Yahoo relaunched its autos site Monday, with the company saying it was seeking to make it more helpful to car buyers and more effective for advertisers who are selling.
The relaunch came as the company beefs up search and personalization capabilities throughout its Yahoo.com properties. Yahoo Autos goes up against auto sites on Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet service and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL.
The new site will give equal space to new and used cars, Andrew Braccia, vice president and general manager of Yahoo Autos, told Reuters.
Among other things, it will allow people to research cars based on make and model, as well as to search by category or price range.
For example, the new Yahoo Autos section will allow a user shopping for a luxury SUV to also search according to best gas mileage, lowest cost or most popular among site users. The user can then save that research and share it with friends.
The site's new capabilities also provide a more segmented consumer base for marketers, who may want to reach potential buyers at different points in the shopping process, Braccia said.
Automotive advertisers are projected to spend $459.2 million in 2004, up almost 50 percent from $306.8 million in 2003, according to Jupiter Research.