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CHICAGO — Automotive Internet Media announced it has been selected by the LemonFree.com auto search engine to be the exclusive distributor for the launch of the website's Dealer Certification Program.

The first participants in the program will be dealerships chosen by LemonFree.com based on their reputation for employing best practices.

The program is designed to help dealers who gain certifications to reach wider audiences, meaning more potential buyers can see inventory and become aware of the dealerships. 

There are close to 100,000 unique visitors to LemonFree.com's network of auto sites each day.

"We have been in discussions with AIM for quite some time, and wanted to make sure we had a very strong offering for dealers before we presented the program. We are very confident that we are there now," noted Lance Schafer, president of LemonFree.com.

"Our customers expect us to work with dealers that employ the highest standards of Internet service, and we promise to do our best to deliver," he continued. "In turn, we are very confident those dealers will see a tremendous value in this exclusive marketing opportunity."

Schafer added: "Choosing AIM to bring the LemonFree.com Certified Program to market was an easy decision, as they immediately understood our vision. Our alliance with AIM will provide the right dealer in every market the ability to magnify their online marketing, improve their bottom-line results, while providing their loyal LemonFree.com users with the 'lemon free experience' they expect."

Tony French, president and co-founder of AIM, added: "LemonFree.com can attribute its astounding growth in the last few years to an understanding of how Internet-savvy auto consumers make purchases online. Search, combined with reputation, are the most important resources consumers look for when purchasing an automobile using the Web."

Explaining how the site works, officials went on to note that with consumers being more Web savvy these days, many are utilizing vertical auto search to find their vehicles. After they've found their rides, they typically rely on dealership reputation in determining their final choice.

Officials said that these types of shoppers are the target audience of Lemonfree.com. The site is designed to provide highly qualified leads to dealers of shoppers who are further along in the shopping process.

"We've always been a little different. Our site was born out of a desire to focus on consumer satisfaction rather than just car sales. We wanted LemonFree.com to provide a buying experience not simply a list of cars for sale," Schafer shared.

"We've always strived to be complete, accurate, informative, fast and unbiased. Today we have over 2.4 million vehicle offerings alongside important data for the customer to research before finalizing their purchase," he added. "Our goal from the start was to try to educate and help protect the consumer with information about the car and dealer."