(February 6, 2012) ATLANTA — AutoTrader.com annually tracks Super Bowl game advertising determing what advertisements drive consumer online shopping behavior. Using a methodology that identifies the real-time correlation of advertising value to car manufacturers' ad spots, AutoTrader.com provides a visual representation of shopper vehicle search with a corresponding time stamp, along with the car make and model, from the automotive ads that ran from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Sunday.

From the data analytics, AutoTrader.com shows that Hyundai performed highest overall based on its pregame sponsorship and the commercials aired for the Elantra, Genesis and the Veloster by the first quarter of the game — rather than getting one spike during the game, they had elevated activity across the length of the game on multiple car models.  

At the peak of the game, the heaviest online traffic spikes came from shoppers that were looking at Chevy Sonic and Toyota Camry. The most unexpected result came from Fiat 500.   On Sunday, over 65 percent of Fiat 500 searches occurred after the big game ad aired.

"There was a flood of hype around the auto ads that ran this year, and they certainly dominated the air waves during the game, but how that translates from game time ad to online shopper activity is probably the most compelling to advertisers and manufacturers trying to understand shopper behavior and the value of an ad spend for the big game," said Rick Wainschel, vice president of automotive insights at AutoTrader.com.

More than 30 car commercials ran and time stamps, as listed on the graph, indicate the direct correlation to when shoppers searched for vehicles.