The purchase aims to "improve the shopping and selling experience for eBay customers" by using Hunch's "taste graph" prediction technology to make recommendations, according to a press release from eBay. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Unchrunched pegged the value at "around $80 million."
Hunch, launched in 2009, bases its recommendations on a series of questions posed to consumers. The company uses those answers to create a consumer profile that can be used to suggest purchases. Hunch's assumptions can offer other insights as well. In May, for instance, the company's data was used for an infographic that highlighted the eating habits of conservatives vs. liberals. (Liberals are, apparently, much more into seafood.)
For eBay, the lure of adding recommendation technology is obvious: The better Hunch is at giving suggestions, the more products shoppers will likely buy and browse. Of course, refining recommendations is pretty old hat in the online world. Amazon's recommendation algorithm, designed in the late 90s, has since been employed by YouTube to suggest videos.
Hunch's competitors also include YouChooze and Baduku, among others.
How often do you buy things based on recommendations? Will Hunch help eBay grow?