Cox’s Autotrader.com – Biggest Buffoons Ever
A good friend of mine forwarded me a letter that he received from Autotrader.com’s attorney, Benjamin Karpf T: 202-776-2641 C: Redacted Upon Request (bkarpf@dowlohnes.com), a take down notice for unauthorized use and unfair competition and violating Cox Auto Trader trademarks on his blog WhyBuyUsedCar.com.
This type of letter would probably be appropriate if it was on a lead gen affiliate site or even a dealer’s website. This was on a blog, granted it it does push traffic to his dealership website, but the content is primarily about used cars, used car buying resources, tips and funny stories. <I authored that one
It could probably be deemed commercial to an extent, but Eric’s use actually helps build trust in autotrader.com and other classified vendor’s names. To top it off the dealership he works with spends over six digits a year with Cox Auto Trader.
Their business model is so flawed and is dying. They charge dealer’s money to provide them with content to push affiliate offers and other on site advertising. As someone who buys content almost daily this is actually perverse that dealers see this as acceptable. Then again a sucker is born every minute.
With the onslaught of free listing services and applications being launched the over under on them surviving, without changing their business model, is 3.8 years, if you want the over call me!
With the stories I have heard from consumers, abysmal referral traffic to dealers sites, continual price increases and poor lead volume it is a wonder that any dealers renew their contracts, another bad business model, with them.
I have dealers I work with seeing phenomenal results from sites like craigslist.org, backpage.com,walmart.com, oodle.com and kijiji.com most are not renewing with the paid classified sites. Give me a call if you want to know more.
This will soon become a relic.
Ben give me a call if you need my address to send me a letter as well.
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unauthorized use and unfair competition and violating Cox Auto Trader trademarks on his blog
This is good information on FRAUD. People that advertise online have to be careful how they advertise someone’s website or business.
Thanks for the information.
I’m a dealer and a customer of autotrader and cars.com. And I have to say that they aren’t cheap but let me point something out. Those sites are specific to car shoppers, not someone looking for a used camera. The statement that dealers are canceling? Doesn’t look like it to me, I got just as much competition as before. As for poor leads…I don’t count emails- I count callers and live people.
So please folks, leave cars & trader and start using craigslist. I can use your customers business!
Joel I appreciate your feedback. Seeing how you posted your reply from a cell phone with no last name or dealership url I would say you are not are not what you claim to be, a dealer, more likely than not you work for either cars.com or autotrader.com…
Feel free to contact me so that way my readers can give your comments any credence.
The key to this is there are now a lot of websites that have vehicle listings. Back in the day AutoTrader.com, cars.com and maybe a couple others were the only places to look and see all the listings available in an area.
Now there are large aggregators like Oodle, Vast, Google Base and others that pool all the listings together and then republish them everywhere… for free!
Not to mention sites like Craigslist, Backpage, Kijiji, Lemonfree.com, cartango.com, everycarlisted.com and many others that are completely free.
There is also a new company started every week out of someone’s basement who has the dream to be the next AutoTrader.com
I don’t think AutoTrader.com is going anywhere, but I think they may have to radically change their business model.
You are right Matt if they change their business model they will survive, but in it’s current form they will not.
These other sites with free distribution that are being scoffed at are like sending 100 midgets to attack a 800 lb gorilla.
They will force the gorilla into submission, with a few bloody midgets, and then they will have to change their models or die.
Paul, just so you know, sending 100 or even a thousand midgets at a gorilla won’t send the gorilla into submission. In Cambodia, I believe it was, 50 martial arts midgets took on a tiger and what did you end up with, a bunch of dead midgets. You’re sending a younger, stonger, faster gorilla at an older one.
Paul,
As the new Ad Director for a weekly newspaper, I am interested in partnering with a credible online source of automotive offerings in my DMA. The major daily offers cars.com. What organization do you recommend I contact? Thanks.
It seems that the bad publicity is finally catching up with them (AT). There have been multiple postings on various sites discussing the way they are conducting business and this just seems to be the last nail in the coffin. They must be losing dealers at a larger rate than I was originally aware of. If they are stooping to this level they are losing customers (and money). Searching for frivolous lawsuits like this is actually kind of funny.
And Joel MUST be working for one of the companies listed above (don’t want to name them cause I’ll be sued). Leads are down across the board from both services. At my store (which I don’t want to name due to the possible issues) Has only had 3 leads from C###.com in each of the last 3 months…. $1000s of dollars for 3 leads? I don’t have access to how many people looked at a map of the location. But seriously?
We should sell at least 2 cars per $1000 spent on advertising AT LEAST…
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