Can you put your dealer logo on car photos?
Which listing sites allow a dealer logo, watermark or overlay on car photos and which reject them: Google vehicle ads, eBay, Cars.com, OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. Plus what a logo does and doesn't do against copied photos.
On your own website, yes. On Facebook Marketplace and Cars.com, mostly yes. On Google vehicle ads and eBay, no: they reject photos with a logo, watermark or added text. So most dealers end up with two copies of every photo, one with the overlay and one clean.
Edited with LotReady. AI Enhance off. No dealer logo or phone number on this one, which is the copy you send to Google and eBay.
Which sites allow a logo
| Site | Logo or overlay on the photo | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Your own website | Up to you | |
| Facebook Marketplace | No logo rule that we could find. Meta bans misleading listings | Commerce Policies |
| Cars.com | Allowed. Cars.com's own tools add logos and text. Photos can't show special offers, a different price, or payment and finance terms | Listing policy, logo and text instructions |
| OfferUp, Verified Auto Dealer | Allowed: text, banners, stickers and pricing, as long as the car is the main thing in the photo | Listing Rules for Motors |
| OfferUp, regular account | No added text, stickers or contact details | Posting Rules |
| Google vehicle ads | Rejected: no watermarks, no logos or text added on top | Image guidelines |
| eBay Motors | Rejected: no watermarks of any kind, no added text or marketing | Picture policy |
Autotrader and CarGurus keep their photo rules in their dealer agreements. Ask your rep before you send them photos with a logo. We checked the pages above on November 5, 2026.
Google and eBay want the clean copy
Google tells apart a logo you add on top of the photo and one that was already in the shot, like a sign on your building. The added one gets the photo rejected. The sign in the background is only discouraged, and Google may blur or crop it.
The one thing Google does allow on top of a photo is a label saying AI was used, through its own AI label setting. The disclosure guide covers that.
eBay bans every watermark, including a copyright mark or a photographer's credit in the corner. Put your dealership details in the listing fields instead.
Keep prices and payments off the photo
Even where an overlay is allowed, keep the price, monthly payment and specials in the listing text. Cars.com bans them on photos outright. On other sites, a price stamped on a photo goes out of date the moment you drop it, and the old number keeps going out through your feed.
Keep the overlay off the car
Put the logo or phone bar where it doesn't cover the bodywork, wheels, badges or any damage. Look at the photo at phone size: a strip that looks small on your screen can cover the bumper once the site crops it.
LotReady puts your logo in a corner or on a phone bar across the bottom on the Pro and Dealer plans, and every photo with a logo also downloads without it, so you get both copies from one batch.
A logo won't stop someone copying your photos
Anyone who saves a photo with your logo on it gets the logo too. That can help a buyer spot a fake, but it doesn't stop the copy, and a scammer pretending to be your dealership may want your name on the photo. The FTC warned in September 2026 about fake dealership websites that copy real dealers' logos, listings and photos to take deposits for cars that don't exist.
If you find your photos on someone else's listing:
- Save the listing link, screenshots of the seller, photos, price and payment instructions, and the date you found it.
- Find out who owns the photos. If a photographer shot them, check your agreement, because paying for photos doesn't always mean you own the copyright (Copyright Office).
- The owner can send a takedown notice through the site: Meta, eBay VeRO or Craigslist. The Copyright Office has a sample notice.
- If they're pretending to be your dealership or taking payments, report that separately: Facebook Marketplace scam reports and ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Then put a warning on your own website with your real contact details.
Google Lens can search by image if you want to look for other copies of a photo.