
“You’re Getting the Diluted Version”: How Dealers Are Being Underserved by Their Own Ad Vendors | Subi Ghosh, EVP Partnerships at fullthrottle.ai
From The Dealer Playbook by Michael Cirillo
February 24, 2026 · 15 min
About this episode
Subi Ghosh discusses how dealers are underserved by their ad vendors due to fragmentation in automotive advertising.
Dealers are spending more on advertising than ever… and according to Subi Ghosh, many of them are still playing the game wrong. This conversation from NADA 2026 might be one of the most important shifts we’ve discussed on The Dealer Playbook. She believes the real issue in automotive advertising isn’t traffic. It isn’t creativity. It isn’t even budget. It’s fragmentation. In this episode Subi Ghosh who is the Head of Partnerships at Fullthrottle and one of the driving forces behind Auto Media Marketplace breaks down why dealers are often buying media in silos, relying on diluted data, and unknowingly limiting their own performance. She explains how platforms fighting each other instead of aligning is quietly costing retailers reach, influence, and ROI. And here’s the part that hits hard. While many dealers are still pouring money into search and social the way they always have, behavior has shifted. Discovery has shifted. AI has changed how people find information. And the brands that understand how to unify premium media, activate real data, and collaborate across channels are starting to pull ahead. Subi makes the case that this is no longer about buying ads. It’s about…
People in this episode
Host: Michael Cirillo
Guest: Subi Ghosh
Topics covered
- automotive advertising
- media fragmentation
- dealer performance
- AI in advertising
- ad spend
- marketing strategy
Keywords
- advertising
- dealers
- media
- data
- performance
- AI
- marketing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: fullthrottle.ai, Auto Media Marketplace
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