LONG ISLAND, NY – At the end of last year, based on what was happening in the online automotive industry, I took a good look at some of the major automotive websites as there was a steep industry decline in web traffic for the 4th Quarter. This is an update to where these sites are now and what’s changed.
The 3rd domain name on the list happens to be Cars.com, which was recently valued at a staggering $872 Million Dollars. If you are interested in a breakdown on just how this was calculated check out The Definitive Guide to the World’s Largest Domain Sale by DNAcademy.com. You would think that any of the sites on this list, or even new emerging sites, could be valued at or near the same.
Among many risk factors to the valuation of Cars.com are “competing sites” (some of which are on this list below).
To the extent that car dealers view alternative marketing and media strategies to be superior, Cars.com may not be able to maintain or grow the number of dealers in its network and such dealers may sell fewer cars to users of Cars.com’s platform and Cars.com’s business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.
The results below are based on estimated data available at Alexa.com. The site with the highest combination of unique visitors and page-views is ranked #1. Learn more about Alexa’s Data.
For sites 1 – 10, the image on the left is how the site was doing in the 4th Quarter of 2016; on the right is how the site is doing today.
#1) AutoTrader.com – Rank in United States: #328th Place of All Sites Online.
#2) CarGurus.com – Rank in United States: 398th Place of All Sites Online
#3) Cars.com – Rank in United States: 462nd Place of All Sites Online
#4) Edmunds.com – Rank in United States: 603rd Place of All Sites Online
#5) CarFax.com – Rank in United States: 1,097th Place of All Sites Online
#6) TrueCar.com – Rank in United States: 1,247th Place of All Sites Online
#7) CarsDirect.com – Rank in United States: 2,878th Place of All Sites Online
#8) AutoBytel.com – Rank in United States: 6,331st Place of All Sites Online
#9) Car.com – Rank in United States: 10,925th Place of All Sites Online
#10) UsedCars.com – Rank in United States: 37,443rd Place of All Sites Online
One site that is not on this list although I should have included it is AutoList.com (bottom left), which ranks in the US at 10,828. It would have placed between 8th and 9th place. Additionally, as another rising star is AutoTempest.com (bottom right), an aggregate search engine which would have placed itself at 19,713, between 9th and 10th place.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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