Hubdub was a web-based
prediction market
Prediction markets, also known as betting markets, information markets, decision markets, idea futures or event derivatives, are open markets that enable the prediction of specific outcomes using financial incentives. They are exchange-traded mar ...
in which players used virtual money to trade predictions on future events. Over time users built up a portfolio of live predictions across their chosen categories of interest such as politics, sport, entertainment, technology or other categories. Each player's performance was tracked allowing them to compete on leader boards which demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in their chosen category.
Background
Hubdub launched at the DEMO 08 technology conference on January, 28th 2008. Politics and sports tend to be the most active categories followed by technology and entertainment. Hubdub had a largely U.S. audience base which was evidenced by its mainly U.S. news content.
On January 14, 2009, the company announced that it had taken on board
venture capital
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
funding of $1.2m from Pentech Ventures although there was still considerable speculation around what commercial model the company will pursue going forward.
PunditWatch
On June 4, 2008, Hubdub launched PunditWatch which was a feature which tracks major
pundits
A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
from technology, politics and entertainment. Pundits included
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high tech, high-tech and Startup company, startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
I ...
,
Henry Blodget
Henry McKelvey Blodget (born 1966) is an American businessman, investor and journalist. He is notable for his former career as an equity research analyst who was senior Internet analyst for CIBC Oppenheimer and the head of the global Internet ...
's
Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley is an area of high tech companies centered around southern Manhattan's Flatiron district in New York City. The term was coined in the 1990s during the dot-com boom, alluding to California's Silicon Valley tech center. The term h ...
Insider,
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan ( ; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative author, political commentator, and politician. He was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ...
and
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting Tabloid jou ...
. Every time the pundit made a public prediction it was logged using a shadow account on the Hubdub prediction. The performance of each of the pundit's predictions was then tracked over time and the pundit's overall accuracy derived. Commentators such as
the Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
described the concept of PunditWatch as good but the execution flawed.
Premium Game
On July 21, 2009, the team behind Hubdub.com launched
FanDuel
FanDuel Group is an American gambling company that offers sportsbook, daily fantasy sports, horse racing, and online casino services. The company operates sportsbooks in a number of states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Vir ...
a premium fantasy sports game.
Closure
On April 14, 2010, Hubdub announced that it would close the site on April 30, 2010, due to financial reasons.
HubDub closes news site to focus on fantasy sports spinoff FanDuel
/ref> On 30 April 2010, the website was officially closed down.
References
{{reflist
Prediction markets
Betting exchanges