These former Google employees launched a platform for auto ads

Former Google employees Andrew Diffenderfer and Tim Mueller teamed up to launch a platform to help auto dealers advertise directly to large media companies like Facebook and YouTube.

Their new venture, Foundation Direct, is based out of Herndon, Virginia, and launched this month with the cofounders as the only employees so far.

The pair helped build Google’s internal automotive retail team, where they both worked for nearly four years as senior automotive retail strategists. Diffenderfer said in a news release that his time working at Google taught him how to leverage tech to automate and customize advertising strategies.

“We created this company to give the industry a better option,” Diffenderfer said. “We saw current automotive ad agencies overcomplicating digital marketing, using outdated strategies and tactics to do what technology can now do better, faster, and with higher levels of accuracy.”

Foundation Direct provides a platform that integrates directly into Google, YouTube, Facebook and Microsoft. The platform uses each auto dealer’s inventory, pricing strategy and incentives to automate digital advertisements.

Ultimately, the startup is working to “help dealers drive more revenue through impactful digital advertising.” This integration allows the ads to show the most up-to-date information possible online.

“We want to make it simple for dealers to have the best possible digital strategy without any headaches or frustration,” Mueller said. “This direct route provides unparalleled transparency into where dealers’ ad dollars are spent, and reduces administrative costs that are unnecessary given the technology we have today.”