In addition to some more automotive-specific news earlier this month, DrivenIQ, which specializes in data and data technologies that help businesses target their advertising to the most ideal audience, said Friday it has acquired Visitor Data Inc.

In a news release, the company said the main reason it bought Visitor Data was, “for its double opted-in First-Party Data Pixel Technology, which matches mobile device IDs on any website with corresponding names, emails, phone numbers and street addresses.”

DrivenIQ said the deal, “comes at a crucial time as the world trends towards a cookieless future, with major technology companies having recently disabled cookie tracking.”

The multimillion-dollar transaction was backed by Capstone Technologies Group, which previously acquired a minority interest in DrivenIQ and has since invested additional capital.

Albert Thompson, founder and chief executive officer of DrivenIQ explained why having Pixel Technology was so crucial for the company.

“Pixel Technology is essentially caller ID for your website,” Thompson said in a news release. “Our future does not rely on third-party cookies, which makes zero-party data and first-party data paramount for brands, agencies and retailers to reach their ideal customers.

“This acquisition is yet another example of our commitment to build the most robust 1:1 consumer data enhancement platform, where consumers and brands connect and share information directly with each other, while also building a way for all businesses to build and own their own data audiences.”

DrivenIQ to launch trade-in marketplace

In other news from the company, DrivenIQ said earlier this month that it will be launching a trade-in marketplace in June that lets dealers bid and buy live trade-ins directly from consumers.

The company is already taking pre-registration for DriveBid from car dealers.

“DriveBid connects consumers who want the best offer for their trade-in with dealers who need inventory in a real-time, easy-to-use online platform,” said Thompson, the DrivenIQ CEO, in a news release.

“Dealers configure criteria for the vehicles they need and compete with live bids or make cash offers for vehicles that match these criteria,” he said.

“Consumers launch their trades in an open competitive platform, communicate with dealers and get offers for their trades, all in real-time. DriveBid simultaneously captures key vehicle and consumer data to help dealers make smart vehicle buying and inventory management decisions in the future.”

In the release, the company outlined how DriveBid works.

First, the dealer would set up specific criteria for vehicles they’re searching for, designating make/model/year/mileage and geographic parameters.

Meanwhile, the consumer would upload vehicle information on their trade, submit photos, answer a few questions and submit a condition report.

When a vehicle matches the dealer’s criteria, they are sent an alert. The dealer can then compete for the vehicle through live bidding or make an immediate cash offer, based on the format the consumer has chosen

The consumer can see the live offers and see the inventory of active and competing dealers, access dealer info and communicate directly with participating dealers.

Once the consumer has chosen the dealership they want to work with, they can visit that store for a final vehicle inspection.