AutoScout24 in race to build first nationwide repair portal
By Christo Volschenk
Munich-based AutoScout24, Germany’s second biggest auto portal, is caught in a race with two competitors to roll out its repair service mediation portal nationwide. The competitors Fairgarage.de and Reparaturpilot.de are independent, in the sense that they are not linked to any of the big auto portals. All 3 conducted test-runs of their ideas in Munich, before launching rudimentary sites in December 2011. Continue reading
Cars.com focus dealer branding, finding buyers
FindingCarBuyers.com, a Cars.com site especially for dealers, showcases its media efforts to bring consumers to Cars.com dealer advertisers. One of the more interesting of the media resources, Internet radio, showcases Cars.com to Pandora and Spotify listeners with banner, video and audio ads and a one-day home page takeover of Pandora.com. FindingCarBuyers spells out the Cars.com 2012 media campaign. There’s nothing earth-shatteringly new here, but the effort to break this out into a dealer-focused site is noteworthy.
Additionally, while so much focus is now on pushing online vehicle-shoppers to the specific makes and models they might crave, and then providing an assortment of local dealers who have the car in stock, Cars.com has rolled out new features to help showcase specific dealers. It’s the first of many changes, according to the listing giant’s recent announcement.
The new BaseDrive package for dealers – an automatic upgrade in most markets – includes: Continue reading
EBay’s BilBasen intensifies user focus
By Linda Karlsson
Today, EBay relaunched the Danish No. 1 auto classified site BilBasen with a new design. This step is part of the site’s effort to get more user-friendly. According to EBay, the focus on cars is now clearer. The pictures of the cars are bigger and all possible distracting features on the site, such as banner ads, have been removed. (See screenshot of new site below.)
“Users can focus on the cars. I think we are sending a strong signal to users and customers with this new strategy,” says BilBasen manager Anders. A. Andersson in a statement.
The new mobile search platform is also part of this strategy. It was downloaded more than 50,000 times last month.
“We don’t aim to have as many page views as possible anymore, but the opposite,” added Anders A. Andersson. “Instead, we want the users to find what they are looking for as quickly as possible.”
More Money for Mojo Motors
Boston-based personalized used-car shopping startup Mojo.com has expanded beyond its Mass., Rhode Island and Conn. roots, with help from $3 million in new VC money. Now Dallas / Fort Worth area car shoppers can get their Mojo on too. The site was founded last year by Paul Nadjarian, who has been Sr. manager for dealers solutions at Ford, and director of EBay Motors.
Here’s the announcement: Continue reading
McClatchy reports $2 million loss
In its Q1 2012 earnings report, The McClatchy Company reported a loss of $2.1 million, with classified revenue down more than 8 percent year over year. While much of the classified losses were in print advertising, digital dollars suffered as well. The only classified vertical whose YOY ad revenue increased was automotive, showing a 12 percent jump. Real estate and employment dropped nearly 9 percent and more than 6 percent respectively. California and Florida newspapers drove the downward classified digital trend, presumably heavily impacted by the dismal real estate economy in both areas.
Here’s the earnings report: Continue reading
- New Study Names Edmunds.com Most Popular Car Dealer Review Site
- HomeZada Integrates to Pinterest for DIY Projects
- Contact At Once! Dealer Chat Software Now Available to DealerRater Certified Dealer Partners
- United States:
- Vizu Moves into Social Media Ad Success Measurement
- McClatchy Names Elaine Lintecum As Vice President, Finance And Chief Financial Officer And Announces Other Leadership Changes
- United States:AutoTrader.com Announces New Leadership at VinSolutions
- Grenlist.com is a “Classifieds Community”, with environmental integrity! Every aspect of the site, has been created by the people, for the people!
- Canoe.ca publisher Quebecor reports Q1 2012 results
- Yellow Media Reports $3 Billion Quarterly Loss
