Launched by Netscape's IPO in 1995, the dotcom boom spurred trillions of dollars in private investments into the internet, marketing, and fiber optic cable and led to the development of new technologies and such landmark sites as Google. Though now often synonymous with failures like Pets.com and Boo.com, The Webby Awards placed the "dotcom boom and bust" at the top of its list in recognition of the critical role it played in fast-tracking the spread and popularity of the internet. In 1995, there were 16 million people online and today there are over 957 million.
"While this period was painful for some, the dotcom boom was responsible for catapulting the internet into the mainstream, wiring the world, and bringing hundreds of millions of people online in a very short period of time," said Tiffany Shlain, founder of The Webby Awards. "Such a massive investment into a new medium was unprecedented in history. The internet's explosive growth simply could not have happened without it." Other defining moments making
The Webby Awards list are: The Drudge Report breaking the Lewinsky scandal online (#2); Amazon's Jeff Bezos being named 1999's Man of the Year by Time (#3); and the 2001 shutdown of Napster (#7). (See full list of The Webby Awards' 10 Web Moments That Changed the World below and online at www.webbyawards.com/press/webby_top_10.php)
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