Top 10 Most Visited Websites & How They Used to Look

10. Twitter

Twitter, the site with the little blue bird that allows you to send messages (tweets) of up to 140 characters to your friends and family. Twitter maybe only number 10 on our top ten most visited websites in the word, but not bad for a site that was created only in 2006. Also, we are all guilty of it: Following our favourite celebrities to find out what they are up to.

This is Twitter Now

This is How Twitter Used to Look

Trying to use Wayback Machine on Twitter gave us this message: “This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine.” We did manage to find this picture though, but we were unable to date it.

9. QQ.com

Unless you live in China or you are fluent in Chinese then more than likely you won’t use QQ, nor know what it is. This site’s full name is Tencent QQ and it is basically the Chinese version of MSN. The main reasons for its popularity in China are due to its IM integration (instant messaging) and news coverage.

This is QQ.com Now

This is How QQ.com Used to Look

According to Wayback Machine this is how the site looked on May 26th, 1998. The Movie Palace? It seems the Webmaster may have registered the site with a different path in mind.

8. Amazon.com

Ok, now back to a site that everybody should be familiar with…Amazon. When shopping online you need a site that you can trust. You could perform a Google search and find a site that way, but usually you are either going to use eBay or Amazon.

This is Amazon Now

This is What Amazon Used to Look Like

As their Hompage redirects we were unable to use WM so we are unable to date the screenshot. Apart from a new clean look the site hasn’t changed too much over the years, apart from the addition of more products of course.

7. Windows Live

If you have an email account then it will probably be through Windows Live (Hotmail). There will be a portion of you that have opted for a Gmail or Yahoo email, but with Windows Live being number 7 on our popular website list, it suggest that Hotmail is the free email king. Personally we check our email every other hour to see if anyone loves us.

This is Hotmail Now

This is What Hotmail Used to Look Like

We never owned a PC back in 1998 never mind an email account, so we cannot say how well the system was – I wonder if you received spam emails back then too?

6. Wikipedia

Wikipedia, a source of knowledge! No matter if you wish to know Johnny Depp’s job before he was famous or who invented the car, Wikipedia knows it all. The site is edited by us the people for those who are wondering how the site seems to know everything about everything.

This is Wikipedia Now

This is what Wikipedia Used to Look Like

As you can see, back in September 28, 2002, Wikipedia was still the online encyclopaedia that we have all grown to love. probably with a lot less information than its current self.

5. Baidu.com

What, you have never heard of Baidu? Haha, neither have we, but looking at the site gives us slight déjà vu. Where have we seen that site before? Ah yes, Google! Baidu is the largest search engine in China and it seems someone may have been copying.

This is Baidu Now

Unfortunately Wayback Machine gave us the following message: “Page cannot be crawled or displayed due to robots.txt” and we were unable to find an older looking version of the site.

4. Yahoo!

As you know, Yahoo and MSN are more than just websites: They are news portals, emails providers, IM providers, they host games and more. People tend to pick one or the other and it looks like people tend to favour Yahoo – with MSN coming in at number 19.

This is Yahoo Now

This is What Yahoo Used to Look Like

Yahoo started off primarily as a search engine/directory, but as you can tell, they have come a long way since then and their business model has definitely taken a turn for the better.

3. YouTube

YouTube is the number one video sharing site online. Usually the “I will only watch this one video and I will come off the computer” turns into a 3 hour video watching marathon. It’s easy to see what’s so fascinating about the site and what keeps us going back for more.

This is YouTube Now

This is What YouTube Used to Look Like

Here is some Trivia to tell your friends: YouTube started of as a Dating Website, but after loss of interest from the webmasters, Google acquired the domain for $1.65 billion. Above is what the site looked like on May 5th, 2005.

2. Facebook

It shouldn’t be no surprise Facebook is number 2 on the 10 most visited websites in the world list; after all, it’s usually where people spend most of their free time. Facebook, an online revolutionary social networking site that allows you to keep in contact with friends and family from around the world – it also allows you to be nosey too.

This is What Facebook Used to Look Like

If you have seen the film The Social Network then you will be well aware of how a guy started Facebook to connect people in colleges. Just imagine if the name “The Facebook” actually stuck. “Two seconds, Mum, I am just checking “The Facebook!””

1. Google.com

Yeah, as you have probably guessed, the search engine king that is Google is in at number 1. More than likely you will use Google daily to search for things online. Without them the internet would have not been the same and finding things online was near impossible – unless you typed in random URLs hoping of finding what you was looking for. Sure there are other search engines, but Google were the originators.

This is Google Now

This is How Google Used to Look

 

This is what Google looked like back in December 2, 1998. As design goes not too much has changed. It’s nice to see that their first logo design has practically kept the same over the years.