Eighty-six percent of consumers use the Internet to look for local businesses, according to research from Nielsen, and that extends to buying a car. Many consumers find researching car purchases online overwhelming, especially when using the big search engines, and even third-party websites are deemed much the same.

At the same time, car dealerships want to retain the timeliness and targeting capability of print classifieds. Enter LocalConnect from Autobytel which enables car dealers already using their MyRide search function to display ads on their site. Ads can be targeted by region, promotion dates and make/model and contain rich media presentations and calls to action.

“Clearly, consumers are turning to the Internet, and away from newspaper classifieds, to make their vehicle purchasing decisions,” said Jim Riesenbach, Autobytel president and CEO in an earlier announcement. “With LocalConnect, dealers can easily market their weekly specials to in-market car shoppers in their local area with far greater specificity and at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.”

Out of Autobytel’s 3,700 or so U.S. dealer franchises only 10, including Asbury Automotive and Van Tuyl Group, Inc., have signed up for LocalConnect

Getting local dealers to put more money towards this type of online advertising remains a challenge. "Eighty to 90 percent of our total [ad revenue] is still national," said Riesenbach, who believes the challenge is to convince local dealers to get on board with online geo-targeting. "It's still very early."