It's Not "Pay Per
Click" it's "Pay Per Lead" for Google Cars
Google is essentially
an aggregator of data. They just happen to be better than say 90% of their
competition. They have succeeded in search by delivering the “customer” to
exactly what they are looking for. Therefore it makes sense they would want
into our Dealership's DMS. At the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference
recently in Orlando I was able to take the new Google Cars BETA for a test
drive via Google’s Michael Rose.
They are currently testing
the product in the San Francisco market and by the time it gets to you a Google
Cars prospect will cost "lower than $20 but higher than $10" per lead
depending on the brand represented. The interface is clean and shows
up similar to Google "news" or "images" might in
a related search. Essentially Google has taken the middle man out of vehicle
searches. You’ve been warned Autotrader
and Cars.com. We don’t need you
anymore. You’re probably thinking right now…”doesn’t this mean Google’s
paid search business going to take it on the chin?” Well I’d argue that Google
is betting on you (and everyone else) still playing (and paying) there anyway.
Another couple of takeaways
from the Google Beta: For one Reputation Management Reviews will be not be
integrated into the inventory search (Bummer!). Also only dealerships within a
25 mile radius of the customer will be shown in a specific inventory search. A
dealer will also be able to set a maximum amount of leads each day that they
are willing to pay for, after which a customer will have to "Click to
Call" if they want to contact that dealer about specific inventory.
Also for the first
time Google is actually going to deliver first and last name into our CRM
(which is a major break from their privacy protocol). A dealership will also be
limited in the amount of times they can contact a customer (by phone through
Google voice & e-mail) a maximum of 6 times. Michael said during the initial
BETA test one dealership contacted a customer 14 TIMES IN THE FIRST DAY OF
CONTACT. The system will only reset when a customer actually replies to
dealership correspondence.
Google is coming
folks. And we better get our inventory data in DMS clean because Google found
90% of the data they initially pulled in BETA, unusable.
What do I like? I like
that Google is trying to keep consumers focused on locale (25 mile radius). I
like that they are pushing towards simple CRM integration. I love that they
value the number of customer touches (limited to 6) putting some pressure on
dealers to focus on content not just quantity of contact.
What don’t I like? The
cost per-lead. It’s way like OMG the same price that every other third party
lead provider has ever charged for a lead. One day the car gods just decided an
in market prospect should cost $20 dollars…and since then it has always been
the same.
