HotBot
| File:HotBot homepage June 2019.png | |
Type of site | Web search engine, blog |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | HotBot Canada Inc |
| URL | www |
| Launched | May 20, 1996 |
| Current status | Active |
HotBot is a privately owned web search engine and a privacy blog.
History
HotBot was launched in May 1996 by HotWired, a tool providing search results served by the Inktomi database. The search engine was co-developed by Inktomi, a four-month-old start-up staffed by University of California, Berkeley students.[2] HotBot was launched using a "new links" strategy of marketing, claiming to index the entire web weekly, more often than competitors like AltaVista,[3] and its website stated it being the "most complete Web index online" with 54 million documents.[4] Its colorful interface and impressive features (e.g. being able to search with any entered words, or an entire phrase) drew acclaim and popularity.[5]
Directory results were provided originally by LookSmart and then DMOZ from mid-1999.[6] HotBot also used search data from Direct Hit Technologies for a period starting February 1999,[7] which was a tool that used click-through data to manipulate results. Inktomi's SmartCrawl technology, allowing 10 million webpages to be crawled weekly, was incorporated into HotBot in March 1997.[8] HotBot was the 19th most visited website based on web traffic as of 1998.[9]
Lycos acquired HotBot as part of its acquisition of Wired magazine in October 1998 and it was run separately, alongside Lycos's already existing search engine.[10] Hereafter, HotBot languished with limited development and falling market share. A HotBot NeoPlanet browser was also released which integrated HotBot and other Wired and Lycos links.[11] At the end of 2002, HotBot was relaunched as a multiple option search tool, giving users the option to search either the FAST, Google, Inktomi or Teoma databases.[12][13]
In March 2004, Lycos launched a beta release of a free toolbar search product, Lycos HotBot DeskTop, which the company said was "the first product to integrate traditional desktop search with Web search within the browser." The HotBot DeskTop could search the Internet using Inktomi, e-mail folders for Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, and user documents stored on a hard drive. It also incorporated a blocker for pop-up ads and an RSS News Reader syndication. Indexes created to track e-mail and user files remained stored locally to protect user privacy. Text-based ads were displayed when viewing results for several types of Internet searches. Lycos licensed dtSearch technology to power the local search options.[14]
In July 2011, HotBot was relaunched with a new robot-like mascot, a new logo, and a modern site design. In the beta, HotBot became a portal, returning not just web search results, but also searches from various Lycos websites, such as News, Shopping and Weather Zombie. The portal interface lasted for roughly six months, and these features were instead reincorporated into the 2012 Lycos website redesign, returning HotBot to a simplified search interface.
In October 2016, Lycos sold the Hotbot.com domain name for $155,000 to an unnamed buyer.[15] Afterwards, HotBot transformed into a shopping, travel and money search site, and got a new logo.
In April 2018, the classic HotBot look and design returned, and it turned into a privacy-focused search engine.
In May 2019, HotBot redesigned the site as a privacy blog rather than a search engine. Reflecting this change, the new logo said "HotBot.blog". The small search engine form could still be found at the bottom of the page, although it did not seem to be properly maintained, as the search results page missed images for tabs and page numbers.
In June 2019, HotBot redesigned the site as a search engine, powered by Bing, with a black background. The blog section has the older theme with a white background. As of June 30, 2019, the homepage misses the "about" link, but the "privacy policy" page says that HotBot is owned by HotBot Canada Inc. The new HotBot slogan is "Search Safely with HotBot," although searches for adult terms provide unfiltered, uncensored results. Contrary to the company's focus on privacy, HotBot's privacy page states the HotBot's collection and use of personal data, including cookies, so it's not clear what HotBot implies by safety in its new slogan.[16]
References
- ^ "Hotbot.com Site Info". Alexa Internet.
- ^ "INKTOMI OFFERS PARALLEL PROCESSING-BASED NET SEARCH ENGINE". Computer Business Review. 1996-06-11. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ Weise, Elizabeth. "New Search Tool Hits the Web". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ PC Mag, 22 Oct 1996, p. 48
- ^ "Where Are They Now? Search Engines We've Known & Loved". Search Engine Watch. 2003-03-04. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ Search Engines for the World Wide Web by Alfred Glossbrenner, Emily Glossbrenner, p. 101
- ^ Crum, Rex (1999-03-22). "Direct Hit gets searches on target with HotBot". American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "Inktomi Powers Advanced Information Indexing". tech-insider.org. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ Bump, Philip (2010-03-23). "Flashback From 1998: When Altavista, Lycos, And Blue Mountain Arts Ruled the Web". www.themarysue.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "Website Design, e-Commerce Websites and Content Managed Website Designs". www.uk192.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "The HotBot Neoplanet Browser". web.archive.org. 2000-02-29. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "Search engine rankings on HotBot: a brief history of the HotBot search engine". www.websearchworkshop.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ "The return of HotBot". Geek.com. 2002-12-17. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ Quint, Barbara; Price, Gary (2004-03-22). "Lycos HotBot Offers Free DeskTop Toolbar". newsbreaks.infotoday.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ ALLEMANN, ANDREW (October 4, 2016). "Lycos sells HotBot.com for $155,000". Domain Name Wire.
- ^ "Hotbot.com Privacy Policy". www.hotbot.com. Retrieved 2019-06-30.