• by Kate Kaye , March 21, 2004

As consumers spend more time researching vehicles online, automakers are steering more cash into online advertising. Through a redesign of its Autos section which it unveils today, Yahoo! hopes to steer more of those dollars in its direction.

According to the 2003 New Autoshopper.com Study from J.D. Power and Associates, 64 percent of new vehicle buyers use the Web to shop for autos, and they spend an average of five hours doing so. Auto marketers are responding by spending more on the Web each year to reach that audience throughout the buying process.

Nielsen//NetRatings reported that the auto industry boosted Web ad spending by 91 percent to $57 million in the first quarter of 2003 over the first quarter of 2002. Jupiter Research clocked automotive online ad spending at $236 million last year.

After nearly a year's worth of consumer and advertiser research, Yahoo! has relaunched its Autos section, aiming to build loyal audiences throughout the entire car-buying process and offer advertisers more refined ways to target them. The Yahoo! Autos site section currently enables users to research and compare various makes and models, and assists in the buying process by forwarding consumer leads to dealers and providing financing and insurance information. The portal offers users maintenance tools for the post-buy stage, as well as auto classifieds services when it comes time to sell that once-fashionable set of wheels.

One big change: consumers will be able to drill down deeper than before within particular vehicle categories. For instance, a potential SUV buyer can search for and compare autos within the luxury category, and can also drill even further by price or gas mileage. The site will also begin recommending auto comparisons based on what users compare most often. "This gives the consumer the ability to make the choice, and advertisers the ability to target more into a granular level of specificity," asserts Andrew Braccia, Yahoo!'s vice president of business operations for search and marketplace.

"It's useful," affirms Phil Bienert, manager CRM (customer relationship management) and ebusiness for Volvo Cars of North America, with regard to the expanded drill-down features. "That's what the promise of the Internet is all about. Where else can you do a comparison like that?" Volvo advertises on approximately 20 sites, including Cars.com, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds.com, and Yahoo! Autos. The automaker also takes advantage of the Web for branding purposes through various sponsorships with sites like Forbes.com, America Online's AOL, and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.

"We have a multi-tier strategy," adds Bienert, stressing that the average car-buying process lasts anywhere from three to six months.

Changes to the "My Auto Center" area of Yahoo! Autos will allow car shoppers to save classified ads and searches, and schedule reminders for oil changes and other routine maintenance.

In addition to offering new ad units such as its right-hand corner 180x150 placement, Yahoo!'s newly redesigned Autos section will enable more category-specific inventory and sponsorship opportunities. "Our advertisers are interested in owning a section," says David Lieder, Yahoo!'s category development officer for automotive. Custom ad programs will also be made available in the new section.

Yahoo!'s goal is to create a holistic experience across its network for both the user and advertiser by leveraging capabilities such as behavioral-based targeting and pre-population of dealership lead forms, in addition to integrating features like maps for locating dealerships. "From an Internet perspective, the marketing funnel is not linear," suggests Lieder.

The publisher plans to unveil a live-action interactive video game on the Reuters billboard in New York City's Times Square to promote the Yahoo! Autos relaunch.