Editing Hot or Not (section)

==History==
The site was founded in October 2000 by James Hong and Jim Young, two friends and [[Silicon Valley]]–based engineers. Both graduated from the [[University of California, Berkeley]], in electrical engineering, with Young pursuing a [[Ph.D.]] at the time. It was inspired by some other developers' ideas.

The site was a technical solution to a disagreement the founders had one day over a passing woman's attractiveness. The site was originally called "Am I Hot or Not". Within a week of launching, it had reached almost two million page views per day. Within a few months, the site was immediately behind [[CNET]] and [[NBCi]] on [[NetNielsen Rating]]'s Top 25 advertising domains. To keep up with rising costs Hong and Young added a [[matchmaking]] component to their website called "Meet Me at Hot or Not". The matchmaking service has been especially successful, and the site continues to generate most of its revenue through subscriptions. In the December 2006 issue of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, the founders of [[YouTube]] stated that they originally set out to make a version of Hot or Not with Video before developing their more inclusive site.

Hot or Not was sold for a rumored $20 million on February 8, 2008, to Avid Life Media, owners of [[Ashley Madison]].<ref>[https://techcrunch.com/2008/02/11/hotornot-apparently-very-hot-acquired-for-20-million/ HotOrNot Apparently Very Hot: Acquired For $20 Million] TechCrunch</ref> Annual revenue reached $7.5 million, with net profits of $5.5 million. They initially started off $60,000 in debt due to tuition fees James paid for his MBA.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFzdVTg3J60 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/aFzdVTg3J60| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=HotOrNot: From Nothing to $20M in 7 years! |publisher=YouTube |date=2007-06-15 |access-date=2011-07-27}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On July 31, 2008, Hot or Not launched Hot or Not Gossip and a Baresi rate box (a "hot meter") – a subdivision to expand their market, run by former [[radio DJ]] turned celebrity blogger [[Zack Taylor (celebrity blogger)|Zack Taylor]].

In 2012, Hot or Not was purchased by [[Badoo]], which is owned by [[Bumble Inc.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2014/06/17/hot-or-not-gets-creepier-its-now-a-dating-app/|title=Hot or Not gets creepier: It's now a dating app}}</ref> The app is currently rebranded as Chat & Date which uses a similar user interface to Badoo and shares user accounts between both sites.