View source for HotBot

{{Short description|VPN company; former search engine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox website
| name = HotBot
| logo = HotBot logo.jpg
| screenshot = 
| commercial = Yes
| language = English
| owner = [[HotBot Limited]]
| type = [[Search engine]]
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1996|5|27}}
| current_status = Working
| url = {{URL|www.hotbot.com}}
}}

'''HotBot''' is a Canadian [[web search engine]] owned by [[HotBot Limited]], whose key principal is [[Kristen Richardson]]. The search engine was initially launched in North America in 1996 by [[Wired (magazine)|''Wired'' magazine]]. During the 1990s, it was one of the most popular search engines on the [[World Wide Web]]. The domain was sold in 2016 and was used for other unrelated purposes for several years. Hotbot search engine was relaunched in 2022 under new ownership and with a different technology.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hotbot.com/info/about | title=HotBot – Search Smarter }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Screenshot HotBot Wayback 19971210.png|thumb|alt=Screenshot of HotBot search engine as it appeared in 1997, with directory categories and a bright blue and green page background|HotBot search engine and [[internet directory]] in 1997 (as captured by the [[Wayback Machine]] archive)]]
HotBot was launched in May 1996 by ''Wired'' online division [[HotWired]], as 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbronline.com/news/inktomi_offers_parallel_processing_based_net_search_engine/ |title=INKTOMI OFFERS PARALLEL PROCESSING-BASED NET SEARCH ENGINE | website=Computer Business Review |date=June 11, 1996}}</ref> HotBot was launched using a "new links" strategy of marketing, claiming to index the entire web weekly, more often than competitors like [[AltaVista]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/74cd8f724bb07c1eafe95edef18ab8d5 |title=New Search Tool Hits the Web |last=Weise |first=Elizabeth | work=[[Associated Press]] | date=May 19, 1996}}</ref> and its website stated it being the "most complete Web index online" with 54 million documents.<ref>''PC Mag'', October 22, 1996, p. 48</ref> Its colorful interface and impressive features (e.g. being able to search with any entered words, or an entire phrase) drew acclaim and popularity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/study/2064954/where-are-they-now-search-engines-weve-known-loved|title=Where Are They Now? Search Engines We've Known & Loved|date=March 4, 2003|website=Search Engine Watch|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-13}}</ref>

Directory results were provided originally by [[LookSmart]] and then [[DMOZ]] from mid-1999.<ref>''Search Engines for the World Wide Web'' by Alfred Glassbrenner, Emily Glassbrenner, p. 101</ref> HotBot also used search data from [[Direct Hit Technologies]] for a period starting February 1999,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/1999/03/22/story8.html | title=Direct Hit gets searches on target with HotBot | last=Crum | first=Rex |website=[[American City Business Journals]] | date=March 22, 1999}}</ref> which was a tool that used click-through data to manipulate results. Inktomi's Smart Crawl technology, allowing 10 million webpages to be crawled weekly, was incorporated into HotBot in March 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tech-insider.org/internet/research/1996/1211.html|title=Inktomi Powers Advanced Information Indexing |website=tech-insider.org|access-date=2019-02-13}}</ref> HotBot was the 19th most visited website based on web traffic as of 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.themarysue.com/1998-web-traffic-stats/|title=Flashback From 1998: When Altavista, Lycos, And Blue Mountain Arts Ruled the Web |last=Bump|first=Philip|date=March 23, 2010|website=www.themarysue.com|access-date=2019-02-13}}</ref>

[[Lycos]] acquired HotBot as part of its acquisition of ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' in October 1998 and it was run separately, alongside Lycos's already existing search engine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uk192.com/search-engines.asp|title=Website Design, e-Commerce Websites and Content Managed Website Designs.|website=www.uk192.com|access-date=2019-02-13|archive-date=2019-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829093612/http://www.uk192.com/search-engines.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://hotbot.lycos.com:80/neoplanet/default.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229181507/http://hotbot.lycos.com/neoplanet/default.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2000-02-29 |title=The HotBot Neoplanet Browser |date=February 29, 2000 |access-date=2019-02-13 }}</ref> At the end of 2002, HotBot was relaunched as a multiple option search tool, giving users the option to search either the [[Fast Search & Transfer|FAST]], Google, [[Inktomi (company)|Inktomi]] or [[Teoma]] databases.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.websearchworkshop.co.uk/hotbot_history.php|title=Search engine rankings on HotBot: a brief history of the HotBot search engine|website=www.websearchworkshop.co.uk|access-date=2019-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geek.com/news/the-return-of-hotbot-548078/|title=The return of HotBot|date=December 17, 2002|website=Geek.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-13|archive-date=2019-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114045951/https://www.geek.com/news/the-return-of-hotbot-548078/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Lycos-HotBot-Offers-Free-DeskTop-Toolbar-16488.asp|title=Lycos HotBot Offers Free DeskTop Toolbar| last1=Quint|first1=Barbara|last2=Price|first2=Gary|date=March 22, 2004|website=newsbreaks.infotoday.com|access-date=2019-02-13}}</ref>

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.

== Sale of domain name ==
In October 2016, Lycos sold the Hotbot.com [[domain name]] for $155,000 to an unnamed buyer.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://domainnamewire.com/2016/10/04/lycos-sells-hotbot-com-155000/ | title=Lycos sells HotBot.com for $155,000 | first=ANDREW | last=ALLEMANN | publisher=Domain Name Wire | date=October 4, 2016}}</ref> Afterwards, the HotBot domain became home to an unrelated shopping search site, ending the 20-year history of the original site.

In April 2018, the domain was put under new ownership and became an unrelated privacy-focused search engine.

As of 2020, the HotBot domain is controlled by a [[VPN]] company based in [[Seychelles]].<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.hotbot.com/about/|title=HotBot VPN: Learn About Our Company and Policies |website=HotBot VPN: Fast, Anonymous, Unlimited, VPN Service|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref><ref >{{cite web | title=Hot Bot Limited| website=Dun & Bradstreet  | url=https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.hotbot_limited.f44f81bf8ecbc4e86c6b0dc87746f78f.html| access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

In 2023 the aforementioned VPN company pivoted to offering an AI based web-search feature, inspired by however not officially affiliated with the domain's original usage in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-30 |title=HotBot - Search Smarter |url=https://hotbot.com/info/about |access-date=2024-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630144120/https://hotbot.com/info/about |archive-date=June 30, 2023 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|www.hotbot.com}}

{{Lycos}}
{{Web search engines}}

[[Category:internet search engines]]
[[Category:Metasearch engines]]
[[Category:Dot-com bubble]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1996]]