Automotive News, Press Releases, and Events

Jeff Kershner encourages dealers to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com, highlighting the platform's verified, anonymous review process as a credible way to assess industry software and services. A MacBook Air giveaway is used as an incentive to drive participation. The post positions vendor ratings as a natural extension of the conversations already happening on DealerRefresh.

The thread explores Dataium, a business intelligence platform that tracks consumer car-shopping behavior across multiple websites, OEM platforms, and social media to give dealers deeper insight than standard tools like Google Analytics. Commenters debate how it compares to VinSolutions' VINLens, raise cross-device tracking challenges, and question some of the article's claims about Google SEO compliance. The key takeaway is that while dealers see real potential in aggregated multi-site shopping data, most lack the staff and strategy to act on it effectively.

Google's removal of third-party reviews from Google Places prompted DealerRefresh founder Jeff Kershner to interview DealerRater's VP of Business Development about the impact on dealers who had concentrated review efforts on a single platform. The thread highlights the importance of diversifying review strategies across multiple sites, with DealerRater promoting its new PUSH feature to help distribute reviews more broadly. A side debate emerges over whether mass-distributing reviews to thousands of low-authority sites offers real value, with Kershner pushing back in favor of quality traffic and customer engagement over pure SERP saturation.

CarChat24 announced a free hosted chat software product for auto dealers, inviting early registrations ahead of a late January to early February launch. The post is largely promotional, offering an 'always free' tier to dealers who sign up before launch, though the company reserves the right to discontinue the free offering in the future. The thread appears to be a vendor announcement with little discussion or community feedback captured in the available content.

Jeff Kershner promotes the Digital Edge Summit, a one-day automotive internet strategy conference held December 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, noting he has free tickets available. Replies reveal demand for East Coast and virtual options, with Kershner lamenting that many dealer owners resist investing in digital training while continuing to overspend on traditional media like print advertising.

Joe Pistell argues that the internet has completely replaced the phone book as the primary way customers find dealerships, estimating that 95% of incoming calls involve online research, and challenges dealers to Google themselves and assess their visibility against competitors. The thread draws a sharp contrast between dealers who demand ROI metrics from digital spending while blindly trusting gut instinct on traditional media budgets that dwarf their digital investment. The key insight is that simply having a website is no longer enough — active, visible digital presence is the real competitive battleground for dealerships.

DrivingSales announced its acquisition of Revenue Guru, a consulting, training, and research firm, with founder Dennis Galbraith joining to lead DrivingSales' new research and data division. The deal signals DrivingSales' intent to deepen its business intelligence and training offerings in automotive digital marketing. CEO Jared Hamilton praised Galbraith as one of the industry's top marketing analysts, suggesting this move positions DrivingSales as a stronger data-driven resource for dealers.

DealerRater announced the launch of PrivateBuy in partnership with CarWoo!, an anonymous online car-buying marketplace designed to help consumers find competitive prices while steering them toward highly-rated dealers. The lone reply from a dealer cuts to the core criticism of the model: CarWoo! leads were being used as price anchors at competing local dealerships, leaving the originating dealer to do unpaid competitive legwork. The thread surfaces a fundamental tension between price-transparency platforms and dealer profitability.

The thread covers the emergence of free new car invoice pricing transparency in Canada, prompted by a press release about a new Canadian automotive pricing website. A Canadian dealer responds candidly, admitting he's in the 'denial phase' but acknowledging it's inevitable, noting his store already sells at invoice and sees potential as a lead source. The broader conversation reflects how Canadian dealers are now facing the same transparency shift U.S. dealers experienced years earlier.

The thread covers the release of a new Google Analytics version featuring a redesigned interface, Real-Time reporting, and Multi-Channel Funnels, with Jeff Kershner highlighting the key new tools for dealer website tracking. Commenters expressed excitement about the visual data improvements and real-time social media measurement, while one participant raised a forward-looking question about whether real-time visitor identification could eventually replace lead forms altogether. The key insight is that Real-Time reporting was seen as immediately practical for measuring the live impact of social media activity on dealership sites.

DealerRater announced the November 2011 launch of a Canada-specific version of its car dealer review platform, giving Canadian consumers a dedicated hub to search for dealerships, read reviews, and share their own experiences. The expansion reflects DealerRater's stated goal of helping Canadian auto shoppers identify dealers committed to quality customer service. The thread is a press release announcement with no follow-up discussion.

vAuto announced the launch of Provision, a used vehicle inventory management tool built in alliance with AutoTrader.com and Manheim, designed to help dealers identify what vehicles to stock, what to pay, and where to source them. The thread is brief, consisting of the official press release from founder Dale Pollak and a follow-up reply linking to a recorded webinar from the 11-11-11 launch event. The key takeaway is that Provision aimed to bring data-driven, market-based intelligence to used vehicle acquisition and inventory optimization.

