Google was at 2010 NADA mining for the next Big Thing in Internet Marketing as it relates to Automotive. I attended the Google Auto conference (via live web cast) when they discussed research they had been doing as a result.
A very interesting conversation I had with Google after 2010 NADA had them term projects Auto Buyer Consultants submitted to them upon request after speaking at NADA, - as one of Google's Biz Development Directors termed it "...social media for auto retail".
Although Google is a BIG name online, they haven't been able to get any product to rival their search success. And, the entire Google Auto team was made up of female execs (primarily with little hands-on auto retail experience) at the time of the conference. I found this a distinct irony, and very possibly a red flag about their understanding of the segment.
One thing about Automotive Internet Marketing I have found, is there are plenty of marketers from other segments (or, from no segment at all) who attempt to delve into the space. Among the likes of these, very few have been as successful as the Brian Pasch's of the world at garnering a loyal following.
As a pioneer in the Internet Sales, Business Development and Auto Internet Marketing space, I shared with Google the same thing I have shared with industry pro's since 2004 at NADA - "The Future is an Amusement Park". Auto Retail Future is a virtual space that will support virtual communities of consumers online. Auto Retail Past was a physical space, and a sales delivery channel developed to support physical communities of consumers before the emergence of the World Wide Web.
Allow me to venture to guess that Google's bet on Automotive Marketing will falter badly unless they really invest in the hands-on experience of professionals successfully retailing autos via the web each day. We are still dealing with the Internet as an adolescent, as far as the age of online auto retailing goes, and almost no adolescent I have ever met has all the answers.
To that point, I am very reluctant to believe Google can successfully diagnose where auto retail is going online. It will be like Graphic Designers building a Roller Coaster. The picture may seem perfect, but the engineering almost certainly shall prove lacking.
Finally, about two weeks after arriving back from NADA in February when I had the conversation with Google about their interest in the auto retail segment, I reneged when asked form more information about my Virtual Dealership model "implementation plans and revenue models". They sent me an NDA right away. Google can't steal the knowledge necessary to understand the intricacies of "the handshake" necessary to power this industry.
"Auto Retail Future is an Amusement Park", and it will feature a deliberate movement from 'on the parkway' to 'on the Internet' in the entire scheme of things. But, it will also surface as much more experiential point of sale on the local level. That being said, I would tend to agree that Facebook is much more positioned for a significant run at successfully leveraging the shift.
