BUSINESS
Nielsen names top Web sites and techs
02-01-2004
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Internet activity measurement company Nielsen//NetRatings has named the 10 Web sites and technologies that have had the greatest impact on European society.
The list, created by the Nielsen//NetRatings European analytics team, details what the company believes to be the Web sites and technologies which exemplify the greatest changes the Net has wrought to users' personal and professional lives in the last decade.
Topping the company's list was none other than search engine Google, which Nielsen aptly described as a Web site "so successful it became a verb." According to the research firm, Google's speed, accuracy and coverage has changed the way people use the Internet, allowing them to "google" for everything, including companies, personal details and even old friends. However, the creator of Google.com, Google News and Froogle will face renewed competition this year, Nielsen said.
Interestingly, Blogger, the Google-owned tool that lets people publish their own blogs or "web logs" also made Nielsen's top 10. Although the company said that Blogger, and other tools like it, may not have had an overwhelming impact on the Net so far, everyone will soon know someone with a blog. "The significance of blogging is the way it allows communication on every level," Nielsen said, adding that blogging will move further into the limelight this year.
Also in the company's top 10 were Internet mainstays Amazon.com and eBay, both of which have become e-commerce giants. Looking forward, Net users can expect more personalised services from sites like Amazon while eBay will become even bigger here in Europe. Shopping comparison portal Kelkoo, which also made the top 10, will in the coming months and years grow more sophisticated and customised thanks to leaps in artificial intelligence, the researchers added.
Two Internet based technologies, Microsoft Outlook and AOL Instant Messenger, also made the list, with Nielsen noting that e-mail has probably changed the way people work more than other new technology in the last decade. As for instant messaging, the company's analysts say that all the main players, AOL, MSN and Yahoo, will focus on interoperability this year, as well as ways to earn profits from their investment in the technology.
Other sites named were Friends Reunited, which typified the way the Net is now used as a social tool, and EasyJet, which like Ryanair has ushered in a change in the way people buy airline tickets. Also named was Napster, the posterboy for the new way that music will be purchased over the Internet. Though Nielsen admits that iTunes from Apple has so far proven to be the most popular of the paid-for Internet music services in the US, there is a real opportunity for one company to dominate in Europe.
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