PCMag has summarized 2011 in its traditional way by releasing its annual top websites of the year lists. It isn’t clear how exactly PCMag’s editors and writers have ranked the sites precisely, although they have stated that appeal, design and features usability are some of the essential factors.
The lists are divided to two top-categories: Classic (sites from last year that stayed relevant to changing audience) and Undiscovered (new sites). For each top-category, there are seven sub-categories: Apps, Fun, Info, News, Shopping, Social and Tech. Overall, there are 61 sites in the Classic category and 39 sites in the Undisclosed category that listed by alphabetical order.
Interesting Findings
Google had four websites on the list (Blogger, Google Docs, Gmail and YouTube), all in the Classic-Apps category. However Google’s greatest product, the search engine, wasn’t listed while its greatest search rival Bing was. Not surprisingly, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are the top social networking sites, where Foursquare managed to squeeze in also. Google+, if you asked, wasn’t on the list.
Over the new sites (Undiscovered) arena, the fun sub-category is the biggest one with 12 out of 39 websites (about a third). Pinterest (which i reviewed a month ago) was one of the top new social networking sites of the year. DuckDuckGo, the alternative no-spam search engine, received his well deserved respect on the Undiscovered-Tech category.
PCMag has revealed that there was a decrease of some sort in the quality of new websites at the Undiscovered category. That is referred to the growth of mobile apps on the expense of creating and developing new websites, which sounds very logical. At any case, here are the top websites of 2011 for each category and sub-category:
Classic
Apps
- Bing
- Blogger
- Box
- Flickr
- Google Docs
- Gmail
- Meebo
- Mint
- Pandora
- Picnik
- Slacker Radio
- Yahoo! Mail
- YouTube
Fun
- Awkward Family Photos
- BoingBoing
- College Humor
- CuteOverLoad
- FMyLife
- Funny or Die
- Hulu
- Instructables
- Letters of Note
- Netflix
- Serious Eats
- The Onion
- XKCD
Info
- Craigslist
- IMDB
- Quora
- Snopes
- TED
- TripAdvisor
- Wikipedia
News
- BBC
- CNN
- Legistalker
- NYTimes
- SI (Sports Illustrated)
- Slate
Shopping
- Amazon
- AirBNB
- The Consumerist
- Etsy
- MenuPages
- Restaurant.com
- ThinkGeek
- Threadless
- Yelp
Social
- Foursquare
Tech
- Ars Technica
- Boy Genius Report
- FileHippo
- Engadget
- Gdgt
- LifeHacker
- Mashable
- Techmeme
- Wired
Undiscovered
Apps
- Bellstrike
- If This Then That
- Imgur
- Tout
- Join.me
- Klout
Fun
- Bad Lip Reading
- BestSFBooks
- Damn You, Auto Correct!
- DayTrotter
- Draw a Stickman
- Eater
- Exhibition A
- GoJee
- Hipster or Homeless
- Museum Of Obsolete Objects
- The Oatmeal
- Nowness
Info
- Craft: (Craftzine)
- PlanCruncher
News
- Kidz Timez
- Listverse
- Splitsider
Shopping
- Broodr
- CrashMyPad
- KarmaGoat
- Kickstarter
- Nova Natural
- Polyvore
- RetailMeNot
- SaveUp
Social
- Canvas
- Chime.in
- Erly
- Storify
Tech
- DuckDuckGo
- SpyderMate
- The Verge