Hunch (website)

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This article is about Hunch.com. For Hunch.net, see John Langford (computer scientist).
Hunch
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRecommender system
Founded2007
FounderCaterina Fake and Chris Dixon
FateAcquired by eBay for US$80 million
Headquarters
New York City
ParenteBay
Websitehunch.com

Hunch was an American company founded in 2007 that offered product recommendation based on users' interest.[1][2][3] Hunch launched its website in June 2009.[4] In November 2011, Hunch was acquired by eBay for $80mn.[5][6] Through its acquisition of Hunch, eBay sought to obtain the company's recommendation engine for use in their e-commerce websites.[1]

While the technology continues to be used in eBay's e-commerce platform, the public facing website for Hunch was shuttered in March 2014. Hunch was headquartered in New York City.[7]

History[]

Hunch was co-founded by Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake[8] and Chris Dixon with an 11-person team.[9] Hunch started a private preview period in December 2008, with a private beta in March 2009.[10] In December 2009, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales joined Hunch.com as board member and advisor.[11]

In February 2010, the website had 1.2 million unique visitors.[12] In January 2011, Hunch was redesigned from decision tree system and topic specific questions to tagging and product referral.[13]

In November 2011, Hunch was acquired by eBay Inc. for 80 million dollars.[5] eBay planned to use Hunch's recommendation engine technology to improve how their own e-commerce platform offered users items to purchase. Specifically, eBay intended to use the Hunch technology to suggest non-obvious purchase suggestions.[1]

After its acquisition by eBay, co-founder Chris Dixon remained as head of the operating business within eBay. eBay merged the approximately 20 employees at Hunch with the approximately 50 employees on the existing eBay data science team, under Dixon's department.[5]

While the underlying recommendation engine technology remains in use at eBay, the public-facing website for the independent Hunch recommendation engine was closed in March 2014.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "eBay Buys Hunch To Improve Long-Tail Shopping Recommendations – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  2. ^ Rao, Leena. "Hunch Takes A Deep Data Dive On The Tastes And Interests Of eBay Users". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ^ Woody Evans (2009). "Hunch: A Psychosocial Divinatory Machine for the Masses".
  4. ^ "Hunch launches today". VatorNews. June 15, 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  5. ^ a b c Martin, Adam (2011-11-21). "eBay Buys Hunch for $80 Million". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  6. ^ "eBay Acquires Recommendation Engine Hunch.com". Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  7. ^ "About Hunch.com". Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  8. ^ Ben Parr (March 28, 2009). "Hunch: Flickr Founder to Turn Indecision into Profits". Mashable. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  9. ^ "The Hunch Team". Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  10. ^ Official Forum Clarification on Hunch's History: "wikipedia article about hunch could use some improvement!". Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  11. ^ Wales, Jimmy (December 7, 2009). "What's new for me: Hunch". blog.jimmywales.com. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  12. ^ "Hunch". Mashable. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  13. ^ "Hunch Blog | Goodbye topic-specific questions, hello tags". Blog.hunch.com. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
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