eBay acquires recommendation engine Hunch

 　　SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- E-commerce and online payment giant eBay announced on Monday that it has acquired New York-based technology startup Hunch¹, an online platform that delivers customized recommendations to users based on their individual tastes.

　　Hunch's team and expertise² in areas like machine learning, data mining and predictive modeling are expected to help eBay to integrate more advanced recommendations into its website, said the San Jose, California-based company.

　　"Unlike traditional online retail³ approaches, Hunch will enable eBay to move beyond standard item-to-item recommendations and use a broader variety of members' online tastes and interests to suggest new and interesting items for them to browse⁴ and buy on eBay," said the company in a press release.

　　Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Technology news site TechCrunch founder⁵ Michael Arrington said in his personal blog prior to the acquisition announcement that eBay would acquire Hunch for 80 million U.S. dollars.

　　Hunch, co-founded by popular photo-sharing service Flickr co- founder Caterina Fake with an 11-person team of MIT graduates, was open to the public in 2009. According to eBay, Hunch's employees will remain with the company in New York.

1 hunch   

n.预感，直觉

参考例句：

• I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
• I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。