UK: 28% uplift in car hire search volumes, short-haul destinations see biggest rise

London (PRWEB UK) 4 October 2013

Car rental search volumes in August saw a 28% uplift on May levels and queries for vehicle hire in short-haul destinations saw the biggest increase, reveals the latest research from leading independent digital marketing agency, Greenlight.

According to the agency’s latest “Car Hire Sector Report – Issue 10”, 1.2 million searches were made on Google UK for car rental services in domestic, short-haul and long-haul destinations, up from 838,873 in May and the highest for the year thus far.

Queries pertaining to car hire in short-haul destinations saw the biggest rise. The sector enjoyed a dramatic 53% upswing, with searches totalling 452,580 in August compared to 295,996 three months earlier.

Of these, six of the ten most searched for terms related to car rental in Spain, with Malaga, followed by Alicante then Majorca proving most popular.

‘Car hire spain’ was the most frequently used term to source car hire services in short-haul destinations, online. Queried 27,100 times, it accounted for 6% of searches. Others included ‘car hire italy’, ‘car hire portugal’ and ‘car hire france’.

League tables in the report by Greenlight charted the most visible sites for car rentals overall and by sector, in both the organic* and Paid Media listings**.

The most prominent site for short-haul car hire-related searches in natural search was travelsupermarket.com. Being visible to a volume of 65,266 searches saw it garner a 14% share of visibility.

Rentalcars.com was the most visible advertiser in the paid listings, achieving a 50% share of voice.

However, across all sectors, avis.co.uk was the most prominent site to car hire queries in the organic listings. Being visible to 191,957 queries, it just pipped travelsupermarket.com to the post, in attaining a 16% share of visibility overall. Rentalcars.com was the most visible in the paid listings, achieving a 66% share of voice.

ENDS
Notes to Editors:

*Natural Search - Listings in search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms

**Paid Media – an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.

Greenlight’s ‘Car Hire Sector Report – Issue 10’, profiles search behaviour in this sector. It assesses which brands, websites and review sites are the most visible in Natural Search, Paid Media, and Social Media and hence have the greatest share of consideration when searchers go to Google UK to find and book car hire in domestic, short-haul and long-haul destinations.

Greenlight’s research covers the following industries and sectors:

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
PERSONAL CARE - Beauty
HOME GOODS - Home & Garden
CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES - Fashion Retail / Sports Retail
CONSUMER SERVICES - Online Dating / Entertainment
GAMING & GAMBLING - Online Gambling
FINANCE - Personal General Insurance / Life Insurance / Retail Banking
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY – Holidays / Hotels / Flights / Car Hire / Cruises
UTILITIES - Energy
REAL ESTATE – Property (Residential)
RECRUITMENT
TELECOMS – Telecoms

To arrange an interview or for further information about this report, Greenlight’s research portfolio and bespoke reports, please contact:

Krishna Rao T: +44 (20) 3326 6232
E: krishna.rao(at)greenlightdigital.com

About Greenlight:

Greenlight is a leading independent digital marketing agency. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Santander, Sky and ghd, Greenlight is a leader in the digital marketing space, and is recognized worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future.

Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector publishing widely read industry reports, original research and speaking at trade events. Founded in 2001, Greenlight is headquartered in London, with offices in New York.

Web: http://greenlightdigital.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GreenlightMKTG

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