Waltham, MA – DealerRater, the world’s premier car dealer review web site, today announced that study data gathered by a third-party company confirms that DealerRater tops Google+ in dealership coverage and number of dealership reviews, with DealerRater maintaining 43% more consumer reviews than the five top review sites combined.

DealerRater engaged a third-party data research company to gather review count and average rating data from several consumer review sources such as Google+, Yelp, Cars.com, Edmunds and Yahoo! Local. The study was conducted in December 2012 and utilized a random sample set of 3,500 franchised dealers across all 50 states, representing approximately 20% of the franchised dealers in the United States. In addition to DealerRater’s top position in overall dealership review count, results showed DealerRater maintains the highest dealership coverage (defined as dealers with at least 1 review).

DealerRater further engaged this third-party data research company to test the visibility of DealerRater car dealer reviews on the first page of Google search results using two different search terms: Dealer Name and Dealer Name plus the word “Reviews”. Additionally, the study gathered data on the positioning of the DealerRater reviews in the search results. Similar to the content study referenced above, this study was conducted in December 2012 using a random sample set of 3,500 franchised dealers across all 50 states. The study found:

• For Google searches using just the Dealer Name, a DealerRater URL with star rating appeared on the first page of organic search engine results 87% of the time, with an average results positioning of #4.

• For Google searches using the Dealer Name + “Reviews”, a DealerRater URL with star rating appeared on the first page of organic search engine results 95% of the time, with an average results positioning of #2.

“This compelling data validates DealerRater as a content marketing leader that offers car dealerships high organic SEO value,” said Chip Grueter, president at DealerRater. “Our Page-one Google search position in combination with more than 3 million monthly unique visitors viewing our consumer content and brand both on-site and off-site is a powerful confirmation of the visibility we offer our dealer partners.”

The DealerRater site receives an average of 1,000 new reviews per day during the week, with a new review submitted every 55 seconds during daylight hours. With its unparalleled volume of dealer reviews now approaching 950,000, 26% of all franchised dealers in the U.S. have embraced DealerRater and its award-winning Certified Dealer Program as a critical component of their online reputation management efforts. “At NADA 2013, we look forward to sharing further research results from a recent DealerRater-Polk study that finally demonstrates the direct correlation between our Certified Dealer Program and higher increases in new vehicle sales. Real, trusted reviews really do drive business and we now have the proof,” Grueter added.

DealerRater will also unveil at NADA the All-New DealerRater site, which offers a refreshed look as well as several improvements to enhance the user experience for both dealers and consumers. For more information, visit www.DealerRater.com, call 800-266-9455, or visit DealerRater at Booth # 3353 at the upcoming NADA General Conference & Exposition in Orlando, Florida on February 9-11, 2013.

About DealerRater
DealerRater was founded in 2002 as the first car dealer review website worldwide. DealerRater is the world’s #1 online resource for anyone seeking trusted third-party information on automobile dealerships. DealerRater features nearly 40,000 U.S. and Canadian car dealers, nearly 950,000 consumer reviews and over 1 million cars for sale. DealerRater attracts more than 9.5 million consumers every year who visit the site to search for car dealerships, read reviews, write their own descriptive reviews, and find car deals – all for free. In addition, DealerRater offers qualified car dealers a Certified Dealer Program as a reputation management tool to help them grow their online presence and achieve higher SEO rankings across the Web. Today, more than 4,600 dealers are members of the award-winning DealerRater® Certified Dealer Program. DealerRater is proud to have earned the #137 position on the 2012 Inc. 500 list, an exclusive ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. For more information, visit www.DealerRater.com or call 800-266-9455.