CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -

CarGurus announced Friday the launch of SEM Plus — the newest addition to its dealer product suite — at the 2018 NADA Show.

SEM Plus is designed to help dealerships run their online marketing programs more efficiently when working to drive consumer traffic directly from both online and physical sites.

Via CarGurus’s proprietary customer acquisition algorithm, SEM Plus simplifies testing, measuring and updating ads and keywords.

“For more than a decade, CarGurus has shown that we are technology experts solving the puzzle around pairing shoppers and cars, and we took that same technology-first approach in building SEM Plus,” CarGurus senior director of product Andrew Grochal said in a news release. “We constantly optimize the technology that powers both our platform and now SEM Plus, giving dealerships digital marketing efficiency and scale. Additionally, CarGurus has been a Google Partner for years, and we are up to speed on AdWords best practices, betas and new features, and that knowledge will be shared with our SEM Plus customers."

In addition to inventory-based dynamic ads that update in real time, dealers can benefit from optimizing their own digital marketing programs to directly reach high and low funnel buyers.

With SEM Plus, dealers can access:

  • Algorithmic bidding strategies and real-time optimizations designed to save time and money
  • A scale with an average of 1 million keywords per account
  • Dedicated account management by CarGurus’ Google Certified Digital Consultants
  • Audience retargeting through Google and Facebook to re-engage prospects

“The results in our CarGurus’ SEM Plus program have been very positive in nearly all of the metrics that matter the most to our dealership,” said Max Nunn, eCommerce marketing manager at Volkswagen of Saint Augustine. “Having a designated representative that has always been promptly responsive has helped us view CarGurus as a trusted partner.”

Additionally, SEM Plus provides dealers the flexibility to adapt to inventory changes such as price adjustments or a sold unit.

Dealers using the product will have control over the budget and target location of their ads to optimize their spend based on factors such as vehicle price, time on lot and make/model.

For a live demo of CarGurus’ SEM Plus at the 2018 NADA Show, visit booth 2396C.