The 2009 study highlights the critical role of the internet and search engines in the automotive buying process, noting that 84% of new vehicle buyers visited OEM or third-party sites before purchase. It indicates that video consumption is also on the rise among vehicle purchasers, with 83% visiting video sites for research purposes. Additionally, the study shows a substantial increase in traffic to sites related to parts, accessories, services, and tires, with search referrals growing significantly as a source for these visits.

1. Understanding the 2009 Auto
Shopper
Jeremy Crane, Compete, Inc.
Dr. Angela Reynar, Google, Inc.
April 23, 2009
Google Confidential and Proprietary 1

2. Table of Contents
• The Studies
– Automotive Buyer Flow
– Automotive Video
– Parts & Service
• Key Findings
Search plays a critical part in the automotive research and
buying process now more than ever
Automotive video is growing as an automotive research tool
among new vehicle purchasers
Search continues to deliver both referral quantity and quality
to parts, accessories, services and tires websites
Google Confidential and Proprietary 2

3. Automotive Buying Flow Study
• The role of the internet in the new vehicle buyer’s
purchasing process
Google Confidential and Proprietary 3

4. The overall automotive market has been challenged
• Industry sales fell considerably in the last half of 2008
• Sales have continued to struggle in 2009
Automotive Retail Registrations
(R.L. Polk & Co. retail registration data; number of New Vehicle Registrations (millions), Jan 2007 through
Dec 2008 )
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2007 2008
Total Luxury Volume Google Confidential and Proprietary 4

5. Market demand has consistently been declining the past 3 years
• However, we are starting to see in-market demand rebound following its lowest point in
Nov 2008
• Similarly, Consumer Confidence* has started to rebound from a Nov low
Market-wide Shopper Counts
(Clickstream data; unique number of shoppers (millions) by month, Jan 2007 through March 2009)
4.0
3.5 Lowest Compete
shopper count on
3.0 record
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5 Compete defines a shopper as someone who exhibits lower-funnel
shopping behavior such as build your own vehicle or dealer locate on the
top 25+ third-party automotive websites.
0.0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2007 2008 2009
Google Confidential and Proprietary 5
Source: Monthly Consumer Confidence Index, The Conference Board via TNS

6. Google, R.L. Polk & Co. and Compete created a new
dataset to study new vehicle retail registrations
New Vehicle Retail Internet Browsers
Car Registrations
Source: Compete
Source: R.L. Polk & Co. 3rd Party
Household Match
Google Confidential and Proprietary 6

7. Nearly every buyer used an OEM and/or 3rd Party Site
during the purchasing process
• 84% of new vehicle buyers visited an OEM and/or 3rd Party site within 6 months of purchase
• 1 in 4 new vehicle buyers visited only either an OEM site or 3rd Party site
Pre-Purchase Automotive Category Visitation
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyers visiting the site category during the 6 months prior to purchase)
84%
74% 14%
70%
10% 14% 10%
60% 60% 60%
OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party
Automotive and/or
Sites OEM Sites
Shared OEM Only 3rd Party Only Google Confidential and Proprietary 7

8. 3rd party sites saw new vehicle buyer growth year-over-year
• While OEM site visitation among new vehicle buyers declined
• Unique visitation among new vehicle buyers had similar trends
Pre-Purchase Automotive Category Visitation
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyers visiting the site category during the 6 months prior to purchase)
2007 2008
84% 84%
77%
71% 73% 13% 16%
68%
16%
11% 13% 11% 7% 7%
3rd Party
60% 60% 60% Only 61% 61% 61%
OEM
Only
Shared
OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party OEM Sites 3rd Party 3rd Party
Automotive and/or Automotive and/or
Sites OEM Sites Sites OEM Sites
Google Confidential and Proprietary 8

9. 49% of new vehicle buyers used a KPI on any OEM site at
least once during the 6 months prior vehicle purchase
• BYO was the most used KPI tool
Pre-Purchase OEM KPI Usage
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyers during the 6 months prior to purchase)
48%
36%
33%
23%
21% 21%
18%
7% 7%
BYO Offers Locate Dealer Search RAQ Compare Estimator Brochure Trade In
Inventory
Google Confidential and Proprietary 9
* Only used 6/2007 through 12/2008 purchasers, n = 44,865

10. OEM KPI usage aligns with retail vehicle sales
• New vehicle buyers were most likely to KPI on Toyota
Top-5 OEM KPI Top-5 OEM
usage sites among retail sales
new vehicle buyers* 2007 - 2008
Toyota 16.8% Toyota 3.8 million
Ford 16.5% Chevrolet 2.8 million
Chevrolet 15.1% Honda 2.6 million
Honda 13.6% Ford 2.5 million
Nissan 11.6% Nissan 1.6 million
Source: Clickstream Source: R.L. Polk & Co. retail registrations
Google Confidential and Proprietary 10
* Only used 6/2007 through 12/2008 purchasers, n = 44,865

