Choice Magazine: Who owns what on the web? |
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Who owns what on the web? Top 10 companies
January 2007 - A lot has changed since 2007. Now 2022, some remain, some rebranded, some trading by new owners.
Who owns what
Microsoft
It's easy to see why Microsoft ranks at the top of the list when you discover the sites it owns. The company runs popular free email service Hotmail, online encyclopaedia Encarta and social networking site Spaces. It's also part of ninemsn, which offers news, TV and magazine content from the Nine Network and its publishing arm, and many other services. This adds up to a whole lot of web users who use Microsoft sites.
As it continually offers new services, Google collects more and more users. his uber-search site now accounts for a large, and growing, number of sub-sites like free email service Gmail, online chat program Google Talk, social networking site Blogger, online shopping search Froogle, full-text book search Google Books and research service Google Answers.
Yahoo
Best known for its free email and search services, Yahoo! has teamed up with the Seven Network and its publishing arm in Yahoo!7, offering news as well as TV nd magazine content. Yahhoo! also offers a range of web tools, such as research service Yahoo!7 Answers, money management site Yahoo!7 Finance, online dating siteYahoo!7 Personals and blogs atYahoo!7 360°. It seems many of us do Yahoo!
Telstra
Telstra has developed its web presence beyond that of an internet service provider to offer a range of other services like maps, search and BigPond music, movie and games downloads. Other sites under theTelstra banner include map search Whereis, business search Yellow Pages, business and private search White Pages, movie, restaurant and activity finder City Search, search engine Sensis and buying and selling site The Trading Post. If you're lost, hungry or bored, chances are you'll be on one of these popular sites.
eBay
Who hasn't heard of this cyber giant? What started as a neat idea to trade online has turned into a global phenomenon and proved that we don't always need to try before we buy. But eBay is a lot more than just a huge trading site. Its growing stable of businesses includes online payment service PayPal, internet phone call service Skype and online shopping comparison service shopping.com. It also owns US sites such as online bookshop half.com and rent.com and In Australia, eBay has more than three million users - that's a lot of horse trading on the net!
News Corporation
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp isn't just a global TV and publishing juggernaut - it's slowly but surely snapping up websites to increase its online portfolio. Apart from the more traditional news sites of NEWS.com.au, The Australian and The New York Post, News Corp calls online community MySpace and games and entertainment site IGN Entertainment, which includes Rotten Tomatoes as part of the empire.
Australian Federal Government
Maybe Big Brother really does exist - just on the internet. And it's not the television program. The Bureau of Meteorology regularly ranks as one of the most popular websites, so perhaps we're more worried about the weather. It's interesting to see that the government ranks as one of the most popular organisations and, as etax returns, eCensus and general information are increasingly provided online, it's sure to grow in popularity. One politician has even suggested a government-endorsed lifetime email address for all.
Fairfax Digital
If you've ever read a newspaper online, then there's a good chance you've been on one of the many Fairfax Digital sites.
The list includes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, MyCareer, car site drive and home site domain. You might be surprised to learn that the group also includes share trading site tradingroom, online auction house Trade Me and dating service rsvp. The SMH site is also one of the most popular links for bloggers.
Apple
One word: iPod. Think about all those users out there downloading music and video clips from iTunes and you'll understand why Apple's on the list. Fans of the iPod, Mac, iTunes and software use its sites. Apple has certainly taken a bite out of web traffic in Australia and the US.
Time Warner
This global media giant has a swag of websites in the group. It favours US-centric information with sites for popular magazines including Time, People and Sports Illustrated. But you may not know that celebrity gossip site tmz.com, social networking portal ICQ, MapQuest, money management site CNNMoney and golf.com also come under its banner..
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