Vicinity Chosen as Key Enabler for New AutoConnect Service
20 May 1998
Vicinity Chosen as Key Enabler for New AutoConnect Service AutoConnect Shoppers Will be Able to Conduct Comprehensive Searches
For Pre-Owned Cars Using a Range of Criteria
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 20 -- Vicinity Corp. today announced
that it has been chosen to provide the core spatial searching technology for
the AutoConnect service, which launched yesterday. AutoConnect is the Web's
largest source of information for consumers interested in purchasing a
pre-owned car. Under a multi-year deal signed by the two companies,
Vicinity's technology will enable users of the new site to search and
geographically locate from among AutoConnect's hundreds of thousands of
pre-owned vehicles, based on specific characteristics and locations of
available cars. Vicinity was chosen because of its industry-leading searching
technology and ability to manage large datasets of location information.
"This partnership with AutoConnect validates Vicinity's core spatial
searching technology for varied mission-critical applications," said Emerick
Woods, CEO and president of Vicinity. "It not only highlights our core
capabilities, including proximity searching, but also provides us with an
opportunity to support the Web's largest shopping site for pre-owned
automobiles. In essence, we are the brains behind one of the most important
functions on the AutoConnect service."
"Vicinity's proximity search capabilities will make us the only Web site
of our kind able to offer customers the ability to locate not only the
characteristics of the car they want, but also its geographic location," said
David Lilly, director of Technology and Operations for AutoConnect. "In
addition to Vicinity's leading edge technology, we were also impressed with
Vicinity's performance (they can perform complex searches completed within
seconds), and their 99.99% uptime, which is as close to perfect as you can
get."
The AutoConnect service brings an innovative, interactive approach to a
huge market. Pre-owned car sales represent $360 billion annually and is the
fastest-growing segment of the automobile market. AutoConnect will offer
extensive on-line integrated resources, up-to-date consumer information and
powerful search capabilities, helping car shoppers to make an informed
decision about their pre-owned car purchase. In addition to searching
listings of pre-owned and new vehicles for sale, shoppers will also be able to
explore extensive information on all aspects of buying or selling a car or
truck
Sophisticated Search Capabilities Match Vehicles and Owners
Vicinity and AutoConnect believe that consumers will find its car locator
service to be a compelling and popular feature. With Vicinity's proximity
searching and other sophisticated technologies, AutoConnect customers will be
able to find pre-owned cars based on year, make, model and other
characteristics, plus the proximity of the available cars (e.g., "within
50 miles"). In addition, Vicinity's intelligent search engine will
automatically expand the search if no cars are found that meet the specific
criteria. For instance, users might be asked if they want to look within a
wider geographical radius to find a car that meets their other selection
criteria.
To keep the service continually current, Vicinity will be taking daily
transactional updates from AutoConnect and updating the inventory database
daily. Overall, because Vicinity has amassed tremendous expertise in managing
large datasets of location-related information, AutoConnect was able to
launch its car locator much faster and more inexpensively than if it had to
replicate these capabilities itself. At the same time, in working with
AutoConnect, Vicinity has refined some of its capabilities that it will be
able to offer other customers as well.
About AutoConnect
AutoConnect is owned by Manheim Auctions, Inc., a subsidiary of Cox
Enterprises, and the Dealer Services Group of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
(ADP), offering Internet shopping information and services for pre-owned and
new cars and trucks. Manheim and ADP provide a variety of products and
services to a combined total of more than 90 percent of the U.S. automotive
dealers, making AutoConnect the Internet's largest and most significant
consolidation of automobile dealer relationships and used car listings.
About Vicinity
Vicinity Corporation ( http://www.vicinity.com ) is a leading provider of
innovative geography-based technology solutions to the Internet. The company
offers its suite of private-label content and services including Vicinity
Maps, Driving Directions, Business Directory and Business Finder to leading
Web search and directory services, travel services, Yellow Pages providers,
newspapers, national and regional retail operations, and Fortune 1000
companies. Customers use Vicinity's offerings to create useful and
leading-edge Web sites under their own brand, look, feel and attitude.
Vicinity's customers include Yahoo!, Preview Travel, CNET Snap!, BellSouth,
Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Iomega, Cincinnati Bell, Ford, GM, Toyota, Marriott,
Hilton, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Federal Express and UPS. The company
was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
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