Idearc’s EveryCarListed.com Debuts ‘All Video’ Car Listings

EveryCarListed.com, a 25-person car portal quietly acquired by Idearc Media in February, has formally rolled out its new look and feel. It includes an unprecedented effort to provide videos of every car on the site.

The site currently has 2 million car listings, with 1 million already attached to videos. The site will be “all video” by the end of the year.

The site also includes consumer reviews, auto news and manufacturer video, but the differentiator is the push on the all video listings. Given the logistical difficulty of acquiring video for millions of car listings, the “enhanced” video is computer generated, patching together composite photos, and informed by vertical information numbers. The technology can use up to 32 pictures sent in by a dealer.

To my eyes, the video quality is as good as “real” video shot by videocams. There are no obvious cut-and-paste issues. The technology also enables customized audio and a photo gallery.

The site offers free basic listings, which it heavily emphasizes in marketing materials (although the other auto sites also have free, non-featured listings). Its primary business model is based on AutoTrader/Cars.com-like bronze/silver/gold monthly subscription packages for dealerships.

A top-of-the-line package in Los Angeles costs $2,600 per month and patches together all the synergies of the Idearc relationship. It includes the video enablement; featured listings on the top of the page; a half-page ad in the local Idearc (Verizon) Yellow Pages; a premium listing on Superpages.com; and two direct mail pieces a year, using Idearc Direct Mail. Dealers that pitch their service departments as well as their new and used cars will have their repair work covered under Verizon’s “SuperGuarantee” program.

The outreach to service departments, in fact, might be the best path in for Idearc salespeople. Service departments tend to be better Yellow Pages customers. Otherwise, less than 1 percent of dealer marketing is typically aimed at Yellow Pages (per NADA).