DealerRater Surpasses 1.2 Million Dealership Reviews

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- DealerRater, the world's premier car dealer review web site, today announced it has surpassed 1.2 million submitted reviews, furthering its position as the authority in supplying car buyers with comprehensive, go-to dealer reputation information.

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Reaching that milestone, DealerRater now maintains more car dealership reviews than the next five consumer sites combined.  Specifically, DealerRater offers 43 percent more reviews than Google+, Yelp, Edmunds, Cars.com and Yahoo! Local combined.

Further attesting to the growth of the DealerRater platform and the importance that dealership reviews play in the car-buying experience, the company also announced it has surpassed four million monthly exposures, defined as the number of users exposed to either a DealerRater review or their branding each month. 

Surpassing those two benchmarks comes on the heels of its integration with Kelley Blue Book, which formally launched nationwide last month following a successful five market pilot program.   DealerRater® auto dealer reviews and ratings are integrated into Kelley Blue Book's new innovative car-pricing tool, the KBB.com® Price Advisor.

The integration enables KBB.com visitors to see how a dealership has been ranked by other consumers on a one to five star scale as well as read verbatim comments about the dealer. DealerRater believes the more information is exchanged, the better the outcome for both sides of the transaction.  DealerRater requires a 25-word minimum per post and puts each review through rigorous automated and hands-on monitoring processes overseen by in-house fraud investigators.  A human being also reads and approves every review submitted to the site.

According to DealerRater, while credibility is essential, customer satisfaction is the key factor in driving positive word-of-mouth.

In addition, DealerRater emphasizes the significant impact that consumer feedback can have on a dealer's reputation and ultimately, their business.  When a user submits a review describing a negative experience at a particular dealership, there is a two-week period during which the onus is on the dealer to privately reconcile with the consumer and reaffirm their commitment to quality service.  Once the two-week reconciliation period is over, the review posts in its original form unless the consumer decides to edit it based on their interaction with the dealership.    

"When consumers are more informed about their car buying experience and dealers get rewarded for providing quality customer service, everyone wins," explains DealerRater Founder Chip Grueter. "In addition to the data and information it provides car buyers, DealerRater.com helps dealers with exceptional reputations to differentiate themselves from their competitors, steering more qualified potential customers their way."

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 41,000 U.S. and Canadian car dealers, more than 1,200,000 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, nearly 5,000 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.  DealerRater was also recently awarded a Technology Leadership Award from Dealer Marketing Magazine and a "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.

SOURCE DealerRater