10:51 am, February 7, 2024
Search giant Google is set to showcase its long-awaited Vehicle Ads solution for the motor industry at Car Dealer Live next month.
The much-anticipated advertising solution launched in the United States last year and has just been rolled out in a closed pilot scheme in the UK.
Google’s Mohammad Lone will be speaking at Car Dealer Live on March 7 – taking place in just four weeks – about how the new product works, how car dealers have been using it so far and what it means for your business.
Tickets for the event, being held at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, are available now on the dedicated website with a special rate for car dealers.
In an exclusive preview video, which you can watch above, Lone said: ‘As you said, Vehicle Ads have been long awaited in the UK.
‘It’s already been launched in the USA and some other markets where it’s seen great success which we will elaborate on more in the day.
‘Essentially Vehicle Ads provide people a new opportunity to find their next car. Now we think about using Google for example to buy our next trainers – we search for say Nike trainers, right? And we’ll see a list of trainers coming at the top of the page. What this offers is an opportunity there to do that for cars.
‘So we can search for a particular type of car, say a BMW 3 Series, and what the user will be offered is an inventory of local or national cars available and they’ll be able to click and choose, just in the way that they might do the same with a pair of trainers.’
At last year’s Car Dealer Live event, Google said the solution would be launching soon, but now Lone will be able to speak about exactly how it works and how dealers will be able to use it.
He will also be bringing with him practical examples of car dealers who have used the solution as part of the pilot scheme and show how they have made a success of it.
The ads will not be served to Google by the likes of Auto Trader or other advertising marketplaces, but instead a feed will be taken directly from a car dealer’s website.
Several car dealers are already using Vehicle Ads as part of the pilot scheme and Lone said these have been a great success.
Lone added: ‘We have quite a wide range of dealers both used car dealers, OEMs and dealer groups on the pilot already and we’ll be bringing a few of them on the day to show how they’re finding good success from it.’
Google’s session at Car Dealer Live will also cover best practice with search and how car dealers can make themselves stand out on the platform.
Google’s keynote presentation forms a part of a packed day at the event which includes key note interviews with Peter Vardy and used car specialist Peter Waddell.
There will be panel discussions with franchised, independent and luxury car dealers. And a car manufacturer panel will feature challenger brands BYD and Nio alongside Stellantis.
Research sessions will also be hosted by headline sponsor Auto Trader as well as iVendi, Cox Automotive and Automotive Transformation Group. All of them will be presenting exclusive research conducted for the event.
Tickets are selling out fast and are available for car dealers and suppliers to the motor trade on the CarDealerLive.co.uk website. Streaming tickets for those not able to make the day are also available.
Google’s Lone said he was particularly excited to see the headline interviews.
He added: ‘I think just the fact of having so many different dealers from so many different backgrounds in one place is exciting. And the headline interviews, for me I think especially, I’m really excited to see.
‘I’ve heard that they’re quite the characters, so I am really looking forward to those headline interviews.’
