12:48 pm, February 1, 2023
US car dealerships are now able to add their stock directly into Google search listings, as the internet giant begins rolling out a new feature.
The ‘Cars for Sale’ widget is available to any car dealer in the US and anything with a VIN number can be added, according to SearchLab.
This means that car buyers will be able to shop a car dealer’s stock directly from Google, with detailed information about each vehicle included.
For Google, it’s another opportunity to keep customers shopping on its own platform but from there it points buyers to dealers websites or contact details.
According to 9to5Google, the new feature is still in its testing stages but will give details on new or used vehicles.
Currently Google offers similar features for shoppers using the search engine on other products, allowing them to browse inventory before choosing where to buy.
However, Google has previously launched similar features that so far haven’t made it to the UK.
In 2022, Car Dealer reported that vehicle ads similar to the Google Shopping Ads had been rolled out in the US and that Google had said it would reach the UK ‘later this year’. Currently this is still only available for US, Canadian and Australian car dealers.
In 2021, Google also announced at NADA it would be introducing listings very similar to the ones now available in the US.
Google will be appearing at Car Dealer Live on March 9 at the British Motor Museum, where they will be sharing research on how consumers shop online for cars.
Ben Gault, automotive industry manager for Google UK, told Car Dealer: ‘The survey is very in-depth and we’ll be covering facts such as how online heavy the used car journey is.
‘We know 88 per cent of consumers will use an online source to help research their journey.
‘Within that process we know they’re making those decisions in under a month and, despite the rise in e-commerce, we know that buyers are still very routed in buying from physical dealerships.’
You can watch the interview in full at the top of this page and get tickets for Car Dealer Live here.
Car Dealer Live – the future of the car dealer – exclusive conference features talks from leading car dealers, Google and Auto Trader among much more. Find out the full event details and book tickets.
