Dealership matching

Google attempts to match your dealership data with Business Profiles on Google. After we associate your dealership data with a Business Profile, the vehicle inventory that meets our product requirements is eligible to appear on Google.

Dealership eligibility requirements

The following criteria must be met for a match to be successful:

How does matching work?

We use the following information from the inventory feeds to perform dealership matching:

  • store_code: Required. The store code is a unique identifier you choose for the dealership. The choice of store code doesn't actually affect matching and can be any identifier, such as an internal account number.
  • dealership_name and dealership_address: Required. The full name and postal address of the dealership.
  • place_id: Highly recommended. The Google Place ID of the dealership's Business Profile. This matching method is preferred because it removes all ambiguity.
  • maps_url: Optional. The Google Maps URL of the dealership's Business Profile.

For more details, see the entries for each attribute in Feed specification.

We match each store code from the feed to exactly one Business Profile with one of the methods described in the following sections. Multiple store codes can be matched to the same Business Profile. However, it isn't possible to match one store code to multiple Business Profiles.

The following methods are listed in order of most to least reliable:

Match with Google Place IDs

Place IDs uniquely identify a Business Profile on Google. If given in the feed, the dealership matches directly to the given profile. This is the preferred method to match a dealership.

How to find Place IDs?

To find the Place ID for a particular dealership, use the instructions on the Google Maps developer site.

Match with Google Maps URLs

Similar to Place IDs, Maps URLs uniquely identify a Business Profile on Google. Unlike Place IDs, there are several different URL formats, some of which we don't support for dealership matching. The correct URL type starts with https://www.google.com/maps/place/.

The following is an example of a supported link type:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Googleplex/@37.4219999,-122.0840575,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x6c296c66619367e0

The following are examples of links that aren't supported:

https://goo.gl/maps/Sda1ubveK2WVC3E3A
https://www.google.com/search?q=Googleplex

How to find Maps URLs?

To identify the correct URL, begin your search with the following URL for Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps. You must start with that URL. If you start from Google Search and then enter Google Maps, you might receive a URL that isn't supported.

Perform the following steps to find the appropriate Google Maps URL:

  1. Search for the dealership name and address on Google Maps.
  2. If multiple places are returned, select the dealership's listing.
  3. Copy the full URL from your browser.

Match with the dealership's name and postal address

With this method, we compare a dealership's information from the feed against the Google Maps database to find the corresponding Business Profile. The automated matching system canonicalizes the postal address and can tolerate some differences in the name, but minor differences can matter. For best performance, make sure the name and address are complete and match the information on Google.

How long does it take to match a new dealership?

After you submit the dealership information to Google, the automated dealership matching process usually takes a few hours to update the status on the partner portal. It takes additional processing time for the vehicle inventory to go live.

Which Business Profile is matched to a dealership?

The Dealership summary table on the partner portal shows the Place ID of the matched Business Profile and the corresponding store codes. The Place ID links to the Business Profile page on Google Search.

If a dealership isn't matched to a Business Profile, its status is Inactive and the Reason field might provide additional information.

How to fix matching problems?

The following sections provide guidance on how to resolve errors with your dealership matches.

Dealership isn't matched

If a dealership isn't matched to a Business Profile, it isn't eligible for the vehicle listings program. The following are a few common reasons why a dealership doesn't match:

  • The dealership's name or address are different between the feed and Google.
    • For example, the address in the feed might be incomplete, such as missing the Postal Code.
    • Recommendations:
      • Use Place IDs to directly match the dealership to the correct profile.
      • Ensure the information you provide in the feed matches the information on Google.

Dealership matches to the wrong Business Profile

Incorrect matches can cause your vehicle inventory to show for the wrong dealership. The following are a few common reasons for bad matches:

  • The dealership information is ambiguous and matches more than one Business Profile.
    • For example, Ford Kia Lincoln of New York is actually three separate Business Profiles with distinct names that all share the same address.
    • Recommendations:
      • Use Place IDs to directly match the dealership to the correct profile.
      • Ensure the information you provide in the feed matches the information on Google.
  • The same store code has conflicting dealership information.
    • For example, a group of dealerships share the same account with the data provider. The account number is used as the store code for all dealerships in the group.
    • Recommendations:
      • Ensure that all dealerships (storefronts) have a unique store code in the feed.

Dealership is claimed by another partner

For details on how to adjust your inventory providers, see Dealership provider choice.