The Seven Wonders of the Cyber World
Welcome to the latest issue of The Net Impact Roadmap, bringing you valuable information and tips to improve your website. In this issue, we will examine some of the top websites that have changed the face of the Internet. These seven remarkable manmade constructions are some of the top sights worth seeing in the cyber world.
1. Google and Other Popular Search Engines
Google, beginning as a research project in 1996, has become one of the most widely known and used search engines. Specializing in internet searching and online advertising, Google allows advertisers to increase their site traffic through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view format. Google continues to excel in innovation, offering services and tools to the general public and businesses alike, ranging from news to email. The search engines Yahoo!, MSN, and Baidu have also excelled as leading search engines. Yahoo! and MSN join Google as top American global search engines, offering similar products and services. Yahoo! has also capitalized on its Yahoo! Finance product to set itself apart. Baidu is a popular Chinese search engine that searches both text and images. Baidu features many of the products and services offered by the other search engines, and has a large effort in multimedia search, concentrating on popular Chinese music.
2. You Tube
You Tube is a popular video sharing website created in 2005. The site provides optimal user interaction, allowing users to upload, view, rate, and share video clips. In 2006, You Tube was one of the fastest-growing websites on the World Wide Web.
3. MySpace and Other Popular Social Networking Sites
MySpace is a popular social networking site. It offers interactive communities featuring networks of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. The site allows members to share information about themselves and create relationships with other members, even celebrities. Facebook and Orkut have also become popular social networking sites. Facebook was originally developed for college and university students to network with each other. The website has now widened its range of users, becoming available for anyone with an email address to participate in the networks. Orkut is a social network service that is offered by Google. The site was designed to allow users to create and maintain relationships. These sites have also become major advertising opportunities for businesses, allowing them to reach their many users.
4. Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, multilingual, web-based encyclopedia. The encyclopedia, launched in 2001, is written by volunteers and can be altered by anyone with access to the internet. Although it is open to the public for alterations, errors in content tend to be short-lived. The encyclopedia has continued to grow in popularity, expanding its library to approximately 7.2 million articles.
5. Blogger
Blogger is a blog publishing system, recently acquired by Google. Launched in 1999, Blogger features templates, individual archive pages for posting, comments, and postings by email. The site also offers multiple author support, allowing for group blogs.
6. eBay
eBay is an online auction web site. The site allows for millions of collectibles, appliances, computers, furniture, equipment, vehicles and other miscellaneous items to be listed daily for sale. The site has streamlined the purchasing and shipping processes to make items available quickly and delivered with ease. The site allows people from all over the world to interact with each other and perform transactions in its global marketplace.
7. Craigslist
Craigslist is a classifieds list and forum for 450 cities worldwide. Just like eBay, Craigslist allows users to find virtually any product or service needed, except it does not use the bidding format. Started in 1995 by Craig Newmark, the site has grown dramatically, experiencing traffic of more than 7 billion page views per month and over 20 million users each month. On Craigslist, consumers can find jobs, romance, advice, housing, maids, and almost any other product. The operations have expanded to include over 450 Craigslist sites in the U.S. and over 50 countries.
Important Terms
Blog - a website which contains commentary on a particular topic in the form of text entries and/or graphics and is displayed in reverse chronological order.
Search Engine - A system for retrieving information on the Internet. Search engines differ from web directories in that a web directory is made up of links to websites on the internet organized into different categories. Search engines often mine data from directories and indexes.
Wiki- a website which organizes information based on content that is added and edited by users through collaborative authoring.
Until next time,
The TNI Team
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