Case study · Deep dive · Google Ads
Google Ads for a dealership: answering people already searching
On Google, you interrupt nobody: you answer someone already looking for a car near them. What we set so a dealership shows up at the right moment, and the numbers of six groups.
Search, Performance Max and Vehicle Ads · six dealer groups
The principle
You interrupt nobody
On Google, you interrupt nobody: you answer someone already looking for a car, near them.
You still have to show up on the right search, with the right dealership, and count what matters: a form sent, a call that lasts, not a tap on a button.
What our accounts show
More requests, often on less budget
The same pattern comes back from one group to the next: merge, count right, then let the converting campaign take the budget.
2.3 times more form leads on 39% less budget, Q1 2025 to Q1 2026.
2.3 times more form leads on a budget down 12%, Q3 2025 to Q3 2026.
+70% requests on 30% less budget, spring on spring.
€6 per lead during the Omoda & Jaecoo launch, including 284 calls longer than a minute.
€1.8 per conversion on Performance Max at the Polestar launch, against €23 elsewhere.
€0.61 per lead on the Ford Performance Max over twelve months: 17,944 calls from the ads and 533 forms.
For the stock
Vehicle Ads, the ad made by the stock
Every car in stock becomes a Google ad with its photo, its price and its dealership. At Lyon Elite Motors, a lead has cost €0.93 since they went live.
- Your stockThe cars for sale at your dealerships, already live on your website.
- The feedEvery car becomes data: model, year, mileage, price, photos, dealership. Updated every day.
- Merchant CenterGoogle checks the data and links it to the dealership’s profile. Meta does the same with its catalogue.
- Your adsOne ad per car, on Google, Facebook and Instagram.
- SoldA buyer picks theirs, calls and comes for a test drive. The sold car leaves the ads on its own.
Checklist
Google Ads for a dealership in six settings
What we check on every account before touching the budget.
- Merge before you add
Two campaigns on the same search push each other's price up.
- One structure per brand
Each brand has its budget and its ads, to read and decide brand by brand.
- Count the real conversions
Forms, bookings, calls longer than a minute. Not taps on a button.
- The dealership in the right place
Each dealership's Google profile linked to the account, to show up on searches nearby.
- Vehicle Ads for the stock
The stock feed becomes ads, updated every day.
- The budget following sales
Once the CRM is connected, the budget moves to the campaigns that sell.
Frequently asked questions
Google Ads for dealerships: what we get asked
Performance Max or Search?
Both. Search catches precise searches for a model or a dealership; Performance Max reaches wider. At Vulcain, for the Polestar launch, Performance Max made 94% of conversions on 55% of the budget.
Should calls count?
Yes, but only those that last. We write "calls from the ads" and check the share of calls longer than a minute.
What budget to start with?
It depends on the number of brands and dealerships. The calculator on our website gives you an order of magnitude in two minutes.
What would it look like for your dealerships?
The calculator prices your campaigns in two minutes. Or write to us: we reply within 24 hours.