AUTO TRADER ANNOUNCES THE ROLLOUT OF NEW INNOVATIVE FEATURES
February 19th, 2008Auto Trader, the UK’s no 1 motoring website and magazine, reaching nearly 10 million motorists, has announced the rollout of new, innovative features across its website and WAP site.
Auto Trader’s WAP service will be launching display advertising on the existing mobile site, through a partnership with 4th Screen, allowing advertisers to directly target WAP users. Auto Trader will relaunch their WAP service with an updated mobile site by Q2 2008, which aims to deliver a mobile site with improved usability. Continuous improvements will be made, with larger scale changes to follow by the end of the year.
Further innovations will appear on AutoTrader.co.uk, and include a new mapping solution, powered by Decarta. Maps will appear as an additional tab in dealer’s popups, which will enable the user to locate the car on a map and get a route from their location to that of the dealers.
Lastly, Auto Trader is introducing a new video solution, due to go live within the next month. The video solution will allow Auto Trader to embed videos within news stories for the popular Editorial section of the website. Further enhancements will include a video player ‘hub’, which will collect all videos together for browsing. There is also a plan to integrate video user reviews from motorists changing their cars.
Edwin Ulak, Publishing Director at Trader Media Group comments: “We are continuing to invest heavily in our multi-channel offerings to optimise the functionality for our 8.5 million Internet and WAP users and we are committed to providing motorists with the best functionality and usability experience in the market.
“Our new functionality will continue to optimise dealer’s adverts and help to drive more leads, which ultimately helps us to help dealers sell more cars more profitably.”
Now in the top 50 most visited sites in the UK, Auto Trader is a route to market for one quarter of the UK online adult population, with over 8.5 million users*, who each spends an average of 15 minutes on the site per visit**. Auto Trader attracts a massive audience of car buyers looking to purchase cars across all segments and serves 525 million page impressions per month, with 77 million searches for cars. (*Source: Auto Trader Internal Audit, January 2008) (**Source: Comscore November 2007).
Auto Trader is the UK’s 40th most actively purchased magazine*, putting it ahead of magazines such as Zoo, BBC Top Gear and Grazia. Currently the readership of Auto Trader, which has 13 regional editions, reaches a readership of over 1.4 million motorists** and over 13 million copies*** of Auto Trader are sold every year in the UK. (*Source: ABC Jan-Dec 2006) (** Source: NRS, Feb 2007) (***Source: ABC Jan-Dec 2007)
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Notes to Editor:
• With 13 regional Auto Trader magazines across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and an expanding online presence through AutoTrader.co.uk, the brand is building a competitive position across all effective channels including print, the web and WAP.
• Auto Trader is owned by Trader Media Group, which also publishes market-leading niche titles such as Top Marques, Bike Trader, Truck & Plant Trader, Ad Trader, Motorhome and Caravan Trader, Farmers Trader, Auto Freeway, TNT magazine – all with the largest reach in their sectors, through magazine readership and web visitors.
• Trader Media Group publishes almost 70 titles every week with a combined circulation of 1.5 million and has leading websites for its top titles.
• Trader Media Group, a division of Guardian Media Group, employs over 3,900 people across 40 locations in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Italy and South Africa. The Group is looking to expand on its winning formula: developing a one-stop-shop for motorists; giving trade customers the opportunity to choose all effective channels to market; building the service and relationship with dealers and manufacturers; and strengthening its portfolio of automotive and specialist classified titles.
• Trader Media Group is jointly owned by Guardian Media Group and Apax Partners, with GMG as the majority shareholder.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Hughes/Caroline Burnell
The Drum Consultancy
Tel: 020 7025 8044
Fax: 020 7025 8100
Email: karenh@drumbeat.co.uk
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