DealerRater and AutoTrader Partner to Bring Dealership Reviews to AutoTrader.com

DealerRater's consumer-written dealership reviews to be integrated into AutoTrader.com dealer profile pages

ATLANTA and WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- DealerRater, the car dealer review website for consumers, announced today it has partnered with AutoTrader.com® to bring dealership reviews to the car shopping website. As the ultimate automotive marketplace™, AutoTrader.com attracts over 18 million unique visitors each month to more than four million car listings. This new integration enables car shoppers who visit AutoTrader.com to gain added confidence and insight for choosing the right car dealership.

"The car buying process can be boiled down to three key steps: finding the right vehicle, understanding the appropriate pricing and choosing a dealership that delivers an exceptional customer experience across all departments," said Jared Rowe, president of AutoTrader.com. "The addition of DealerRater reviews to AutoTrader.com will provide shoppers with streamlined access to the resources they need to make confident decisions while enabling our dealer customers to gauge and enhance their service levels."

Beginning this month, DealerRater reviews and ratings will be featured on AutoTrader.com dealer profile pages, complementing AutoTrader.com inventory and pricing information. Shoppers on AutoTrader.com will also be able to click a "Rate & Review This Dealer" button that will direct them to the "Write a Review" page on DealerRater.com. Consumers can rate dealers on the criteria of customer service, quality of work, friendliness, price and overall experience.  Once written and submitted, the content is reviewed and verified by DealerRater's content integrity team before appearing online.

"This partnership reinforces how critical online dealer reviews are in today's car shopping process," said Gary Tucker, CEO of DealerRater. "Each day, more than a thousand car buyers write a DealerRater review, and their opinions about their dealership sales and service experience are invaluable referrals for other car shoppers. Written by consumers for consumers, DealerRater reviews help guide car shoppers to the best dealerships, and also allow auto dealers to reach a higher level of trust with car shoppers through transparency."

Dealers subscribed to DealerRater's Certified Dealer Program as well as non-certified dealers have the ability to display their DealerRater reviews on AutoTrader.com, although DealerRater Certified Dealers receive the added benefit of a two-week reconciliation period for negative reviews when they can communicate with unsatisfied customers before the review is published. After the two-week reconciliation period, the review will go live on DealerRater.com and AutoTrader.com if the review has not been edited or removed by the consumer. 

"We're excited to put more than 1.6 million dealer reviews at AutoTrader.com customers' fingertips, as well as help our Certified Dealers continue evaluating and improving their customer service experience," said Tucker.

For more information on DealerRater, call 800-266-9455 or visit www.dealerrater.com. For more information on AutoTrader, call visit www.autotrader.com.

About DealerRater
DealerRater was founded in 2002 as the first car dealer review website worldwide. DealerRater is the world's No. 1 online resource for anyone seeking trusted, third-party information on automobile dealerships. DealerRater features nearly 41,000 U.S. and Canadian car dealers, more than 1.6 million consumer reviews and a million-plus cars listed for sale. DealerRater attracts more than 10 million consumers every year to the site to search for car dealerships, read reviews, write their own descriptive reviews and find car deals – all for free.

DealerRater offers qualified car dealers a Certified Dealer Program as a reputation-building management tool to help them grow their online presence and achieve higher SEO rankings across the Web. Its national network of more than 5,200 dealers are members of the award-winning DealerRater Certified Dealer Program. DealerRater is proud to have earned the No. 137 position on the 2012 Inc. 500 list, an exclusive ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. DealerRater is well poised to continue its global expansion, accelerate product innovation and evaluate strategic acquisition opportunities with a recent equity investment from Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm focused on growth companies. DealerRater was also recently awarded a Technology Leadership Award from Dealer Marketing Magazine and another "Top Rated" Reputation Management award in the fourth annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards. For more information, visit www.DealerRater.com or call 800-266-9455.

About AutoTrader.com
Created in 1997, Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace. As a leading resource for car shoppers and sellers, AutoTrader.com aggregates millions of new, used and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of dealers and private sellers and provides expert articles and reviews. AutoTrader.com, which also operates the AutoTraderClassics.com auto marketing brand, is wholly owned by Cox Automotive. Additionally, Cox Automotive owns Kelley Blue Book(KBB.com®), Manheim Auctions as well as companies that provide a full suite of software tools that help dealers and manufacturers manage their inventory and advertising online: vAuto®, HomeNet Automotive®, VinSolutions®, Xtime®, AIS Rebates™, Genius Labs® and Haystak® Digital Marketing. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. For more information, please visit http://press.autotrader.com.

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SOURCE AutoTrader.com

For further information: DealerRater Press, Wendi McAden, PCG: Philadelphia, wmcaden@pacificcommunicationsgroup.com, 215-630-5287; Bill Groak, PCG: Los Angeles, bgroak@pacificcommunicationsgroup.com, 424-903-3640; AutoTrader Press Contacts: Julie Zorn Shipp, Manager, Public Relations, 404.568.7914, Julie.Shipp@AutoTrader.com