In a landmark ruling, a federal judge has declared Google a monopoly, citing the tech giant’s anticompetitive practices in maintaining its dominant position in the search engine market. This decision could have significant impacts on the search industry and digital marketing writ large, potentially reshaping the landscape for SEO strategies and paid search. As Google appeals the ruling, the entire digital ecosystem braces for changes that could introduce more competition, lower advertising costs, and increase transparency in search engine marketing.

Google has announced it will no longer phase out third-party cookies in Chrome.

Instead, it’s trying a new approach that emphasizes user choice and control over their web browsing privacy.

For years, the company had been working towards eliminating third-party cookies, repeatedly delaying the implementation due to various challenges.

Instead of deprecating these cookies, Google will introduce a new experience in Chrome that allows users to make informed choices about their privacy settings.

Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox at Google, stated in the announcement :

“We are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice. Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.”

User Control At The Forefront

Under this new proposal, Chrome users can set their privacy preferences, which will apply across their web browsing activities.

This pivot comes after extensive feedback from various stakeholders, including regulators like the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as well as publishers, web developers, standards groups, civil society, and advertising industry participants.

Source: July 2024 Search Engine Journal

It happens all the time. Your ad interests a car shopper enough to visit. They may click around, look at the inventory, check out a vehicle details page and then, without even a goodbye, they’re gone. They left and you have no idea who they are, how far away they are, or how to get in touch with them. It’s over.

Or is it?

Digital marketing surveys have shown that 85% of visitors to your website leave it in this manner. It’s not your fault, it is just the way it goes. In the past, we would just accept it and move on but, with today’s technology, we no longer have to. We can now identify 40 to 50% of lost prospects and reconnect with them by the next day. This is the genius of tracking pixel technology.

Have you ever been scrolling through Facebook and see an ad for something you were just talking about a few minutes ago? Creepy, huh? That is the work of a tracking pixel which is simply a line of code that collects user data and allows innovative marketers to target just the right people with ads for things they are actually interested it. That technology can also be used to identify website visitors that leave without submitting a lead so that they can be “retargeted” with ads or emails that remind them why they visited in the first place.

Now there is a much better chance that “the one that got away” becomes the one that buys a vehicle.

While many car shoppers still like to peruse the dealership lots and showrooms looking for their next new ride, more and more are opting for a more hands-off approach by doing it all online.

Recent studies have shown that over 90% of car shoppers do their research online before they buy. From reading reviews to calculating payments and finding the value of their trade-in, most everything can be done from the comfort of their own homes with the mobile device in their pockets. Even signing paperwork can be done without physical paper (big sigh of relief from the trees).

So what about the vehicle walk-around and a test drive? Surely car shoppers still like to feel the upholstery and step on that gas pedal, right? Not entirely. In the age of advancing technology and “social distancing”, more shoppers are becoming comfortable with a more virtual approach to kicking the tires. 360 degree view and virtual walk-around videos are becoming more accepted alternatives to the traditional test-drive. A 2019 Google survey found that 64% of new car shoppers are more willing to purchase a new vehicle without a test drive after having viewed these videos.

Regular car commercials just aren’t cutting it anymore. The flash/bang of commercial video isn’t as important to car shoppers as it used to be. It is fine for brand awareness, but once a consumer makes up his/her mind to shop for a vehicle, they want information. A recent Pixability survey found that the views and watch-time of longer information-driven video content eclipses that of more traditional manufacturer and dealership commercials. Simply put, car commercials are fine for brand recognition, but longer, more in-depth information videos are what active shoppers want to see before making the actual purchase. And if the purchase can be made entirely online - even better.

The future of car sales is “showroomless”… and the future is now.

Today is the future we used to hear about when we were kids. Sure, we don't have flying cars yet (which kind of bums me out), but almost everyone you know has a computer in their pocket that is digitally connected to a vast network of information that ranges from scientific journals on quantum cryptography to videos of cats being afraid of cucumbers. This digital connection is also a treasure-trove of opportunity in marketing. Every time someone browses on a laptop, Googles on their phone or argues politics with total strangers on Facebook, they become an audience to be enticed by marketers.

Many people think of digital marketing like "real world" marketing. They see it as simple as taking out an ad in the paper, putting up a billboard, or playing a commercial on TV , hoping the right people see it. It can be that, but it can also be so much more because, on the internet, the information flows both ways. When a person is in the market for a new vehicle, some internet companies remember that. They know what the person is looking for; Is it a car or a truck? A Chevy or a Nissan? Do they want to lease or purchase? In what area are they looking?

It sounds creepy, right? But all of that information comes in handy when you have cars collecting dust on your lot and paper ads, your website, and that giant inflatable gorilla on the roof aren't bringing in the customer like you'd hoped. So how do you apply this vast pool of knowledge to your dealership's marketing? How do you get your marketing campaigns to reach the right people at the right time with the right message? How do you bring your marketing out of the old days and into the future?