Auction site eBay announced it has acquired Hunch, for an undisclosed price. Founders Chris Dixon, Tom Pinckney and Matt Gattis, will stay on at eBay and remain based in New York
Hunch is an online recommendation platform launched in 2009. It uses web data to create “Hunches” and map them so it can start to predict the products, services, websites, or just about anything. The program can then focus your searches to popular items, or items tailored on your history.
“We are engaging consumers in innovative ways and attracting top technologists to shape the future of commerce,” said Mark Carges, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Global Products, Marketplaces. “With Hunch, we’re adding new capabilities to personalizing the shopping experience on eBay to the individual relevant tastes and interests of our customers. We expect Hunch’s technologies to benefit eBay shoppers as they browse and buy, and to bring sellers on eBay new ways to connect the right products with the right customers.”
The staff at Hunch believe this will be a great integration to eBay. They will be able to integrate into search, advertising and more. For instance, Hunch has a Netflix engine, in which you sign in to your Netflix site, then it will search for movies you might want to watch.