Monday, September 28, 2009

The top 50 websites of 2009

The recently released list of 2009's top websites from Time Magazine provides a peek into the diverse mix of educational, commerce, entertainment and practical tools that help web users stay organized, share information and quench their ever-increasing thirst for knowledge, information and immediacy, MarketingCharts reports.

While many of the top 20 sites on Time's "Top 50" list - chosen by Time editors - are useful tools that help web surfers stay ahead of clutter (popurls, Flickr, Metafilter, OpenTable, Kayak), many present formidable attempts to circumvent, supplant or complement traditional media.

Voice-over-IP provider Skype, for instance, helps users bypass traditional phone service, while Hulu enables its audience view favorite TV shows from days gone by.

A good number of sites on the list represent direct attempts to compete with category-leading websites. The Wolfram|Alpha search engine has its sights on Google, while ShopGoodwill.com and Craiglook - a Craigslist RSS feed aggregator - are aimed at those who seek no-frills alternatives to eBay.

Other sites, such as Academic Earth, provide a glimpse into the world of academia at a level previously off-limits to all but the elite, while CaliforniaCoastline gives geography buffs a no-frills look at a meticulously mapped section of the US.

The top 50 websites of 2009:

  1. Flickr
  2. California Coastline
  3. Delicious
  4. Metafilter
  5. popurls
  6. Twitter
  7. Skype
  8. Boing Boing
  9. Academic Earth
  10. OpenTable
  11. Google
  12. YouTube
  13. Wolfram|Alpha
  14. Hulu
  15. Vimeo
  16. Fora TV
  17. Craiglook
  18. Shop Goodwill
  19. Amazon
  20. Kayak
  21. Netflix
  22. Etsy
  23. PropertyShark.com
  24. Redfin
  25. Wikipedia
  26. Internet Archive
  27. Kiva
  28. ConsumerSearch
  29. Metacritic
  30. Pollster
  31. Facebook
  32. Pandora and Last.fm
  33. Musicovery
  34. Spotify
  35. Supercook
  36. Yelp
  37. Visuwords
  38. CouchSurfing
  39. BabyNameWizard.com's NameVoyager
  40. Mint
  41. TripIt
  42. Aardvark
  43. drop.io
  44. Issuu
  45. Photosynth
  46. OMGPOP
  47. WorldWideTelescope
  48. Fonolo
  49. Get High Now
  50. Know Your Meme

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