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Autotrader Facing Unfair Business Practices Class Action Lawsuit

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Santa Clara, CA: A $1 billion proposed unfair business practices class action lawsuit has been filed against Autotrader.com Inc. alleging the publication inflates the effectiveness of its online advertising results so as to induce dealerships into purchasing Autotrader' advertising services or upgrades.

Filed by dealership owners and operators Fairfield Motors Inc., Adjess Motors LLC and Alfred Stein Inc, the lawsuit contends that Autotrader has been inflating the number of times their vehicles appear in search results or are clicked on by consumers by as much as 100 percent.

"Autotrader' marketing and advertising communications emphasize, as the primary selling point to dealers, a number of statistical metrics that are designed to convey the purported efficacy and benefits of the Autotrader' online advertising. However, the 'advertising reach' metrics that Autotrader used to induce the plaintiffs and other dealers to purchase its online advertising services were false and misleading,"the lawsuit states.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs assert that third-party advertising websites, like Autotrader, allow dealerships to post their inventory online in such a way that consumers can easily search for and compare specs on listed vehicles. While consumers can use the site for free, dealerships must buy advertising packages that provide for them to post varying numbers of vehicles.

According to the complaint, while Autotrader emphasizes the benefits of its online advertising it has in fact set up its website to double count the number of search results and vehicle pages viewed by consumers. This effectively inflates the number of hits the dealerships get on search results pages, or SRPs, and vehicle details pages, or VDPs.

The lawsuit further contends that a technology employee or outside consultant hired by Autotrader notified Autotrader' staff that its software was double counting certain hits, but that the company did not notify its clients.

"But for Autotrader' misrepresentations about the effectiveness of its advertising services, the plaintiffs would not have entered into the online advertising agreement in the first instance and, thereafter, if not for each succeeding misrepresentation by Autotrader, the plaintiffs would have terminated or failed to renew their agreements,"the lawsuit states.

The complaint asserts Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations and claims for deceptive and unfair trade practices, breach of contract and warranty, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, fraudulent inducement and negligent misrepresentation, among others.

The plaintiffs are represented by Leonard A. Bellavia and Shaun M. Malone of Bellavia Blatt & Crossett PC. The case is Fairfield Motors Inc. et al. v. Autotrader.com Inc., case number 1:15-cv-06017, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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Reader Comments

Posted by

on
This practice of inflating VDPs as well as an unfair pricing model still exist for dealers currently on AT/KBB. I was brought over from a very successful Cox Media team to help with moving past this perception in the market that Cox Automotive created. That was 18 months ago to date and the internal pivot that took place put my 15 year career in limbo strictly because you can not change " Big Corp" . Without compromising I now have a better understanding of the inter workings and its easy to see and say now this article is just the tip of what dealers are not told. The idea is to make you work harder to obtain a VDP and if you choose not to ...then oh well then its on you for not taking better pics or what we called "merchandising" . Dealers its just to dangle carrots and smokescreens over an outdated product that was referred to in our market as "printing our own money" . Autotrader/KBB reminds me of Blockbuster Video right now they just use a report called 360 to try and hide the concrete numbers

Posted by

on
On the advise of a friend I just now read this article..I purchased an automobile advertised in Auto Trader approx. 5 years ago. It was a complete fraud..I sent $4600.00 to an eBay account as I understood it at the time...I lost it all..I realized just a few days after the money was sent that a problem existed. I went back to the TD bank in Markham Ontario where the money was sent from and to no avail .. I subsequently filed a report with the RCMP fraud section... I understand I was one of a great deal of people experiencing the exact same problem. It was all connected with Auto Trader here in North America and also in Europe and possibly worldwide. I've heard nothing back from RCMP. I gave up till now..

Posted by

on
i would like to join this suit. i kidded them out three years ago and tried to find an attorney that could help but no one would. they are criminals. Autotrader also misleads the consumer with their unfair prejudice filters. please call me for more details.

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