The thread examines whether AutoTrader, through its relationship with Dataium, could build a closed consumer behavioral data network to dominate automotive digital marketing and reshape how CRM and ZMOT data are used. Commenters debate the concept's core weakness — that only roughly 3% of shoppers submit trackable leads, leaving the vast majority invisible — while acknowledging that a large enough cross-platform network with digital fingerprinting could offset this. The key tension that emerges is whether AutoTrader would go proprietary with the data or leave room for Dataium to serve the broader dealer market, with privacy concerns and resistance from major platform providers like Dealer.com also flagged as obstacles.

Kevin Frye shares his signature semi-annual review of the Digital Dealer 11 conference held in Las Vegas, covering keynote insights, session highlights, and industry networking. The thread draws warm responses from speakers, vendors, and attendees — including a brief spat over a VinSolutions employee's company-logo tattoo — before wrapping with mutual appreciation and anticipation for the next event. The overall tone reflects a tight-knit automotive digital marketing community that values both the content and the camaraderie the conference delivers.

HomeNet Automotive announced a partnership with OPENLANE to allow dealers using HomeNet's Inventory Online (IOL) platform to list aged used vehicle inventory directly on OPENLANE's Open Auction marketplace. The integration gives dealers access to a nationwide network of over 25,000 franchise and independent dealers around the clock, streamlining the wholesale process without leaving their existing inventory management workflow. The key value proposition is reducing friction in offloading aged inventory by connecting two widely-used platforms.

3 Birds Marketing, a Chapel Hill-based interactive marketing agency, announced in October 2011 that the USPTO received its patent application for a proprietary integrated SEO marketing platform designed to enhance dealership visibility on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The thread is a press release announcement with no visible community discussion or replies captured. The key takeaway is that 3 Birds was seeking legal protection for its automotive internet marketing technology at a time when SEO solutions for dealers were becoming increasingly competitive.

DealerRater announced strong Q3 2011 growth metrics, reporting a 39% increase in total site visits since January and new visitor counts jumping 66% every three months throughout the year. The press release highlights accelerating consumer adoption of dealer review sites as a key part of the car shopping process. The data signals a growing opportunity for dealers to leverage online reputation management as buyer behavior shifts toward research-driven decisions.

DrivingSales awarded Dominion Dealer Solutions' CarBinder the Innovation Cup Award for the most innovative dealership solution of 2011 at the DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas. The award was determined through a blind judging process where dealer panels evaluated anonymized applications, with six finalists selected to present on stage. The thread is a brief press release announcement with limited discussion.

DrivingSales announced Mary Catherine Curry of Rice Toyota Scion as the 2011 Dealer 'Best Idea' Award winner at its Third Annual Executive Summit in Las Vegas. Her winning strategy centered on building a sales and service alliance with a local hospital group, earning her the top score among five finalists from dealerships across the country. The award was sponsored by ADP | Cobalt and presented by DrivingSales CEO Jared Hamilton and ADP's SVP of Digital Marketing.

ClickMotive announced it received multiple Automotive Website Awards (AWA) at the 2011 Digital Dealer conference, taking top honors for its Automotive Mobile Website Platform and the Peak Performance Award for its Search Platform. PCG President Brian Pasch praised ClickMotive for delivering cutting-edge technology in mobile and search. The thread is essentially a press release with no notable community discussion or debate.

Jeff Kershner shares a pre-Digital Dealer interview with Jennifer Suzuki, a veteran automotive internet sales consultant with over 15 years of experience and founder of E-DealerSolutions. The thread highlights her upcoming new Sales Training System for dealerships and her focus on process-driven performance and profit improvement. A follow-up note mentions she was giving away an iPad 2 at booth #315 at the Digital Dealer 11 conference.

Dealers and industry professionals share their personal memories of where they were on September 11, 2001, with many recalling being at their dealerships watching the news unfold in stunned silence. The thread captures vivid, human moments — a BDC manager at his cubicle, a VW salesperson frozen in the break room, a GM training class interrupted — and collectively reflects on how the day felt as surreal and historically significant as Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination. The key takeaway is a rare, reflective look at how a national tragedy touched everyday dealership life.