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Acura, Fiat and Chevrolet take top honors; shopper interest on mobile devices grows 33 percent during Sunday's game.

San Francisco, CA, February 8, 2012 — Jumpstart Automotive Group, an expert automotive marketing organization, today highlighted the Super Bowl auto advertisers gaining the biggest ground with online car shoppers.

The analysis looked at online traffic data from the Sunday/Monday period during the game and the day following compared to the same time frame a week prior across Jumpstart's network of 15 automotive websites, representing an audience of roughly 14 million monthly car shoppers. The study measures share of brand and vehicle model page traffic for auto manufacturers that purchased in-game spots.

Following are key highlights of the Jumpstart Super Bowl Auto Advertiser Study:

• The Acura NSX, the Fiat 500 and the Chevrolet Sonic saw the greatest Sunday/Monday share of shopper gains this week compared to the same time frame last week, with increases of 479 percent, 249 percent and 182 percent respectively
• The Hyundai Veloster and the Volkswagen Beetle rounded out the top five at 26 percent and 13 percent gains in share of shoppers across Jumpstart's network
• Mobile traffic grew 33 percent to the automotive websites in Jumpstart's network on Super Bowl Sunday compared to the Sunday prior
• Jumpstart's website visitors from iPhones grew 44 percent and from iPads grew 16 percent on game day versus the Sunday prior
• Total audience growth across Jumpstart's websites was 3 percent and new visitor growth was 4 percent this Sunday/Monday compared to the same time frame last week

"The auto advertising category exploded during this year's Super Bowl," said Libby Murad-Patel of Jumpstart's Strategic Insights division. "With 20 auto spots and an estimated 1,245 seconds of broadcast time, this was a much busier 'Big Game' for automakers than two years ago during the recession and auto industry collapse."

The Jumpstart Super Bowl Auto Advertiser Study chart highlights the five vehicles gaining the biggest ground with online car shoppers on Super Bowl Sunday, on the Monday following, and this week's combination Sunday/Monday time frame compared to the same time frames a week prior.

The biggest drop in interest among car shoppers of the automakers advertising during this year's Super Bowl were the Chevrolet Camaro at -56 percent, the Hyundai Elantra at -9 percent and the Lexus GS at -8 percent.

Following is additional Jumpstart Automotive Group marketing commentary about this year's Super Bowl auto advertisers.

• In an effort to create more hype around the ads and to engage consumers before the game, almost all of the auto advertisers 'leaked' their spots online last week, giving viewers a sneak peek at their creative as it would appear during the game and sometimes in a longer format than the spot for which they paid.
• Jumpstart's analysts say the humor of Acura's commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno battling over who would own the first NSX seems to have resonated well with consumers, spiking considerable shopper interest in the vehicle which isn't yet available. As of February 7th, YouTube viewer counts of the Acura NSX spot were the highest of all automotive spots this year at nearly 16.5 million views.
• After the top three vehicles gaining the highest share of shopper interest across Jumpstart's network, the gap widens quite significantly between the Hyundai Veloster and the Volkswagen Beetle in the fourth and fifth positions. Although their combined Sunday/Monday growth of 26% and 13% is still strong, they certainly didn't spark the high volume impact the top three auto advertisers did.

In the coming weeks, Jumpstart will release a more in-depth, longer-term analysis comparing the impact of Super Bowl spots among automotive shoppers across Jumpstart's network of vehicle shopping and enthusiast sites. This study will provide a broader pre- and post- game analysis to help marketers determine the sustainability of their Super Bowl campaigns, along with an estimated Super Bowl Advertising Cost Analysis weighed against Gains in Share of Shoppers.

To learn more about Jumpstart's analytics capabilities, data and insights, visit JumpstartAuto.com/insights or contact Libby Murad-Patel of Jumpstart Strategic Insights division at lmurad@jumpstartauto.com.

Follow Jumpstart on Twitter @JumpstartAuto

About Jumpstart Automotive Group
Jumpstart Automotive Group, a Hearst Media Services company, is an expert automotive marketing organization. It represents the broadest and most diverse audience of in-market car shoppers and influencers across 15 automotive websites that include Vehix, Consumer Guide Automotive, JD Power Autos, Shopping.com Autos, Car and Driver, Road & Track, CarSoup, U.S.News Autos, HybridCars, CarGurus, TrueCar, PlugInCars, Overstock Cars, Leftlane and EveryCarListed. Fueled by a passion for performance, Jumpstart Automotive Group is committed to the development of quality content and services for consumers and to maximizing publisher revenue and advertiser results through innovative products and services. Jumpstart is at the forefront of behavioral targeting, research and strategic insights products. For more information, visit JumpstartAuto.com.

Media Inquiries:
Jennifer Lange
Jumpstart Automotive Group
(949) 916-4820
jlange@getsplashmedia.com