercises about the future. The latest announcement? Google at the gas pump. Need directions? It is OK friend, you are at the Goo Station.

I read a lot of blog reactions to this announcement that were ill spirited. “Get out of my way, lady at the pump using Google.” I see a huge advertising opportunity for service stations, towing & wrecker services, dealerships and restaraunts.

Right now you can easily take over your business name in Google by creating a Google Local business listing.

Here’s what it looks like when you have one:

Searching for a business name that matches a Google Local business listing inserts the Google Map that no one can avoid looking at first. Can you imagine two of them on one page?

Google Universal search will also embed links below search results that pop-up to maps on web pages it believes are optimal for the business, setting up the double bang:

For searches that match more than one business, all 3 of the results may be plotted on the same map. Almost as if they are competing only with each other, a “More results near Atlanta, GA” link will whisk searchers directly to Google Maps before they can even glance at the fourth result.

Today, search engines like Google fight over how default engines are set within web browsing software like Internet Explorer. Search engine people gossip about whether Google’s multi-million dollar donation to the FireFox web browser “bought” the default search engine spot. How long before the battle starts to be the default in all Toyotas shipped to America?

Mapping services will continue to evolve and present new advertising opportunities. The Pennsylvania Turnpike website has a Travel Conditions Map that blows Google out of the water. Colors label traffic speeds and there are icons for accidents, construction zones and service plazas, even streaming audio traffic alerts!

Google Maps started color coding traffic speeds for major cities earlier this year, but the service has a lot of ground to cover before it becomes the 800lb mapping service. Right now, the real power is its influence on web searches for your business name.

Jake of HigherTurnover has concluded round one of his Autotrader vs Craigslist split test, and discussed his conclusion on the HT company blog.

If I made a living out of selling cars, I think first and foremost I would buy the right inventory, and second I would put more emphasis into Craigs List than Autotrader based on cost.

The Google Adwords team has launched a quarterly Automotive Industry newsletter. The first edition is available online. Both AskPatty and CarTango get nice name drops (no link) in “Who’s in the driver’s seat”, and the following graphic from comScore is discussed in the “Get your motor running” article.

In the spirit of the Retail and TechB2B newsletters, we’d like to introduce advertisers to the new, quarterly AdWords Automotive Newsletter. The premier issue features optimization tips that will help you remain competitive in the face of shifting consumer behavior, as well as articles to keep you abreast of the latest industry tends. You’ll also find a brief introduction to Google Analytics, Google’s powerful web analytics service. Keep an eye out for future editions, which will include holiday optimization advice, consumer trends, and suggestions for automotive advertisers.As always, you can receive newsletters via e-mail by signing up through your AdWords account.

Posted by Trevor, Inside AdWords crew at 7/06/2007 09:57:00 AM

UPDATE: I tried contacting the Adwords team with a question I had regarding this newsletter and syndication opportunities, but the contact email they supply, auto-newsletter@google.com, is a bad address. Looks like Google needs to “Get their motor running” OHH ZING!

Jeff is talking about eBay’s recent decision to stop all US advertising on Google’s AdWords network. eBay was the largest search engine advertiser in the nation in March, buying 4.1% of all search ad clicks.

Meanwhile, eBay is still buying Google traffic in other countries. AND this whole issue began because Google was going to host a protest party to start concurrently as eBay Live, the annual merchant conference. Why? Because Google Checkout isn’t a payment option on eBay, and there’s a good reason. The direct competition between these two companies is SO on.

First, eBay announces an auction-style advertising network that will undoubtedly compete with AdWords.

Google Base + Google Checkout = eBay auction competition. These services aren’t integrated yet, but let’s look at what they’re being built up to become.

Post it on Base. Find it on Google.

Find it with Google. Buy it with Google Checkout.

Those are the taglines on the front page of each of these services. Google Base is already creating automotive leads at a rate of mid-level classified sites, and this is because the Google Base API is fueling mid-level classified sites. A few service providers have already announced vehicle inventory feeds to Base, including the company I work for.

You might be thinking, “But Google doesn’t hold auctions. That’s eBay’s bag.” Right, but 80% of all web searches are computed by Google. A new Google buzzword, “Universal Search” is further integrating Google properties into the main search results–just when eBay is stepping out.

I can’t wait until eBay ramps up its text advertising network efforts. Recently an advertising platform developed by the ShoeMoney group, AuctionAds, made it possible for anyone to easily put eBay auction advertisements on their website and make affiliate cash on user registrations and sales. The program signed up 17,000 members in the first 3 months of its existence, and serves about 400,000 clicks a day. Click the last link and read the comments for added “we love eBay ads” impact.

Both of these companies are wrapping their hands around buying and selling products online, and news of increased competition is only going to get better and better.

Jeff Kershner is talking about using a dealership website to bait and switch customers by keeping typical or accessible (but not on the lot) inventory online.

Bait and Switch: The Oldest Trick in the Book

Autotrader claims that their website is a free service on their About Our Site page.

Someone should call every car dealer in America and tell them they’re getting ripped off. This FAQ page is obviously targeted at the shopper, but it says what it says.

Is AutoTrader.com a free service? Absolutely!

False.

A small-time dealer website host, VehicleHost, is openly advertising for most of their competitors. This can be extremely bad for two reasons, and both are because of search engine technology.

Shopping online is easy

Any website, person or document that you mention online can be found in nanoseconds. Lots of web browsers and browser plugins are capable of conducting this research for the user and hiding it behind a single click. The definition of shopping is to find and compare products in anticipation of a purchase. Calling out the competition by name is an open invitation for shoppers to buy someone else’s product. And remember, a superior product by itself doesn’t always win you the sale. You need a better website and a sales staff with better answers to the questions answered on all the competitors’ websites. In this case, Vehicle Host is listing competitor prices to show they are cheaper. Providing this data makes them a liar (or at least a provider of false information) the minute any of the competing prices change.

Inviting competitors to your site

Because all information online is so easily searchable, you are making it easier for these companies to find your website. I stumbled upon the VehicleHost website while researching one of the competitors on their list. Most companies (including the ones I work for) won’t respond to negative marketing like this, but why take the chance that someone might?

Exploring the gray matter of auto marketing

Wrap your brain around this term: neurological marketing.

Auto marketers study consumers’ brain waves so as to make TV commercials more effective. It’s not science fiction. It’s here.

Read the full story at AutoWeek.com. More and more marketing studies involve brain scanning to determine effectiveness.

The key to engaging a customer with an advertisement is to play on their emotions. The article mentions the VW commercials that start with a casual conversation in the car and usually end with a nice T-bone crash. Volkswagen wants you to put yourself in that car so you too can fear for your life.

Buy a Jetta! You won’t die!