[1] Andrew Anker, Wired's then Vice President and CTO, wrote the original HotWired business plan.

The redesigned site featured Dynamic HTML homepage teasers, more focus on user-centric interaction and a simplified channel structure.

HotWired's initial business model was 'corporate sponsorship', which quickly led to the design of the 'ad banner' display areas still in use today.

Under the leadership of Rex Briggs, HotWired was the first to measure the effectiveness of online advertising,[8] and among the first to attempt behavioral targeting[9][10] and the first to apply real-time web analytics, known as “HotStats.” Wired Ventures' online division was acquired by Lycos, Inc. in October 1998,[11] a year after Condé Nast acquired Wired Magazine.

[12] In 2006, Lycos turned the domain into a pay-per-click advertising hub, seemingly marking the definitive end of Hotwired as an online magazine.