SAN FRANCISCO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, today announced the launch of its new "Skill" for Microsoft Cortana, a voice assistant that helps consumers discover the live events and experiences they want to attend. The StubHub Skill for Cortana is the latest innovation in StubHub's artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio, which also includes chatbots for Skype and Facebook Messenger.

To use the StubHub Skill, consumers with the Cortana assistant simply ask for live event ideas by saying, "Cortana, ask StubHub to find me something fun to do tonight," "Cortana, ask StubHub to find baseball tickets next week," or similar phrases related to live music, sports and theater. The StubHub Skill then takes consumers through a discovery process based on where they are, what they like, and when they are available, to connect them with ideas for live events.

"Think of the StubHub Skill for Cortana like a concierge that suggests what people can do based on their interests and what their friends are doing, in a natural, conversational, one-to-one experience," said Mats Nilsson, head of product, UX and PMO for StubHub. "We believe the StubHub Skill for Cortana can help consumers get ideas for live events at the moment they're inspired to go out, with minimal friction in the experience, as easily as talking with their friends."

In building the StubHub Skill for Cortana, StubHub leveraged the Microsoft Bot Framework, and well as LUIS, Microsoft's proprietary natural language processing (NLP) AI, and added a layer of inputs from a variety of StubHub sources to create the most conversational experience possible. StubHub engineers analyzed the results of the StubHub chatbot for Skype to understand people's expectations and how their conversations evolved, and also tapped into a key StubHub differentiator - the face-to-face interactions between StubHub's Last-Minute Services (LMS) team and their customers - to understand the types of conversations people have in real life about StubHub, and how the StubHub Skill for Cortana could simulate those.

About StubHub
At StubHub, our mission is simple: help fans find fun. We connect fans with their favorite teams, shows and artists and introduce them to the ones they'll love next. As the largest ticket marketplace in the world, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever they want, through our desktop and mobile experiences, including our StubHub app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead it through innovation. Our industry firsts include the introduction of the first ticketing application, the first interactive seat mapping tool and the first live entertainment rewards program, Fan Rewards(TM). Our business partners include more than 130 properties in MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, plus AEG, AXS and Spectra Ticketing & Fan Engagement. With the acquisition of Ticketbis in August 2016, throughout the world, StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience. StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or YouTube.com/StubHub.

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SOURCE StubHub