07 / 16 · From stock to sale
Inventory syndication that sends your cars to the sites you advertise on
Inventory syndication here means four feeds built from the cars you already keep: Google and Facebook vehicle-ad feeds, a CarGurus file and a generic CSV. They run on your own accounts. The basics are checked, and a sold car comes off your site and out of every feed by default.
Who does what
One inventory. Every channel gets what it needs.
Checks the basics
Every published vehicle is checked for an asking price, a public photo, a valid VIN, and year, make and model, and what is missing is named so someone can fix it.
Always onBuilds the output
Feed URLs and inventory files from the inventory you already maintain. No second vehicle list.
On every fetchTakes sold cars down
An unpublished vehicle leaves every feed, and a sold car comes off your site and out of every feed by default.
By defaultLeaves the ads to you
Ad accounts, spend, provider delivery and Marketplace are outside the system.
Your accounts
What you get
What inventory syndication means here: four dealer inventory feeds, on your own accounts
Listing distribution starts with reliable inventory. Prepare feeds for paid Google and Facebook vehicle ads, a CarGurus file or a generic CSV. Channel checks decide which vehicles belong in the output, and a sold car comes off your site and out of every feed by default.
Use the inventory you maintain
Prepare channel output from the dealership’s recorded vehicle details rather than rebuilding a separate vehicle list. A price or a photo you change on the car is in each feed the next time it is fetched.
See what each car still needs
See whether a vehicle has what the feeds need (an asking price, a public photo, a valid VIN, and year, make and model), with sold cars taken out of every feed by default.
Choose the right delivery path
Use supported feed URLs or inventory files according to the channel and your advertising or feed-provider setup. Each channel card has a setup guide with the steps for that channel.
See it in action
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Read the transcript
English transcript
Inventory syndication prepares vehicle data for other channels. The source record becomes a feed or export in the required format, while channel accounts, eligibility, and provider setup determine how that information is used.
Preparing inventory for another channel starts with the same vehicle record. Marketplaces helps you prepare supported feeds and export files from published inventory, keeping the data connected to the dealership rather than maintaining another manual list.
Review the supported channels and their setup instructions. The workspace includes feeds for paid Google and Facebook vehicle ads, a CarGurus export file, and a generic CSV option. Choose the format that matches the account or feed provider you already use.
Eligibility checks decide which vehicles belong in each supported feed. Sold cars are excluded, while the published inventory provides the starting point. Review a vehicle's price, photos, and listing details before assuming it is ready for every advertising channel or provider requirement.
A prepared feed is part of the process. Advertising accounts and provider setup are separate, and you or your provider deliver the CarGurus file. Follow the channel guide before expecting inventory or ads to appear elsewhere.
The AI assistant can help draft descriptions and propose vehicle listing updates. Review and approve those changes before using the inventory in your channel feeds.
The four feeds
A Google vehicle ads feed for Merchant Center
A tab separated file at a private link that Google Merchant Center fetches on the schedule you set there. It carries your published, eligible cars for Vehicle Ads, which Google used to call vehicle listing ads, or VLAs.
- It is a paid program. Google ended free vehicle listings in November 2025.
- You need Merchant Center, a Google Ads campaign and a linked Business Profile.
- Google runs its own one-time check of your data before the ads can run.
A Facebook feed for automotive inventory ads
A feed URL you add to your vehicle catalog in Meta Commerce Manager as a scheduled data source. It supplies the paid ads Meta calls automotive inventory ads, which you run and pay for in your own Meta ad account.
- Nothing is posted to Marketplace as a listing.
- Facebook takes used cars over 500 miles only.
- The Facebook Vehicle Ads card reads Manual feed.
A CarGurus inventory file with your Dealer ID and leads email
The CarGurus card gives a link ending in cargurus.csv that returns your current published, eligible cars. Save your CarGurus Dealer ID and leads email once and both are written into the file, so inquiries reach you.
