CHICAGO — Cars.com has launched Cars360, an audience extension solution designed to help automotive dealerships expand their reach and influence Cars.com shoppers even after they have left the site. 

As consumers spend more time online and longer periods of time in-market, Cars360 keeps a dealer’s brand top of mind throughout the consumer’s online journey by targeting relevant, local car shoppers across a network of hundreds of thousands of websites.

“Car shoppers spend as long as 19 weeks in market to purchase a vehicle, and during that process, they spend over 20 hours a week online,” said Rock Irvin, manager of data and partnerships for Cars.com. “Cars360 offers additional exposure to a highly targeted audience of local in-market shoppers who have expressed interest in a dealership’s make on Cars.com. The dealership’s brand will be seen by those shoppers across the web, providing dealers with a unique branding opportunity to influence potential customers even when they are not shopping on Cars.com.”

Cars360 does not require manual setup and regular maintenance; dealers simply select their vehicle make and market, then either work with Cars.com’s graphic design team to create their ads. Dealers can also supply their own creative. Cars.com then manages the process for them by tracking the vehicle searches completed by more than 12 million monthly unique visitors, driving awareness via display ads linking to either a dealership’s website or to their Dealer Profile on Cars.com.