11. Where can I find today’s automotive shoppers?
• Websites are the #1 consumer information source; dealerships are #2; search is #3
Sources used to learn about or research cars
(Google Touchpoints consumer survey data; share of category respondents)
Website 48%
Dealership 44%
Search Result 30%
Q: Which of the following sources did you use to learn about or research cars as you made your
decision to buy one in the past 6 months? (select all) Base: All category respondents, n=597
Google Confidential and Proprietary 11
Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey, January 2009

12. New Vehicle Buyers are just as likely to use non-branded
terms compared to branded terms
• However, New Vehicle Buyers have a higher propensity to use branded search terms
during their vehicle purchase month
Type of Keyword Phrase Used by Buyers Before Purchase
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyer search referrals to automotive sites by time periods, discrete months)
56% 57% 57% 55% 49% 48%
Top 10 Auto Search
Terms in purchase month
Rank Term
1 kelly blue book*
2 toyota
51% 52% 3 nissan
44% 43% 45% 4 mazda
43%
5 carmax*
6 ford
7 hyundai
8 chevrolet
9 blue book*
10 kia
6 Months 5 Months 4 Months 3 Months 2 Months Within the
prior prior prior prior prior Month * Non-branded terms
of Purchase
Branded Non-Branded Read as: 52% of New Vehicle Buyer search
referrals to automotive sites used branded
search terms within the month of purchase
Google Confidential and Proprietary 12

13. Sources used – at what point?
• Websites and Search are widely used throughout the purchase funnel
Throughout the process
Websites, Dealerships, WOM, Search Results, Sales People
Q: At what point in your shopping did you use each source to learn about or research cars?
Base: All category respondents, n=597
Google Confidential and Proprietary 13
Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey, January 2009

14. Search played a critical role in the automotive purchase process
• Nearly half of new vehicle buyers visiting OEM automotive sites were referred by search
Pre-Purchase Share of Buyers Referred by Search
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyers visiting the site category that were referred by search during
the 6 months prior to purchase)
Read as: 43% of New Vehicle Buyers that
visited a 3rd Party Automotive website
were referred by search at least once
during the 6 months prior to their purchase
dates.
46%
43%
OEM Sites 3rd Party
Automotive
Sites Google Confidential and Proprietary 14

15. Upper and Lower Funnel: Vehicle Buyers Use Search
Share of New Buyers Referred by Search
OEM Sites 3rd Party
Visitors Sites Visitors
awareness
6 Months 25% 18%
interest 3 Months 31% 22%
consideration 2 Months 34% 28%
test-drive 1 Month 43% 40%
purchase 1 Week 39% 36%
Source: Clickstream data, by time periods, discrete months
Search is a critical activity at every stage of the buying process
Read as: 43% of New Vehicle Buyers that visited an OEM website were referred by search at
least once within the month in which they purchased their vehicle.
Google Confidential and Proprietary 15

16. Search is viewed as useful throughout the purchase funnel
% of consumers who used search engines to …
find independent reviews of
69% discover cars they were
unfamiliar with 83% cars they were considering
find a local dealership where find the car brand’s website
77% they could buy the car 78%
find comparisons of similar
74% find the best offers
89% cars
Q: Please indicate how helpful the search engine was in the following ways during your shopping experience.
Base: Used a search engine as source, n=192
Google Confidential and Proprietary 16
Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey, January 2009

17. Automotive Online Video Study
• The role of online video in the automotive buying
process
Google Confidential and Proprietary 17

18. New vehicle buyers use online video in their research
83% of new vehicle buyers visit video focused websites prior to purchase
Source: Clickstream data
Types of Websites where Car Videos were Viewed
(Google Touchpoints consumer survey data; share of category respondents)
Brand, product or company sites 31%
Auto-specific websites 24%
YouTube 11%
Yahoo! Video 7%
News Sites 7%
MSN Video 6%
MySpace 4%
Facebook 3%
AOL Video 3%
Other 3%
Q: On which of the following websites have you viewed videos about cars? Please think of any
information you have sought regarding automotive, products, brands, product reviews, how-to videos,
etc. (select all) Base: All category respondents, n=597
Google Confidential and Proprietary 18
Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey, January 2009

