Auto held a strong grip on the top advertising category across desktop and mobile for the month of March, led in large part by Toyota. Looking at desktop specifically, the top five sites for auto advertisers were youtube.com, yahoo.com, msn.com, eBay.com and espn.go.com. Ad networks were used to place 47% of the desktop impressions from the auto category, led by Google AdX + AdSense as the top partner. Direct buys followed as the second top purchase channel with 33% of impressions, and 20% were served through DSPs.
We are going to dive in to the top 10 desktop auto advertisers for March to uncover how they were buying impressions and which sites they targeted.
10. Cars.com
Hitting an average of 536 sites per day, 77% of Cars.com’s desktop impressions were purchased through ad networks. The top sites targeted were drudgereport.com, weather.com and slickdeals.net.
9. Mazda
Mazda creatives were detected an average of 480 sites per day during the month of March, with top three sites being youtube.com, imgur.com and jalopnik.com. Exponential was the top partner used by the car manufacturer, serving up 42% of their desktop impressions.
8. Chevrolet
Chevrolet’s top three sites for the month included aol.com, youtube.com and edmunds.com; out of an average of 525 sites per day the advertiser appeared on. Direct buys led as the top purchase channel, with 37% of total desktop impressions.
7. GarGurus LLC
CarGurus purchased almost all of their desktop impressions - 96% - via Google AdX + AdSense. Advertising on an average of 468 sites per day for the month, youtube.com, zillow.com and drudgereport.com were the top three sites.
6. Hyundai Dealerships
We detected Hyundai creatives an average of 1,053 sites per day during March, purchased primarily through ad networks Google AdX + AdSense and CDK Digital Marketing. The top three sites were imager.com, youtube.com and eBay.com.
5. Toyota Dealer Associations
As the rankings go up - so does the average number of sites per day. Hitting an average of 1,189, the top sites were eBay.com, msn.com and slickdeals.net.
4. Nissan Dealer Associations
The top three desktop sites for Nissan Dealer Associations were msn.com, eBay.com and imgur.com. Using ad networks to purchase 48% of desktop impressions, creatives were detected on an average of 1,320 sites per day.
3. Chevrolet Dealerships
Running creatives on an average of 1,594 sites per day, ad works dominated Chevrolet Dealerships’ top purchase channels, capturing 91% of desktop impressions. The top three sites were eBay.com, imgur.com and zillow.com.
2. Acura
Focusing mostly direct, Acura creatives were only detected on an average of 32 sites per day during the month of March. Emphasis was placed on top site yahoo.com - which held 53% of the manufacturer’s total desktop site impression share - followed by youtube.com and espn.go.com.
1. Toyota
Rounding out the number one auto advertiser spot on desktop, for the month of March, Toyota creatives were detected on an average of 1,873 sites per day. 41% of Toyota’s impressions were purchased via DSPs, led by Turn with 36% of the share.
Source: Pathmatics US Desktop Data, 3/1/16-3/31/16.
*By impression volume. **All trademarks & copyrights property of their respective owners.
