Billions of dollars are spent each year on digital marketing, and J.D. Power intends to measure the link between that marketing and actual vehicle sales.

On Wednesday, J.D. Power announced the acquisition of Korrelate, an Orlando-based company that measures consumers' online behaviors and links them to offline sales activity. 

By combining Korrelate's privacy-safe method of matching anonymous online behaviors with J.D. Power's Power Information Network new- and used-vehicle retail sales data, company officials say the result will be a timely, in-depth and transparent measurement of digital marketing effectiveness.

"We are delighted to add Korrelate and its cutting-edge capabilities to J.D. Power," said Finbarr O'Neill, president of J.D. Power.

"Consumer behavior is changing dramatically in today's Internet-powered world. The auto industry spends billions of dollars annually on digital marketing. Measuring online activity and linking it to actual vehicle sales will enable marketers to measure and optimize their digital strategy," he said.  

Combining the two company’s capabilities, J.D. Power will be able to identify which websites and ad campaigns shoppers are exposed to before they buy their vehicle.

That will allow it to measure and enhance the effectiveness of automaker, dealer and third-party websites and ad campaigns, the company said, and help ad networks and online publishers report ad effectiveness.