19. YouTube attracts 40% of people online in the U.S.
• In February, approximately 70M people visited youtube.com
Unique Visitors to YouTube
(Clickstream data; unique number of people (millions) visiting youtube.com, Jan 2007 through Feb 2009)
80
70
60
50
40
30 1. Feb 2007/8 year-over-year growth: 22%
20 YouTube 2008/9 year-over-year growth: 5%
2. Feb traffic increased 132% over the period
10
0
Google Confidential and Proprietary 19

20. 50% of Feb in-market automotive shoppers visited
YouTube
• Compared to 38% of general internet browsing population
YouTube Visitation, In-Market Auto Shoppers vs. General Internet Users
(Clickstream data; share of in-market auto shoppers and internet browsing population visiting youtube.com, Jan 2007
through Feb 2009)
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Read As: 50% of in-market automotive
shoppers visited YouTube in Feb 2009,
compared to 38% of general internet users.
0%
In-Market Auto Shoppers General Internet Browser Population
Google Confidential and Proprietary 20

21. YouTube attracted a larger percentage of 2008 new vehicle
purchasers than 2007 purchasers
• This represented a percentage growth rate 13% year-over-year
Pre-Purchase YouTube Visitation
(Clickstream data; share of New Vehicle Buyers visiting youtube.com during the 6 months prior to purchase)
Read as: 62% of
New Vehicle Buyers
visited YouTube at
least once during the 70%
6 months prior to
their purchase
dates. 62%
2007 2008
Google Confidential and Proprietary 21

22. 2008 new vehicle purchasers spent more time on YouTube
than 2007 purchasers
• 2008 purchasers spent almost twice the amount of time on YouTube
Average Stay on YouTube among Buyers
(Clickstream data; average number of minutes per user per month among New Vehicle Buyers visiting youtube.com
by purchase year)
21
+90%
11
2007 2008
Google Confidential and Proprietary 22

23. People sought out online videos to see the car, get reviews
and learn more about vehicle specifications
Reasons for Watching Online Videos
(Compete/Google Buy Flow survey data (preliminary results); share of answer responses)
To see the car 27%
To get an overall review 26%
To learn more about vehicle
specifications (MPG, safety 24%
features, etc.)
To get the feel of how the vehicle
11%
drives
For entertainment 10%
Other 1%
Q V11: What are some of the reasons you watched online video(s) about
the vehicle(s) you recently researched? Select all that apply. n = 350
Google Confidential and Proprietary 23
Source: Compete/Google Buy Flow Survey, April 2009 Preliminary Results

24. Automotive Parts Study
• How people shopping for parts, tires, service, and
accessories use the internet
Google Confidential and Proprietary 24

25. Parts, accessories, services and tires sites continued to
gain consumer interest online in 2008 and into 2009
• In aggregate, parts, accessories, services and tires sites attracted 14.8M visitors in
Feb 2009
People Visiting Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; unique number of people (millions) visiting parts, accessories, services and tires sites (in aggregate)
Jan 2007 through Feb 2009)
18
16
14
12
10
8
6 Traffic to parts, accessories, services and
4
tires sites increased 34% over the period
2
0
Dec-07
Dec-08
Aug-07
Oct-07
Aug-08
Oct-08
Apr-07
Apr-08
Jan-07
Nov-07
Jan-08
Nov-08
Jan-09
Feb-07
May-07
Sep-07
Feb-08
May-08
Sep-08
Feb-09
Mar-07
Jun-07
Jul-07
Mar-08
Jun-08
Jul-08 Google Confidential and Proprietary 25

26. Traffic to core maintenance site categories continued to grow
• Accessories traffic declined slightly year-over-year as people had less discretionary
income to trick out their cars
• Parts sites captured the most traffic throughout the period
People Visiting Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; unique number of people (millions) visiting the categories of sites, Feb 2008 through Feb 2009)
16
+3%
14
12
10
8
6 -2%
4
+12% +28%
2
0 F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F
Parts Accessories Services Tires
Google Confidential and Proprietary 26

27. Search referral growth has outpaced growth in site traffic
• Search has consistently increased as a referral source
• All categories saw a minimum of 50% growth in search referrals year-over-year
Search Referrals to Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; referring sessions (millions) to the categories of sites, Feb 2008 through Feb 2009)
9
8
+62%
7
6
5
4
3
+52% +74%
2 +77%
1
0
F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F
Parts Accessories Services Tires
Google Confidential and Proprietary 27

28. 1 in 4 people referred to parts, accessories, services and
tires websites can only be reached by search
• Search exclusivity has increased among the parts, accessories, services and tires
sites throughout the past year
• Search exclusivity grew 14% on average year-over-year
Search Exclusivity to Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; share of UV-based referrals to the categories of sites, Feb 2008 through Feb 2009)
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0% F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M A M J J A S O N D J F F M AM J J A S O N D J F
Parts Accessories Services Tires
Google Confidential and Proprietary 28

