What better way to build credibility than to encourage consumers to check out Pontiac for themselves. While Pontiac could have partnered with one of many independent third party automotive sources, they also wanted to get consumers to pontiac.com; research shows that consideration for Pontiac increases after visiting their website. Pontiac decided to partner with an on-line search engine; they contain massive amounts of information from numerous sources, they direct consumers to sites considered to hold unbiased perspectives and allow the consumer to select the site of their choice.

The Google partnership has been very effective at providing target consumers with an easy means to learn about Pontiac. Pontiac queries on Google have increased 49% relative to pre-promotion levels. Additionally, click-through rates to pontiac.com increased over the pre-promotion time-frame; 74% of those who “Googled Pontiac” continued on to pontiac.com. The Google promotion has also significantly increased activity in all key shopping areas of Pontiac’s site: locating a dealer, building a vehicle, locating a vehicle, and requesting a quote.