Auto Search Technologies — which offers technology that can help dealers augment their presence on the Web — says its dealer customers are generating quite a bit of traction online from a Carfax-related service AST is providing.

Basically, when a consumer has done a vehicle search on a dealership website built by AST and the search results come up, there is a pop-up that shows highlights from the Carfax Vehicle History Report for the specific vehicle (if the dealer has run one).

The shopper moves the cursor over the Carfax logo and the pop-up will appear, giving the shopper the highlighted information.

This can be highly beneficial for dealers, AST indicated, citing research that claims the chance of a shopper submitting lead are eight times stronger when he or she checks out the information in the Carfax pop-up.

Not only that, the length of time these shoppers will stick around the site is three times as high, AST said.

“The results we have witnessed through research and feedback from dealers has been even better than expected,” stated Jordan Denham, AST’s chief operating officer. “The bottom line is, with Carfax highlights, dealers sell more cars.”

Furthermore, in each the vehicle listings on websites built by AST for dealers and online auto malls, the company includes a link to the full Carfax report (if the dealer has, indeed, run a report).

Kathy Varilone, who is the Internet manager at the Select Motors dealership in Plymouth, Mich., offered some dealership feedback.

“The Carfax highlights quickly display what our customers want to see,” she noted. “Having the highlights on our AST website helps us capture the interest of a potential buyer much faster, resulting in an increased number of leads.”