29. Google provided the largest proportion of referrals to parts,
accessories, services and tires sites in Q4 2008
• Google referred more than 4X its closest competitor, Yahoo! Search
• 3% of all referrals came from the Google Content Network
Referrals to Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; referrals to the categories of sites (in aggregate), Q4 2008)
20%
5%
3%
2%
1% 1%
1% 0% 0% 1% 0%
Google Yahoo! MSN/Live Yahoo! MSN Portal AOL Gmail Yahoo! Mail Hotmail AOL Mail
Search
Search Portal Google Webmail
Content
Network
Google Confidential and Proprietary 29

30. Google referred the largest proportion of referrals resulting
in a KPI activity in Q4 2008
• 18% of referrals resulting in KPI activity came from Google
• The Google Content Network referred 2.9% of all referrals resulting in a KPI
KPI Referrals to Parts, Accessories, Services and Tires Sites
(Clickstream data; referring sessions to the categories of sites with KPI activity (in aggregate) Q4 2008)
18.2%
4.6%
2.9%
2.1%
1.0% 1.0%
0.5% 0.3% 0.1% 0.4% 0.1%
Google Yahoo! MSN/Live Yahoo! MSN Portal AOL Gmail Yahoo! Mail Hotmail AOL Mail
Search
Search Portal Content Webmail
Network
Google Confidential and Proprietary 30

31. Search referrals with KPI activity are more apt to use
branded terms
• On average, 45% of search referrals to parts, accessories, services and tires sites are
from branded terms
• Branded and non-branded terms both play a role in driving traffic to parts, accessories,
services and tires sites
Branded Search Referrals
(Clickstream data; share of search referrals to parts, accessories, services and tires sites (in aggregate), Q4 2008)
55% 49%
45% 51%
Overall KPI
Q4 2008
Branded Non-Branded Google Confidential and Proprietary 31

32. Search referrals resulting in Add to Cart activities are more
likely to come from paid search
• Without paid search parts, accessories, services and tires sites would have seen 30%
fewer people with Add to Cart activity in Q4 2008
Paid Search Referrals (left) & Paid Search Exclusivity (right)
(Clickstream data; share of search referrals to parts, accessories, services and tires sites (in aggregate), Q4 2008)
9%
19%
67%
74%
61%
65%
33% 30%
26%
16%
Overall Add to Cart Overall Add to Cart
Q4 2008 Q4 2008
Paid Organic Paid Organic Both
Session based Referrals UV-based Referrals
Google Confidential and Proprietary 32

33. Key Findings
Automotive Buying:
Search plays a critical part in the automotive
research and buying process now more than ever
Video Viewing:
Automotive video is growing as an automotive
research tool among new vehicle purchasers
After Market Research:
Search continues to deliver both referral quantity
and quality to parts, accessories, services and
tires websites
Google Confidential and Proprietary 33

34. Studies to ask your Google Team Member about
Study Name Objective Components Expected Timing
Automotive Buyer Flow Analyze the purchase funnel • Compete/R.L. Partially available
by connecting automotive Polk & Co. Data today
vehicle purchasers to internet Match
behavior • Clickstream
• Survey data
Value of Automotive Assess the influence of video • Compete/R.L. Partially available
Video and when consumers use it Polk & Co. Data today
during their automotive vehicle Match
purchase process • Clickstream
• Survey data
Parts & Service Study Quantify the impact of online • Clickstream Partially available
research activities that occur • Survey data today
as consumers progress
through the parts,
accessories, services and
tires purchase processes
Google Confidential and Proprietary 34

35. Studies to ask your Google Team Member about
Study Name Objective Components Expected Timing
Non-KPI study Quantify the role of search in • Clickstream Available today
driving on-site automotive • Survey data
behaviors. Discover the
difference in KPI and Non-KPI
consumer profiles
Certified Pre- Quantify the online activities • Clickstream Late Q2/Early Q3
Owned/Used Vehicles within the CPO and used
marketplace
Hispanic Gain insights into the Hispanic • Clickstream Early Q3
automotive shopping & buying • Survey data
process compared to overall • Appended
US consumers Ethnicity data
Auto SERP Page, Learn how to optimize the • Survey data Late Q3
value of Tier I, 2 & 3 on SERP page across Tier 1, 2,
one page and 3 advertizing efforts
based on consumer feedback
Google Confidential and Proprietary 35

36. Thank You!
Q&A
Month, 2009
Google Confidential and Proprietary 36