If it seems to you that Geico advertises during every program you watch on TV, you’re not wrong. The insurance company spent $935 million on ads last year, and there cannot possibly be anyone left in this country who doesn’t know how long it might take them to save 15% on car insurance. Can there?

Whether it’s thanks to all that advertising or maybe just in spite of it, Bloomberg Businessweek reported today that GEICO has now overtaken Allstate as the country’s top auto insurer.

GEICO outspends its competitors on direct-to-consumer advertising by millions of dollars because direct-to-consumer is how they sell policies. GEICO does have local agents, but picks up new business through advertising.

Liberty Mutual spent only about $197 million on ads last year, but had impressive growth. Maybe it’s the company’s new ad campaigns, which are very intentionally the exact opposite of GEICO’s silly, off-topic spots. They not only lack cartoon animals, but they even address

Geico’s Silly Ads Are Working [GEICO]

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