It want dealerships to pay for advertising
Facebook is enforcing new restrictions on vehicle listings for Facebook Marketplace to maximize advertising revenue. It's been a slow buildup to this that started in 2021 when sales listings through marketing partners were restricted; and it appears that from January of this year, the social media site no longer permits used-vehicle listings. The only option for dealerships is to use paid advertising.
The statement reads: “Meta will no longer support the ability for all sellers to create vehicle and real estate/rentals listings using a Facebook business Page.” Person-to-person listings are still allowed on Marketplace, with Meta confirming that “the ability to reach audiences via ads is also not changing. We are simply changing how to distribute inventory.”
According to Automotive News, there are two extremes in how this will affect car dealerships in the long run. Facebook can be an incredibly powerful tool. The report highlights LaFontaine Automotive Group in Highland, Michigan, which is budgeting around $1 million on advertising to take advantage of Facebook's reach.
On the other hand, another Detroit dealership says it won't impact the business. “Internet sales are necessary,” said a representative, “It's just that the Meta marketplace never showed the kind of results that we see from the other third-party.”
Presumably, the other third party referred to is Craigslist. Either way, it'll still be easy to buy a high-mileage Toyota Corolla.
With smaller dealerships that can't afford to spend a million dollars a year on a single advertising source or simply can't justify it in terms of a return on investment, the actual negative impact will be on people looking for cars. Of course, Facebook is far from the only place to look for cars (CarBuzz is also an excellent resource), but it has its own ecosystem and tries to keep people within it.
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Keyword: Facebook Marketplace Is Booting Car Dealerships