Most portals take video in one of three ways: a file uploaded to the advert, a link pasted onto it (usually a public YouTube video), or a video URL carried in your stock feed against each stock number. Auto Trader UK, for example, takes a public YouTube link and does not support Shorts, so send the landscape cut. Build and approve each video first, keep one link per stock number, and re-render or retire the video when the price or status changes.
How portals take video: an upload, a YouTube link or a feed field
Portals take video in one of three ways: a file you upload to the advert, a link you paste onto it, or a video URL that your stock feed or a media provider sets on the stock record.
This guide covers getting a finished video onto third-party adverts; what the video should show is in the lead guide to car dealer video for every vehicle in stock. Portals change their rules, so the table states only what each portal's own help pages say.
| Portal | What its own help pages say | What to send |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Trader UK, in Portal | Upload the video to YouTube, select the public option, then paste the link on the vehicle's “images & video” tab. Shorts are not supported, and video is not included in the Franchise Starter package. | A public YouTube link to the 16:9 cut |
| Auto Trader UK, through an integration | Its guide to media updates describes partners setting a video URL on a stock record through the Stock API. The URL is shown on the site only if it is YouTube, Vimeo or one of the partner's approved domains. | The same YouTube link, sent by your stock system or media provider |
| Autotrader.com (US) | Its dealer help describes uploading a file or linking to an externally stored file, with at most two shown on a Vehicle Details page, and uploads of up to three minutes. The pages carry no date. | The 16:9 MP4 or a link; confirm the current method with your Autotrader.com contact |
| carsales.com.au (Australia) | Its video upload rules take .mp4 or .mov files up to 512MB, and say video must not contain a slideshow of images, branding or seller contact details. | Not a photo-based listing video; see when Videngine is the wrong tool |
| Cars.com, CarGurus and other portals | Cars.com's help article on uploading inventory covers photos, up to 32 per listing, but not video. We have not found a CarGurus dealer help page on listing video. | Ask your account manager or feed provider whether a video link in your feed is shown on the advert |
For any other portal, check three things before you build: that your package includes video, whether it takes a file or a link, and which video hosts it displays.
Video URLs in your stock feed
In a feed, video is one more field on the stock record, keyed by stock number, so the URL in that field goes to every portal the feed serves and nobody pastes links by hand.
Whoever manages your feed needs four things settled before the first video goes out.
- The stock number is the join. Your stock system, the feed and Videngine should use the same reference. Videngine names files by stock number or reference, so ST50417_16x9_v1.mp4 (an illustrative stock number) lines up with that unit's feed row.
- One owner per field. Decide whether the stock system, the feed provider or a media provider writes the video field, and keep everyone else out. Auto Trader UK's media updates guide notes that overwriting content is a common problem when more than one media management provider is in place. Cars.com's help article says manual edits lock a listing's fields, so the inventory feed stops updating them until someone releases the lock.
- Not every feed has a video field. Google's vehicle listings feed specification, for example, lists image links but no video attribute. Ask your feed provider for its field list before you plan a feed route.
- A YouTube link changes with every rebuild. YouTube says you can't replace a video, since any new upload gets a new URL. A corrected or repriced video therefore means a new link in the feed.
One stable link per stock number (Custom plan)
On the Custom plan, from 1,500 videos a month, listing delivery can be one stable link per stock number. It only plays a cut that has passed review, and it switches to the new cut when a rebuild is approved. Put it in the feed once and the feed never needs editing for that unit again: a price change becomes a rebuild and an approval, not a feed change.
A stable link helps only where the portal displays links from your video host. Auto Trader UK shows YouTube, Vimeo or approved partner domains only, so there the route stays a public YouTube link.
From Growth, the API lets your feed provider look up the approved video for a stock number and list its versions, to check the feed carries the current cut. See what to check in a video automation API.
Which cut to send to which advert
Send the landscape 16:9 cut to portal adverts, use the vertical 9:16 cut only where a portal asks for it, and burn the captions in.
| Destination | Cut | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Trader UK advert, via YouTube | 16:9 | YouTube treats an upload of up to three minutes with a square or vertical aspect ratio as a Short, and Auto Trader UK does not support Shorts |
| A portal that takes an MP4 upload or a link | 16:9 | It sits beside the landscape photos already on the advert |
| A portal app placement that asks for vertical | 9:16 | Only where the portal's own specification asks for it; none of the help pages above do |
| Your own website's vehicle pages | Usually 16:9 | See video on your vehicle detail pages |
| Social and short-form | 9:16 | See dealer social video |
Burn the captions in. They are part of the picture, so they show whatever the portal's player does with caption files, and carry the narration for a buyer scrolling with the sound off. Keep the .srt file for players that take a caption track. See also YouTube Shorts vs long-form videos.
Check each portal's content rules before you batch. A portal that bars contact details or branding in video needs those scenes left out of its cut.
Price changes, reserved and sold units on portals
The advert and its video must say the same thing, so when the feed changes a price or status on a portal, the video on that advert has to be re-rendered or retired too.
