New patent covers “demand/price driver” engine that powers pricing and features analysis found in CarStory Market Reports; data provides dealers with in-demand selling points for every used vehicle on their lot and gives car buyers insights to make better, more informed decisions

Austin, Texas – October 18, 2016 – CarStory, the industry’s largest provider of search and inventory data and analytics on used vehicles, today announced that a technology powering its Market Reports has been awarded a U.S. Patent No. 9,465,873. This is the second patent awarded in two years time for a technology utilized by CarStory Market Reports. To date, the Reports have been adopted by over six thousand auto dealers nationwide to help consumers understand a vehicle’s whole ‘story’ through comprehensive, real-time, hyper-local data. CarStory delivers 15,000,000 Market Reports each month to consumers around the country.

The patent, titled Systems, Methods and Devices for Identifying and Presenting Identifications of Significant Attributes of Unique Items, was awarded to Vast.com Inc., which uses the technology to power its CarStory Market Reports. The technology automatically determines which aspects of a used vehicle search are most significant to consumers and then identifies the top 3 or 4 features that are the unique price drivers for that vehicle, presenting them in an easily digestible format to enable consumers to make more confident purchasing decisions.

Vast.com Inc.’s most recent previous patent was issued in December 2015 for its “similarities engine” which automatically generates relevant and ‘like’ vehicle recommendations through the CarStory Market Reports to car buyers, helping facilitate a better, more informed car selling/buying experience.

“Vast’s newest patent validates the power of the technology behind CarStory Market Reports. Because used vehicle price drivers differ dramatically from those that influence pricing when a vehicle is brand new, unique technology is required to help illuminate and quantify nuances for both dealers and consumers alike,” said Dr. David Franke, Chief Data Scientist at Vast.com and co-inventor of the patent.

For example, a trim line that adds value to a car when it is new may not play the same, positive role in the vehicle’s price after a few years of wear and tear – leather seats may age poorly or GPS technology may be outdated.

“It is this real time, preference-based, nuanced vehicle intelligence that has been awarded in the patent and is the reason CarStory Market Reports have been so widely adopted,” said Franke. “Our ‘demand/price driver engine’ improves the used car buying process by highlighting the handful of vehicle attributes that consumers are most interested in – even down to regional and local levels.”

By embedding important vehicle research directly in the Vehicle Detail Page (VDP), CarStory Market Reports encourage consumers to stay and engage on dealership websites, rather than clicking off to find information on third-party research sites. The Reports’ robust and unique information is based on insights generated from a combination of real-time used vehicle listings and data from over eight million used car searches each week. The patented technology highlights the unique attributes and features that drive price, whether it’s bluetooth, roof rack or heated seats.

“CarStory Market Reports really help educate our sales team about which features are most important to our used car shoppers, and, because they are so engaging and informative, the reports have increased our online lead conversion,” said Tom White Jr., General Manager of Subaru of Wichita.

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About CarStory

CarStory is a service that matches used car shoppers with the right car. Using patented technology and an industry-leading dataset, CarStory facilitates an efficient, effective discovery process resulting in a confident purchase decision. With a network of over 6,000 participating dealerships nationwide, CarStory’s available inventory and user-data is the largest, and most accurate in the industry. Discover your new used car and drive happily ever after at: www.carstory.com.

About Vast 

Vast is a big data-as-service platform that provides consumer experiences —powered by data and analytics — for big purchases in automotive and real estate. Founded in 2005, Vast is the premier provider of big data solutions for many of the Global 1000’s largest automotive and real estate businesses. Learn more at Vast.com.

Media Relations: 

Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications (949) 307-1723, melanie@mwebbcom.com