GreenBkk.com Tech | Offline hits back in online chart

Offline hits back in online chart

John Lewis hit the top 50 web brands charts at number 47

Established brands such as John Lewis and Argos now account for half the places in the UK's top 50 web brands, according to new statistics.

It includes media brands such as the BBC, Sky and the Telegraph.

But the top five remains dominated by web names, including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

An annual survey of the top 50 UK web names found that the dotcoms that dominated the charts seven years ago have disappeared.

"Brands set up purely for the web have disappeared and it is 'back-to-the-future' offline brands that are doing well in 2011," said a spokesman for UK Online Measurement (UKOM) which conducted the research.

It found social media sites now hold 10 places in the top 50.

This compares to just one - Friends Reunited - in 2004.

Twitter entry

Information sites such as wikianswers, about.com and ehow are also new entrants to the chart.

There is a growing acceptance by consumers of 'anonymous authority' - unedited content uploaded by users, thinks UKOM general manager James Smythe.

"The web has always made it easier for people to feed their fundamental desire to socialise, but the critical element of trust in social online environments has now become mainstream," he said.

The top five web brands has remained relatively static since 2004, with Google, Yahoo, the BBC and MSN all in the top five for the last seven years.

Facebook moved into the top five only last year and holds on to its number 3 place. Twitter is quite a way behind at number 38.

Traditional media companies, such as Sky, ITV and the Telegraph, account for 16 places, up from nine in 2004.

Dotcom firms which flourished in 2004, such as Kelkoo, Friends Reunited, Lycos and LastMinute no longer feature in the top 50.

TOP 20 UK WEB BRANDS

- Google

- MSN

- Facebook

- Yahoo

- BBC

- Microsoft

- Amazon

- YouTube

- eBay

- Wikipedia

- Apple

- Ask search

- Argos

- Associated Newspapers

- Sky

- Blogger

- Tesco

- AOL

- PayPal

- Glam Media

Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)