- You or your feed provider deliver the file. AutoDealer.io does not send it.
- CarGurus needs its own dealer account.
- Generating the file is not publication.
A dealer inventory feed in CSV for any other service
The Generic feed is a CSV link you switch on when another service or a website tool asks for a car dealer inventory feed. It stays off until you switch it on, and it lists only cars that are published, eligible and for sale.
- One row per car: price, mileage, description, features and public photos.
- Each row links back to the car’s page on your website.
- The service fetches the link on its own schedule.
Day to day
Listing readiness: what each car still needs before it goes in a feed
Each car’s Edit page has a Listing readiness panel with a percent ready score, ten checks and a Needs line that names what is missing. Five checks are required for the feeds. The other five are recommended and never keep a car out of a feed.
- Required: an asking price, a public photo, a valid VIN, year, make and model, and available for sale.
- Recommended: mileage, a description, three or more photos, body style and key specs.
- Facebook has a row of its own, because it also needs over 500 miles.
Sold cars come out of every feed by default
By default, marking the deal sold takes the car’s page down, and each feed drops the car the next time it is fetched. Nobody removes it by hand. You can choose instead to keep the page up, marked Sold, for 1 to 365 days (7 unless you change it).
- While a page is kept up, the Google feed carries the car as out of stock and the Facebook feed as sold.
- The CarGurus file and the generic CSV leave a sold car out either way.
- When the days run out, the car leaves every feed.
Feed controls: one key, a switch per channel, rotate if a link gets out
The Generate feed URLs button creates your feed key and a ready-to-copy link for each channel. Google Vehicle Ads, CarGurus and the Generic feed each have their own switch, and one switch pauses every feed at once. Only owners and admin managers can change any of it.
- Rotate issues a new key, and every old link stops working within minutes.
- A paused feed answers with a plain not found until you switch it back on.
- Each change is written to the audit log.
Send listing-site leads to your CRM through a private lead address
A listing site that sends leads in ADF format can post them to a private address you generate under Settings, Marketplaces. Each one lands in your CRM as a lead with the source Marketplace, routed like a website lead. Emailed leads are not read from an inbox.
- The salesperson is notified and the shopper gets your auto-reply.
- A repeat about the same car within 10 minutes does not make a second lead.
- Keep the address private. Rotate gives you a new one.
Advertising accounts, spend and provider setup are separate. The Facebook feed is for paid vehicle ads, not Marketplace posts. You or your provider deliver the CarGurus file. A feed carries only what is already public on your website, never your costs.
In plain words
What inventory syndication does, and what it does not
What it does
- Builds four feeds and files from your published inventory: Google, Facebook, CarGurus and a generic CSV
- Checks every published vehicle for the basics the feeds need
- Shows a listing readiness score on each car, with what it still needs
- Takes a sold car off your site and out of every feed by default
- Gives you one feed key you can rotate, and switches that pause a channel or every feed
- Turns leads that a listing site posts in ADF format into CRM leads
What it does not do
- Post to Facebook Marketplace, Cars.com, Autotrader or OfferUp
- Run or pay for your ads. The ad accounts and the spend are yours.
- Deliver the CarGurus file. You or your feed provider do that.
- Make Google or Facebook accept a car. Each reviews listings by its own rules.
- Read leads out of an email inbox
Questions
Inventory syndication FAQ
What is inventory syndication, and is it the same as an inventory feed?
Dealer inventory syndication means getting the cars you have for sale onto other sites and ad programs without typing them in again. An inventory feed is the file that does the work: a list of your published cars at a link the channel fetches on a schedule. Here syndication is four of those: feeds for paid Google and Facebook vehicle ads, a CarGurus file and a generic CSV, each set up on your own account with the channel.
Which channels does it cover?
