Presenting.... The 1998 Best of the Web!

Since the time voting started in January, over 15,000 unique sites were nominated in the 1998 Best of the Web competition. The top five sites in each category were presented for open voting during December. Below are the sites that were voted the Best of the Web!

Please note: due to the overwhelming number of responses, we are not able to offer the "Best Personal Homepage" category this year.

Best Commercial Site

Exemplifies the use of the Web to sell products or increase a company's visibility.

amazon.com (70%)

Honorable Mentions:
CDNow (17%)
FedEx (7%)

Best News Site

The best source for news on-line.

CNN (42%) (last year's winner)

Honorable Mentions:
MSNBC (31%)
ABC News (12%)

Best Entertainment Site

The best site relating to the entertainment industry.

Disney.com (29.2%)

Honorable Mentions:
E! Online (29.1%)
The Internet Movie Database (29.2%)

Best Sports Site

The best sports-related site.

ESPN.com (64%) (last year's winner)

Honorable Mentions:
NFL (17%)
NBA (11%)

Best Professional Site

Valuable sites to professionals in some field.

My Virtual Reference Desk (53%)

Honorable Mentions:
webreview.com (15%)
The Car Connection (15%)

Best School/University Site

A site that makes the school easier to use for students, and more attractive to the rest of us.

California Institue of Technology (42%)

Honorable Mentions:
Kansas State University (19%)
University at Buffalo (16%)

Best Educational Site

The most informative on the Web... this does not have to be school or university; it can be any information resource.

National Geographic (51%) (last year's winner)

Honorable Mentions:
NOVA Online (18%)
Learn2.com (15%)

Best Navigation Aid

The search engine, a meta index, or other tool that best helps users navigate the Web.

Yahoo (63%)

Honorable Mentions:
AltaVista (http://altavista.digital.com/) (19%)
Infoseek (9%)

Most Entertaining Site

Not to be confused with "Best Entertainment Site." The site that is the most fun.

The Bartenders Joke of the Day (56%)

Honorable Mentions:
The Onion (16%)
Hellfire (http://www.hellfire.com/) (13%)

Most Important Concept

An idea that breaks new ground on the Web.

MapQuest (38%)

Honorable Mentions:
AltaVista Translations (27%)
eBay (27%)

Best Community Site

The best site that exists to serve a local community.

RuralVermont.com (30%) (last year's winner)

Honorable Mentions:
Oxford Online (22%)
Aspen Snowmass Online (20%)

Best Government Site

The best site by a governmental agency.

NASA (63%) (last year's winner)

Honorable Mentions:
The White House (19%)
USPS (12%)