Run vehicle ads from a live inventory feed, search campaigns by model and condition, service and parts campaigns, and a brand campaign, all aimed at your market area. Land every click on the matching vehicle or service page. Include the full disclosures any finance or lease figure triggers, and keep Canadian prices all-in.
Measure units sold and repair orders by campaign.
Vehicle ads from your inventory
Google's vehicle ads show an image of the car with make, model, price, mileage and dealer name, and send the click to that vehicle's page on your site, where the buyer can contact you or submit a lead form. They are available in the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan and are enabled in Merchant Center. Keep the feed accurate to the hour, so sold cars drop out fast, and make sure the price in the feed matches the price on the page.
Search campaigns that match how buyers search
Structure campaigns the way buyers search, and give each its own budget:
- By model and trim: a campaign or ad group per model line, with ads naming the model and landing on its inventory.
- By condition: new, used and certified pre-owned as separate campaigns with their own budgets.
- Service and parts: oil changes, brakes, tires, recalls and parts by make, as their own program.
- Brand: your dealership's name, so buyers searching for you find you first.
Aim at your market area
Most buyers buy within a drive of home. Google Ads location targeting offers "Presence or Interest", which also reaches people interested in your area, and "Presence", which reaches only people in it; for a dealership, "Presence" often fits better. Set the area by your real market and adjust by rooftop.
Finance ads: Regulation Z trigger terms
In the USA, Regulation Z, section 1026.24, governs advertising for closed-end credit, such as car loans. If an ad states any triggering term (the amount or percentage of any down payment, the number of payments or period of repayment, the amount of any payment, or the amount of any finance charge), it must also state the down payment, the terms of repayment over the full term including any balloon payment, and the "annual percentage rate", using that term, with a note if the rate may increase. Electronic ads may meet this with a clearly shown table. A headline like "$399 a month" therefore needs the full set of terms with it.
Lease ads: Regulation M trigger terms
Lease advertising follows Regulation M, section 1013.7. If an ad states the amount of any payment, or any payment due at or before signing (including that none is required), it must also state that the transaction is a lease, the total due at signing or delivery, the number, amounts and due dates of payments, whether a security deposit is required, and that an extra charge may apply at lease end based on residual value. A lease rate may not be called an annual percentage rate.
Canada: all-in and attainable prices
In Ontario, OMVIC requires the advertised price to include all fees and charges the dealer intends to collect, except HST and licensing, and says ads on websites, marketplaces and social media count. Federally, the Competition Bureau says promoting a price that cannot be attained because of mandatory fees is against the law unless the charge is imposed by government. Other provinces have their own dealer regulators; check yours.
A note on the FTC's CARS Rule
The FTC's Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule would have added specific dealer advertising requirements. On 27 January 2025 the Fifth Circuit vacated it in National Automobile Dealers Association v. FTC, finding that the FTC failed to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. The FTC Act's general bar on deceptive advertising still applies, as do state laws.
How to measure dealer Google Ads
By campaign: leads, appointments, units sold and gross for sales campaigns; booked service appointments and repair orders for service campaigns; and cost per unit sold and per repair order. Match leads to sales in your CRM. Clicks and impressions are context.
What we do and do not do
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. We plan and run vehicle ads, search and service campaigns for dealerships through our performance marketing service. We hold no Google partner status and claim none, and we give no legal advice; your compliance team approves finance and lease wording. Our car dealership marketing page describes the work. Our dealer lead generation guide covers follow-up.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.