Cars.com linking to Dealers website VDP. Is this New???

[Rick Buffkin]

Guys,

I was just strolling around Cars.com's website and I noticed this link below the sellers notes



I clicked it and it took me directly to the VDP for that vehicle on the dealerships website. Is this something New they are doing???

Check it for yourselves.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/728248193/overview/

 

[craigh]

This could be fantastic.
I wish they all did this.

 

[jscole86]

It's been available for about 5 or 6 months. You have to pay extra for this deep linking though.

 

[Alex Snyder]

It's been available for about 5 or 6 months. You have to pay extra for this deep linking though.

Any idea how much? If I recall correctly each Cars.com rep can package things as he/she likes. Maybe it is part of @Rick Buffkin’s package already?

 

[jscole86]

Any idea how much? If I recall correctly each Cars.com rep can package things as he/she likes. Maybe it is part of @Rick Buffkin’s package already?

You know how they do it - they can package it up a hundred different ways - but overall our bill went up about $300 - $400 - I think it increased # of photos allowed, added deep linking, a banner on the VDP, and a couple more things i can't remember.

 

[Alexander Lau]

I realize that Cars has a larger reach, but groups like https://carfetch.com has been doing this for a while now. Sales attribution measures this clearly, but I don't see a lot of links from 3PA.

 

[jscole86]

Autotrader & KBB does this for us as well (and it wasn't extra $$). You just have to let support know the correct link structure to use.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

You know how they do it - they can package it up a hundred different ways - but overall our bill went up about $300 - $400 - I think it increased # of photos allowed, added deep linking, a banner on the VDP, and a couple more things i can't remember.

@Rick Buffkin you must be on the right package. I too upgraded several months ago to the direct link, additional photos and a few more things I can't remember just like @jscole86

 

[Rick Buffkin]

@Jeff Kershner and @Alex Snyder, We currently don't have a Cars dot com package. We pulled out roughly 3 years ago. I was just searching Cars dot com and looking for changes on the site. Thats when I noticed the direct link for the VDP. Then I checked multiple listings and roughly 50 - 60% of the ones I spot checked had a link to the VDP for the vehicle. This was the first I've seen of it and I didn't recall seeing anything posted here in the forums about it.

 

[Ryan Everson]

Realistically guys, how many customers are actually going to click on that little hidden link? Is it worth paying extra money for that? If for some reason a customer really wants to see a car on your own website they are going to find it regardless.

Don't get me wrong if it's free I'm all for it...but I would never pay an extra $500 /mo for that and a couple extra photos. Seems like a money grab by Cars.com, much like they're doing with DealerRater right now.