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eBay Walks Away with Hunch
Online auction giant eBay has announced the acquisition of the team and technology of Hunch, which uses data mining and predictive modelling to create customised recommendations for site visitors.
Hunch was launched in 2009 and sends customized recommendations to its users based on their individual tastes, using patented prediction technology known as a 'taste graph' to assess their preferences for sites, products, services and many other categories including their taste in people. Tastes are assessed from a variety of inputs including social network input and activity and Hunch's own questions.
eBay, which in addition to its eponymous trading site owns online payments leader PayPal and ecommerce / digital marketing specialist GSI, aims to use the buy to expand its merchandising and targeting capabilities to improve the shopping and selling experience for its customers - for example making more relevant recommendations for other products of possible interest based on existing bids and buys. It will also help it with search, advertising and marketing initiatives.
Mark Carges, eBay CTO and SVP, Global Products, Marketplaces, says: 'We are engaging consumers in innovative ways and attracting top technologists to shape the future of commerce. With Hunch, we're adding new capabilities to personalizing the shopping experience on eBay to the individual relevant tastes and interests of our customers.'
Hunch will retain its New York HQ and its team, including co-founders Chris Dixon, Tom Pinckney and Matt Gattis.
The firms are online at www.hunch.com and www.ebayinc.com .
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