Everything You Need to Know About Listing Your Car Inventory on Google

YOUR GUIDE TO GOOGLE’S CARS FOR SALE LISTINGS

LISTING YOUR VEHICLES ON GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

September 23, 2021

A car shopper’s buying journey can begin anywhere, at any time, on any device. Most start their high funnel search for the right vehicle on a 3rd party marketplace or OEM website on their way to your dealership’s website. Some have already zeroed in on their favorite model and the dealership they want to buy it from, and turn to Google or Bing to get directions.

It’s important to be present everywhere shoppers are throughout that journey, and that includes having a strong local search presence at the bottom of the funnel. How to best optimize your dealership’s Business Profile on Google changes frequently, as Google continually tests, changes, and adds features.

We’re on top of all of them, and Google’s latest pilot will help you make your Business Profile more interactive and engaging by adding your inventory directly to it so people can see your available cars right from Google Search results..

We’re excited to let you know that Dealer Inspire has teamed up with Google to give you the opportunity to surface your cars for sale inventory directly on Google Search.

Every new Google feature or algorithm update can cause a lot of hype in the industry about how it will affect visibility, traffic, and conversions — so we wanted to provide a look at where they stand today. Let’s break it down.

1. IS GOOGLE’S PILOT A NEW CAR SHOPPING MARKETPLACE?

No, the pilot only showcases your inventory within your specific Business Profile on Google, which typically appears when a user searches your exact dealership name or a local query like “BMW dealer Naperville.”

2. IS THIS FEATURE AVAILABLE TO ALL DEALERSHIPS?

At this time the ability to provide Google with an export of your inventory feed is only available to select car dealers or their authorized partners in the United States.

Dealer Inspire is part of the pilot, so we can help you get the hook up!

3. HOW DOES GOOGLE GET MY INVENTORY? DO THEY SCRAPE MY WEBSITE?

There is no backend user interface to upload your inventory, nor does Google scrape your website to gather your available vehicles. Instead, your trusted marketing partner (hopefully that’s us!) will provide Google with a specifically formatted inventory feed which will contain all the data needed to populate the cars for sale section of your Business Profile on Google.

4. IS MY INVENTORY VIEWABLE ON BOTH DESKTOP AND MOBILE?

Currently, your inventory is only viewable on mobile platforms. It’s possible that at some point in time in the future, your inventory will be visible to users via the desktop experience, as well.

5. WHAT VEHICLE INFORMATION IS DISPLAYED ON MY BUSINESS PROFILE?

In addition to listing all of your in-stock new, used, and certified pre-owned vehicles, users can drill down to a VDP level experience to get more information about a specific vehicle, including:

Vehicle Year, Make, Model & Trim
Price
Vin Number
Exterior & Interior Images
Condition (New, Used, CPO)
MPG
Key Features: Android Auto/Apple Carplay, Bluetooth, Brake Assist, Heated Seats, etc…
Additional Features: Wheels, ABS, Power Windows, Security System, Panic Alarm, etc…

6. DOES THE INVENTORY FEED NEED TO BE MANUALLY UPDATED EVERY DAY?

Once your inventory feed is initially set up and sent to Google, no manual updates are required. Your trusted marketing partner will provide Google with a fresh inventory feed every four hours so that sold units and new arrivals will be accounted for in a timely manner.

7. WILL I BE ABLE TO GENERATE LEADS FROM HAVING MY INVENTORY LISTED ON MY BUSINESS PROFILE?

At the moment, there is no traditional lead generation functionality (i.e. form fills) within your Business Profile on Google. However Google does present users with the ability to call your dealership with one tap, share the vehicle with someone else, or explore the vehicle in more detail on your website.

8. CAN WE SEE BASIC KPIs LIKE USERS, VEHICLE VIEWS, & CALLS GENERATED?

Google has not built out any native reporting for this pilot at this point in time.

In the meantime, you could certainly use UTM codes within the “Dealer Listing” CTA to track how many users go from viewing your vehicle within your Business Profile on Google, to viewing it on your website. Custom phone numbers are also permitted for call tracking.

9. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LISTING MY CAR INVENTORY ON GOOGLE?

By listing your car inventory on Google, there’s potential you will see:

Increased user traffic to your dealership’s website.
Increased engagement due to optimized, intent-based user journey.
Higher quality website traffic leading to increased conversions.

10. HOW CAN I FURTHER OPTIMIZE MY BUSINESS PROFILE ON GOOGLE?

If you want to improve your dealership’s presence and experience, it’s important to first start with the basics of optimizing your dealership’s GMB profile, by:

Providing a detailed business description
Using accurate store hours and phone numbers
Inputting proper Business Categories
Utilizing Google Posts
Being active with Google Q&A
Responding to Your Reviews

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The car shopping experience is fragmented and takes place across multiple channels, online and off. To maximize your impact with local shoppers, you need to meet them with the best experience wherever they are, whether that’s at the top of the funnel on Cars.com or the bottom on your local Business Profile.

Overall, this seems like a great pilot that’s worth trying out to make your Business Profile on Google more engaging and interactive, and we’re excited to measure its impact with our dealers to try it out.

If you’d like to be among the first dealers to activate cars for sale within your Business Profile on Google, just tap the button below and let us know!