Four, on every plan. Google Vehicle Ads gets a feed that Merchant Center fetches. Facebook Vehicle Ads gets a feed you add in Meta Commerce Manager. CarGurus gets an inventory file that you or your feed provider deliver. The Generic feed is a CSV for any other service that accepts a dealer feed. Each channel needs your own account there, and the ads are paid for in your own ad accounts.
Do you send my inventory to Cars.com or Autotrader?
No. Neither one takes a feed link from a dealer. Both take inventory only through their own approved providers, under a paid contract with them, so there is no card for either on the Marketplaces screen. The same goes for OfferUp. If you already work with one of those providers, the Generic feed is the CSV you can hand them.
Does it post my cars to Facebook Marketplace?
No. Nothing is posted to Marketplace as a listing. The Facebook feed is for the paid ads Meta calls automotive inventory ads, which you run and pay for in your own Meta ad account. Meta can show those ads on Facebook, Instagram and Marketplace, but they are ads. Facebook vehicle ads take used cars over 500 miles only.
How do I get my inventory on CarGurus, and who delivers the file?
Open a CarGurus dealer account first. Then switch on CarGurus under Settings, Marketplaces, save your CarGurus Dealer ID and leads email, and copy the link that ends in cargurus.csv. CarGurus takes the file by FTP upload and not from a link, so you or your feed provider deliver it on the schedule you set up. AutoDealer.io builds the file and does not send it.
How to set up CarGurusWhat do I need before I can run Google vehicle ads, and are Google vehicle listings still free?
They are not free. Google ended free vehicle listings in November 2025, and cars now appear through paid Vehicle Ads. You need a Google Merchant Center account with the vehicle ads add-on, a Google Ads account with a running campaign and a linked Google Business Profile. Add your feed link in Merchant Center as a scheduled fetch, then pass Google’s one-time check of your data.
How to set up Google Vehicle AdsCan a car be eligible here and still be rejected by Google or Facebook?
Yes. Eligible here means the car has the basics: an asking price, a public photo, a valid VIN, and year, make and model, plus over 500 miles for Facebook. Google and Meta each review listings by their own rules, and AutoDealer.io does not show what they decided. Look in Merchant Center or Commerce Manager to see whether a car was accepted.
How often do the feeds update?
A feed is put together from your current published inventory each time a channel fetches it, with about five minutes of caching. There is nothing to republish. How soon a change shows on the other side depends on the channel: Merchant Center and Commerce Manager fetch on the schedule you set there, and a CarGurus listing is as current as the last file you or your provider delivered.
What happens when a vehicle sells, and why can a sold car still show on another site?
By default, marking the deal sold takes the car’s page down, and the car is gone from every feed the next time each one is fetched. Another site keeps showing it until that next fetch, or until the next CarGurus file is delivered. If you chose to keep the page up marked Sold, the Google feed carries the car as out of stock and the Facebook feed as sold until the days you set run out.
How sold cars are handled on your websiteWhy is one of my cars not eligible for a feed?
Open the car’s Edit page. The Listing readiness panel says Eligible or Not eligible, and a Needs line names what is missing. The usual reasons are no asking price, no public photo, a VIN that is not valid, or a missing year, make or model. Facebook also needs over 500 miles. A car that is not published is in no feed, and the CarGurus file and the generic CSV leave out a car that is sold or pending.
Where do leads from the listing sites go?
To your CRM, if the site can send them in ADF format. Generate a private lead address under Settings, Marketplaces and give it to the listing site. Each lead it posts lands in your CRM with the source Marketplace and is routed like a website lead. Leads that a site only emails are not read from an inbox. CarGurus sends its inquiries to the leads email written into your file.
See how leads are handled in the CRMIs the feed link private, and what is in the feed?
Each link holds a private key, and anyone who has the whole link can read the feed, so give it only to the channel. If a link gets out, rotate the key and the old links stop working within minutes. A feed holds only inventory that is already public on your website: each car’s details, asking price, description, public photos and a link to its page. It never holds your costs, your customers or your deals.
How the feed link and its key work
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