A new study by Compete called Search: Driving Awareness and Consideration, shows that search has become the top tool for referrals for car dealers and manufacturer websites.
The study concluded that, “In the second quarter of 2006, search generated 58% more referrals than portals in aggregate, up from 20% in the first quarter.” This is one of the key reasons why Yahoo (YHOO) has had its profits drop for the 3rd quarter.
Another result of the study revealed that search accounted for almost 50% more referrals than third-party automotive sites, "OEM branded searches accounted for 85 percent of immediate “Locate a Dealer” and 83 percent of immediate “Start Lead Submission” sessions."
“The business model of automotive marketing and advertising is morphing, and Compete’s findings enable OEMs and their agencies to better understand the power of search,” said Lincoln Merrihew, managing director of Compete’s Automotive Practice. “Outperforming all individual third party automotive sites and aggregates, it’s clear that Google is much more than just a search engine.”
This study was commissioned by Google (GOOG) and the comments reflect that. Still, the conclusions are true concerning search in general that it is an increasing force that must be considered in the online world.
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