Autobytel Inc. (ABTL)

Autobytel Inc. was one of the earliest online automotive marketplaces. The business started in 1995 as Auto-by-Tel, a service that let consumers submit car purchase requests over the internet and routed those requests to participating dealers. Over time the company earned most of its revenue by selling consumer leads and website clicks to auto dealers and car manufacturers, positioning itself between shoppers researching vehicles online and the dealer networks that wanted to reach them.

The company went public on Nasdaq in March 1999 under the symbol ABTL during the first internet boom. It had already drawn attention in 1997 by becoming the first internet company to run a Super Bowl commercial. In 2001 it adopted the Autobytel name and bought the original AutoWeb.com site, combining two of the early online car-buying brands under one roof.

The middle 2000s were difficult. Autobytel restated several periods of financial results in 2004 and 2005, which led to shareholder litigation, and the 2008-2009 auto industry downturn forced layoffs and cost cuts. The company explored a sale during that period but abandoned the idea in 2009 and continued as a smaller lead-generation business serving dealers and manufacturers. The company remained independent but smaller, with a business that depended heavily on advertising budgets at dealers and automakers.

In 2013 Autobytel invested in a Miami startup called AutoWeb, and in 2015 it acquired that company outright in a stock and warrant deal. In October 2017 Autobytel took the AutoWeb name for the whole company and changed its Nasdaq ticker from ABTL to AUTO, marking the end of the ABTL symbol. The new name was meant to signal a focus on click-based advertising and data products rather than the older lead-referral model that had defined Autobytel since the 1990s.

As AutoWeb, the company continued to struggle with declining revenue and losses. In 2022 an affiliate of One Planet Group, a firm led by AutoWeb co-founder Payam Zamani, launched a tender offer for the shares. The deal closed on August 31, 2022 at $0.39 per share in cash, Nasdaq trading in AUTO ended that day, and the company became privately held.