Australia's Top 10 Most Influential Websites

Following on from my last post, I've decided to put together a top 10 of the most influential Australian websites. This is not a list of the most profitable or the most popular, but rather those that have shaped the internet locally and abroad. So here is my list, with some explanation beside each entry.

1. Looksmart - Looksmart was one of the real internet pioneers. Most of the glory (and money) is now gone, but in their heyday they were so prominent globally that Microsoft chose them for a huge contract. The model of editorial assessment was also cutting edge, and it really is very sad to see this once-great Aussie internet pioneer all but disappear.

2. Hitwise - Hitwise has become a highly respected global traffic measurement tool. They developed a unique approach to measurement that is really quite revolutionary, and continues to evolve. Their original site, top100.com.au, was hugely popular (too popular - they had to take it down so that people would BUY what they were selling). They're now much bigger in the US and UK than Australia, and surely an IPO must be on the cards.

3. Ninemsn - Australia's only real portal, and the best example of an integrated media play. Plus they have Hotmail.

4. The Banks - I've put these is as a collective, because internet banking in Australia developed and evolved faster than almost anywhere else in the world. This drove much of the internet uptake in this country, and made people feel more familiar and secure online. Of the banks, the consistent standout in terms of user experience is certainly ANZ, but other banks offer some advanced functionality as well. I'm sure people will disagree and cite all sorts of issues they've had with banks, but online banking really has made a major contribution to the local landscape. ING Direct would certainly be on this list in their own right, if only they were Australian!

5. Qantas - Qantas actually changed their entire domestic business model to suit the internet (moving to one-way fares). As such, they were one of the first major companies in Australia to fully grasp the internet's potential. Their heavy promotion of the internet introduced many Australian's to their first online experience. In addition, they provide amongst the world's best online experiences for frequent flyers and continue to improve.

6. SMH/The Age - Definitely the dominant news sites in Australia, they've also expanded to adopt many of the "Web 2.0" technologies earlier than much of the global media business. These are the media sites that shape what most Australian's think of when they think online news media.

7. Seek - Perhaps an easy option, and perhaps realestate.com.au and/or carsales.com.au should also be included. However, the revolutionary parts about Seek are that they (a) correctly identified THE killer category in online classifieds, (b) left the major media companies flat-footed (also true to some extent for carsales and realestate), and (c) remain highly focused on their chosen vertical (for the time being, at least). The question is whether they can adapt their highly successful Web 1.0 model to the emerging 2.0 space - in the face of heavy and focused competition from News and Fairfax.

Three more coming soon, but I'm keen on your suggestions.

One I thought about very carefully was Decide Interactive (more a technology and model than a website). Decide was heavily involved in creating the bidding process used by Overture, and was eventually sold to 24/7 Real Media. The reason I omitted them is because they didn't quite make enough of an impact themselves - more of a significant contributor to a wider trend.

I also omitted Wotif.com. This was an easier decision as their model was not particularly innovative, just exceptionally well executed. They would be in a top 10 list of best online business executions (maybe a future list), but not this list.