WebProNews

There are a lot of fingers in this pie - or, more accurately, this gas tank - but Primedia Automotive, which “consists of more than 58 Web sites for its automotive enthusiast titles,” has launched a new “Ride of the Month” contest that should draw in hundreds (or thousands) of car buffs, a number of advertisers, and Microsoft itself.

The MotorTrend, IntelliChoice, and Import Tuner sites are all part of Primedia’s network - hence the large number of eyes the campaign will reach.  Granted, not everyone will actually enter the contest, but even people who don’t own automotive beauties can still appreciate the sight of them.

As for those advertisers, a Primedia statement declared that “Ride of the Month presents an opportunity to connect to a passionate, active and engaged user base of auto enthusiasts online.”  Note: “passionate, active, and engaged” means “fanatical, excited, and ready to spend some serious cash” in a lot of cases, especially as the terms relate to cars.

And we mustn’t forget old Microsoft - Primedia is a powerful force (“bigger than Yahoo! Autos, CarsDirect, and Autobytel,” according to the company), but it’s hard to compare to the Redmond-based giant; within Microsoft, it’s actually the influential console gaming division that has a tie to the Ride of the Month contest.

“Upcoming Forza Motorsport 2 will be promoted during the course of the contest,” writes Nicolo S. of Xbox 360 News.  The Primedia folks might add that this promotion will occur during May and June, so any Xbox addicts will want to act quickly.  As for the rest of us . . . an “end date” for the Ride of the Month contest has not been announced, so we may get to enjoy seeing “hot” cars for quite some time to come.