Hitwise was founded in 1997 in Melbourne by Adrian Giles and Andrew Barlow.[3] Adrian Giles acted as Managing Director from 1997 to 2000. Andrew Barlow acted as Chairman and Joint-Managing Director from 1997 to 2000.
It launched the "competitive intelligence" service in 2000; a service that allows subscription access to Hitwise's reports.
In 2001 Hitwise launched in New Zealand, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Singapore.
In 2003 Hitwise launched in the United States.
In 2006 Hitwise purchased HitDynamics, a bid management and web analytics platform.
In 2009 Hitwise launched in Canada and Brazil.
In 2010 Hitwise launched in France and India.
^Harrington, Ben (2006). "Hitwise eyes up £180m sale". Hitwise value. London: Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2006.