The lead guide explains why to re-render rather than edit, and how a rebuild is saved as _v2 beside the original; see keeping vehicle videos honest as stock changes. On portals, the extra work is the link.
| Change | The advert | Video on a YouTube link | Video on a stable link (Custom) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price change | The feed updates the price | Re-render, approve, publish the _v2 cut, replace the link, set the old video to private | Approve the rebuild; the link switches |
| Spec or photo correction | Updated in the stock system | Re-render, approve, replace the link | Approve the rebuild; the link switches |
| Reserved | Kept live or withdrawn, by your policy | Follow the advert's policy | Follow the advert's policy |
| Sold | The feed withdraws the advert | Set the video to private or delete it | Leaves with the advert, since the link sits on the stock record |
On YouTube, a private video can only be seen by you and whomever you choose, and a deleted video is gone for good, so set sold units to private to keep a record. Three habits help:
- Leave the price out if prices move often. The advert shows the live price beside the video, so a price change needs no rebuild.
- Reconcile weekly. Join the ledger's CSV export to your feed export by stock number. Look for live adverts with no approved video, videos older than the last price change, and sold units whose video is still public.
- Check the advert after a change. Auto Trader UK says a saved video will appear online within 30 minutes.
From stock to portal: the workflow
Every portal video follows the same steps in Videngine; only the delivery route differs by portal.
- Choose the units. Pick vehicle listings from your website's sitemap, paste one listing URL, or send a CSV or JSON export from your stock system. Batch runs from a file start on Growth; see bulk video creation from a CSV.
- Build. Each unit gets a 16:9 and a 9:16 cut up to 1080p, with captions burned in, and files named by stock number.
- Review. Check the cut against the portal advert the buyer will see. A rejection gets a defect code (pronunciation, audio, specification, photo, brand, render or mobile).
- Approve. A workspace can require the approver to be someone other than the builder. The ledger records each version, builder, reviewer, status and defect code.
- Deliver by one route per portal.
- Upload: download the MP4, or use Google Drive delivery (Growth, rolling out), whose sheet lists every unit with links to both cuts.
- YouTube link: publish the 16:9 cut as a public video, by hand or through YouTube publishing (Scale, rolling out), which writes the title, description, hashtags and tags. Paste the link onto the advert or into the feed's video field.
- Stable link in the feed (Custom): set it once per stock number; each approved rebuild switches it.
- Check the advert. Open it on the portal and play the video, on a phone as well as a desktop.
Videngine does not log in to portals or post to them. Your team, your stock management system or your feed provider places the file or link, unless direct delivery to a portal is agreed as part of a Custom rollout.
When Videngine is the wrong tool for portal video
Videngine makes narrated videos from a listing's own photos and facts; it does not make spins, run live calls or buy ads, and some portals do not want photo-based video at all.
| Job | Why Videngine does not fit | Better fit |
|---|---|---|
| A 360 spin on the advert | It does not capture or build spins, and Auto Trader UK's media updates guide says spin URLs display only from a partner's approved domains | A spin provider your portal works with |
| A live video call with a buyer | It has no live video | A video-call tool, or the salesperson's phone |
| A portal whose rules bar photo slideshows | Its pictures are the listing's photos, and carsales.com.au's rules, for example, say video must not contain a slideshow of images | Walkaround footage filmed to that portal's rules |
| Social video ads run by the portal from your feed | It makes video files; it does not buy or place ads | The portal's own product, where one exists: Cars Commerce describes AI Inventory Video Ads that connect the feed powering your Cars.com listings and run on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook |
| An advertising package without video | The advert cannot show a video, whoever makes it | Upgrade the package, or put the video on your own vehicle pages |
Where a portal takes video and the photos are good, a listing video covers the adverts nobody films.
Questions about video on portal adverts
How do I add a video to an Auto Trader listing?
Auto Trader UK's help centre says to upload the video to YouTube as a public video, then paste the link on the vehicle's images and video tab in Portal. It does not support YouTube Shorts, so link the landscape cut. Video is not included in the Franchise Starter package, and a saved video appears online within 30 minutes.
Can a video URL go in my stock feed?
Often, if your feed or the portal's API has a video field. The URL then travels with the stock record, keyed by stock number, to every portal the feed serves. Check which hosts each portal displays: Auto Trader UK shows YouTube, Vimeo or approved partner domains only.
Can I add video to CarGurus or Cars.com listings?
Ask your account manager or feed provider whether a video link in your feed is shown on the advert. We have not found a dealer help page from either portal that describes listing video, so we do not say either way.
What happens to a portal video when the price changes?
Re-render the video, approve it and replace the link. On YouTube a new upload always gets a new URL, so the advert or feed needs the new link. On the Custom plan, a stable link per stock number switches to the new cut when the rebuild is approved. Or leave the price out of the video.
Does Videngine upload videos to Auto Trader for me?
No. Videngine delivers MP4 files, a Google Drive folder and YouTube publishing (both rolling out), and an API. Your team, stock system or feed provider puts the file or link on the advert, unless direct delivery is agreed as part of a Custom rollout.
Should portal adverts get the vertical or landscape cut?
The landscape 16:9 cut, unless a portal's own specification asks for vertical. A vertical upload to YouTube of up to three minutes becomes a Short, which Auto Trader UK does not support. Keep the 9:16 cut for social and short-form.
Choose your next step
Go back to the full dealer guide, or see the other places the same vehicle video goes.
Start with one advert.
Bring one vehicle's portal advert and the name of your feed provider. Settle which cut goes to which portal and who owns the video field, then apply it to the rest of your stock.
Join the waitlist ↗Published by Videngine, a video rendering product built and run by Wall & Fifth. External links refer to the original documentation or product descriptions; examples are illustrative unless stated otherwise.