Jason Stein, editor of Automotive News, broke the story today that TrueCar has ended their exclusive relationship with Yahoo to drive traffic and leads to the TrueCar platform.  The breakup was due to the lack of traffic and leads that Yahoo Autos was producing.

According the the…

The turmoil has continued since Google announced that Google+ Local would be using a new review system in lieu of the old Google Places "five-star" rating system.

Dealers have been having trouble posting reviews from Apple iOS devices.  For many dealers, the review button was no longer visible…

I created a video that gives a brief overview of the Google Cars program, officially called the Google Commercial Unit For Cars (CUFC). A few more details on the program are now available but dealers still have a number of questions left unanswered.

Take a minute to watch the video and see my comments at the bottom of this page.…

Another prediction that I wrote about has come true.  Change is in the air again at Google.  Paid Search just took a big step forward or backwards, depending on how you think.  It's called "Google Cars"

In November 2011, I wrote about a product called "…

I was brought into a discussion today with a dealer who is considering hiring a new digital marketing agency. This is a common occurrence within the automotive community since I offer my advice regarding vendors, products, and services to dealership executives seeking a third party opinion.

This conversation was interesting in that the agency…

I received a call yesterday from a Dealer that was negatively impacted by the Google Penguin update.  Their organic search traffic is down about 25% and they asked me to take a look at their Analytics and Webmaster Tools.

The frustrating part is that their marketing and "SEO Company" deleted the message inside of Webmaster Tools alerting the dealer that Google had some concerns about the linking strategy used by the dealership.  So without a specific message to go on, I…

Just in case you missed the recent announcement, from the Google Adwords console, car dealers can now target Mobile Apps as part of their paid display advertising campaigns.  

Google's purchase of AdMob in 2009 gave them access to AdMob's network of over 300,000 mobile apps.  The app categories that can be targeted are part of Google's Play and Apple's App…

Today, a good friend and associate Karry Moore passed away after a brave fight with Cancer at the age of 40.  

Karry Moore (left) and AJ LeBlanc (right) were co-founders of Car-Mercial, a company that serves the automotive industry with cutting edge video marketing and SEO solutions.

I spoke with Karry recently and his passion for…

Once again the automotive industry is buzzing about consumer reviews as Google Places has been morphed into  Google+ Local. A new granular rating system has been introduced inspired by Zagat with a 30 point score representing the old five-star rating. 

I wrote about changes planned for …

To all Dealer Principals or General Managers reading this post, "Are you tired of having a dozen+ stand alone reports to review each month?  Are you challenged to know how to leverage vendor reports to make business decisions?"

How many reports are generated each month by dealership vendor partners? My quick list of potential monthly reports…

I am pleased to invite Dealer Principals, General Managers, and Dealership Executive Managers to the Napa Valley Executive Retreat on September 15th and 16th, in the beautiful Napa Valley.  

First Class Educators is hosting this special event for dealership executives this fall and I will be one of the featured speakers.  I love wine and the Napa Valley so this is a perfect match for me!
…

In this blog post I reference two published research papers that cover a very important topic: Identifying fake online reviews. The two research papers I reference below, start to shed light on how online communities and the search engines will…

Dealers looking to expand their online brand visibility must consider retargeting.  

If you are not familiar with retargeting, here is the synopsis.  

Any consumer that visits a dealership website ONCE, can be tagged so that when they leave the dealership…

How many dealerships do you know where only one person is budgeted to attend educational conferences/workshops designed for digital marketing, social media, or BDC operations.  How many people from your dealership attended NADA this year?

Have you known a dealership that relied heavily on one person to lead their online strategy only to see the new "hot" dealership down the road lure them away? In most cases, the dealership is left hanging…

Dealers, if you have been having problems with Google Places, this may be the right time to join the Google+ Hangout.

Join +Joel Headley and …

Dealer Principals and Executive Managers are invited to spend the weekend in Napa. The event will be limited to an elite group of dealers who want to grow their business. 

Hear from world class leaders, including:

- Stuart Avery Gold, COO of Republic Tea Co.

- Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Digital Marketing

- Tom Baldwin, former CEO of Morton’s Steakhouse

For additional details visit: …

The ZMOT study guides automotive dealers through an educational process that demonstrates how to make marketing and budgeting decisions based on the latest data on consumer shopping behavior.

EATONTOWN, NJ – PCG Digital Marketing (PCG), a multi-award-winning digital marketing firm has announced that April 24, 2012 will be the start of the 2012…

Today the Information Week website posted an article by Eric Zeman that shared a statement by Andy Rubin, SVP of mobile and digital content for Google, stating that today over 850,000 Android devices are activated PER DAY.

This is up from 550,000 activations a day just 4…

Is your dealership blocking access to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites?  If this is the case, are you frustrated with your Dealer Principal's decision to block access?

I recently came across a situation where a dealership group was divided on how…

American Express and Twitter announced a new pilot program starting in March for 10,000 Amex small business owners.  Car dealers looking for new tools in their Automotive Advertising strategy, should take note of this limited trial.

The Amex program will allow business owners…