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Web site competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has published lists of top performing UK sites for the year June 2002 - June 2003. The stats are arranged by sector and are interesting both from the point of view of individual battles and the whole dotcom vs High Street saga.
Hitwise bases results on a global sample of 25 million Internet users and their visits to more than 300,000 web sites. The Top 10 annual rankings are based on the number of visits a UK web site has achieved in the last 12 months.
EasyJet justifies its claim to be 'The Web's Favourite Airline', beating larger rival RyanAir to the top spot for airline sites. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic nestle in among the low cost and charter airlines.
In the Print Media Top 10, the broadsheet sites are joined not only by the Sun and Evening Standard Web sites, as might be expected, but also by FHM magazine, which might not. There is an Express in the Top 10, but it is the New Musical and not the Daily.
'o2' may or may not be on Patrick Viera's chest come the autumn, but the mobile phone site is several places above its rivals in the ranking. For once the Arsenal does not feature in the top two of a table, with Liverpool and Man Utd sites receiving considerably more visits - but beleaguered Gunners worrying about Chelsea's latest offer may bump up next year's figures.
Amazon has been classified in the list of department stores and the dotcom gets top billing, but with six High Street names breathing down its neck this could be seen as fuelling either side of the 'clicks and mortar' debate.
Among supermarket sites, Tesco takes Number One spot but Sainsbury's no.s 2 and 4. In the Travel category, relative newcomers Opodo have leapt to no.5, but the biggest surprise for Net-sceptics may be the continued prominence of lastminute.com, which pips Expedia to no.1.
Perhaps the most interesting comparison is between the sectors dominated by dotcoms and those dominated by the old familiar names - for example shopping (whether department stores or grocery) is dominated by the online presences of bricks and mortar shops, whereas travel and recruitment allow only minority representation for pre-Internet economy names such as Thomas Cook and Reed.
Top 10 listings for the twelve sectors covered are shown below.
| Top 10 UK Net Communities & Chat sites | |
| 1 | www.friendsreunited.co.uk |
| 2 | www.faceparty.com |
| 3 | chat.lycos.co.uk |
| 4 | uk.chat.yahoo.com |
| 5 | www.habbohotel.co.uk |
| 6 | www.dooyoo.co.uk |
| 7 | messenger.msn.co.uk |
| 8 | chat.gaydar.co.uk |
| 9 | uk.messenger.yahoo.com |
| 10 | uk.msnusers.com |
| Top 10 UK Commercial Airlines sites | |
| 1 | www.easyjet.co.uk |
| 2 | www.ryanair.com |
| 3 | www.britishairways.com |
| 4 | www.bmibaby.com |
| 5 | www.flybmi.com |
| 6 | www.flybe.com |
| 7 | www.virgin-atlantic.com |
| 8 | www.mytravellite.com |
| 9 | www.britanniadirect.com |
| 10 | www.monarch-airlines.com |
| Top 10 UK Entertainment - Mobile Phone sites | |
| 1 | www.o2.co.uk |
| 2 | mobile.lycos.co.uk |
| 3 | www.boltblue.co.uk |
| 4 | www.vizzavi.co.uk |
| 5 | www.orange-today.co.uk |
| 6 | www.fonetastic.com |
| 7 | www.phoneringsong.com |
| 8 | www.tones4free.com |
| 9 | www.cbfsms.com |
| 10 | www.nokia.co.uk |
| Top 10 UK Shopping-Music sites | |
| 1 | www.play.com |
| 2 | www.cd-wow.com |
| 3 | www.mvc.co.uk |
| 4 | www.hmv.co.uk |
| 5 | www.dotmusic.com |
| 6 | www.bclub.co.uk |
| 7 | www.101cd.com |
| 8 | www.streetsonline.co.uk |
| 9 | www.tesco.com/entertainment |
| 10 | www.richersounds.com |
| Top 10 UK Local Government sites | |
| 1 | www.transportforlondon.gov.uk |
| 2 | www.hants.gov.uk |
| 3 | www.devon.gov.uk |
| 4 | www.met.police.uk |
| 5 | journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk |
| 6 | www.manchester.gov.uk |
| 7 | www.cheshire.gov.uk |
| 8 | www.leeds.gov.uk |
| 9 | www.suffolkcc.gov.uk |
| 10 | www.lancashire.gov.uk |
| Top 10 UK Print Media sites | |
| 1 | www.guardian.co.uk |
| 2 | www.ft.com |
| 3 | www.thesun.co.uk |
| 4 | www.fhm.com |
| 5 | www.timesonline.co.uk |
| 6 | www.telegraph.co.uk |
| 7 | www.nme.com |
| 8 | www.thisislondon.com |
| 9 | www.futurenet.co.uk |
| 10 | www.independent.co.uk |
| Top 10 UK Shopping - Auctions sites | |
| 1 | www.ebay.co.uk |
| 2 | auctions.amazon.co.uk |
| 3 | www.qxl.com |
| 4 | www.fsauctions.co.uk |
| 5 | www.bid-up.tv |
| 6 | www.ebaymotors.co.uk |
| 7 | www.british-car-auctions.co.uk |
| 8 | www.ebid.co.uk |
| 9 | www.bluecycle.com |
| 10 | www.clearance-comet.co.uk |
| Top 10 UK Shopping - Department Stores sites | |
| 1 | www.amazon.co.uk |
| 2 | www.tesco.com |
| 3 | www.argos.co.uk |
| 4 | www.johnlewis.com |
| 5 | www.marksandspencer.com |
| 6 | www.debenhams.com |
| 7 | www.whsmith.co.uk |
| 8 | www.edirectory.co.uk |
| 9 | www.qvcuk.com |
| 10 | www.littlewoodsextra.com |
| Top 10 UK Shopping - Grocery & Alcohol sites | |
| 1 | www.tesco.com/superstore |
| 2 | www.sainsburystoyou.co.uk |
| 3 | www.asda.co.uk |
| 4 | www.sainsburys.com |
| 5 | www.waitrose.com |
| 6 | www.tesco.com/winestore |
| 7 | www.virginwines.com |
| 8 | www.iceland.co.uk |
| 9 | www.icelandstore.co.uk |
| 10 | www.tchibo.co.uk |
| Top 10 UK Travel Agency sites | |
| 1 | www.lastminute.com |
| 2 | www.expedia.co.uk |
| 3 | www.uk.mytravel.com |
| 4 | www.travelselect.com |
| 5 | www.opodo.co.uk |
| 6 | www.teletextholidays.co.uk |
| 7 | www.cheapflights.com |
| 8 | www.ebookers.com |
| 9 | www.thomascook.com |
| 10 | www.netflights.com |
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
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