WebSideStory, Inc. (later Visual Sciences), was founded by Blaise Barrelet in 1996 as web analytics tool and link directory; its products were Hitbox and HBX. The company went public on September 28, 2004 (NASDAQ: WSSI). In 2006, WebSideStory acquired high-end private data analysis and visualization software company Visual Sciences for $57 million. A year after the acquisition, WebSideStory rebranded itself as Visual Sciences, Inc. In January 2008 Visual Sciences, Inc.