How The Biggest Websites Have Evolved Over The Last Decade

The internet is home to billions of websites, with new ones launching every day. Some sources claim that more than 100 are made every minute, making the world wide web more endless than ever. Of course, amongst these billions of sites, there are some that stand out more than others.

Generally speaking, many of the biggest websites on the internet are ones that have been around for a long time now. They’ve weathered the countless online changes that have happened over the years to continue their dominance in the virtual space. It’s wild to look back and see just how the biggest websites have evolved over the last decade or so.

Facebook has changed a ton of features over the years

This time ten years ago, Facebook was already highly established. It finished 2013 with 1.23 billion monthly active users, signifying its dominance amongst other social networks. Of course, the experience it offered then and in the years prior was somewhat different from how things are now. Some of the ways that the website has evolved include the ability to do more than simply like a post and the opportunity to shop properly through Facebook. There have also been significant developments with the messenger aspect, such as making it its own app where people can call one another over Wi-Fi. Although some of Facebook’s changes haven’t been to everyone’s liking (who remembers poking?), the fact it now has nearly 3 billion monthly active users shows that it remains exceptionally popular.

eBay’s core has remained the same, but navigation is now so much simpler

If there’s something you wish to buy online, it’s usually worth checking eBay. The bidding site is an excellent marketplace for an unbelievable variety of products, ranging from essentials to rare collector’s items. Over the years, the purpose of eBay has stayed the same, and the way that people purchase stuff hasn’t really changed either. However, there’s still been a ton of development, particularly in regard to ease of use. Not only does this website look so much slicker, but navigation is now a walk in the park. The introduction of categories has taken some of the hard work out, especially with how detailed these can get. What’s more, the range of available items here has grown, notably since companies started selling new products through this marketplace.

YouTube has become less of a social network over time

It’s hard to imagine the internet without YouTube. However, it was only in 2005 that this video hosting site first launched online. It didn’t take long for it to take off, becoming one of the fastest-growing sites ever. Some people refer to it as a social networking platform like Facebook and Twitter, and that’s probably because YouTube used to lean heavily on this aspect. Its original design was reportedly inspired by sites like Myspace, something that it’s since moved away from. However, it does still retain some of those social aspects, like the opportunity to leave comments. Other ways that YouTube has evolved include the addition of YouTube Red - which offers video and music streaming - and changes to how videos are presented on the homepage, in your subscriptions, etc.

Wikipedia hasn’t actually changed that much since it first started

One website that hasn’t actually changed a great deal over the years is Wikipedia. It’s now more than 20 years old, having been founded in 2001, and a look at the original site layout reveals that there hasn’t been much of an update. That’s probably down to the fact that the site has always been about providing information more than needing to keep people hooked. Something that has notably changed several times in the past is the logo, but then it’s looked nearly the same since 2003. So, aside from the odd alteration here and there to make the site appear more presentable, it’s basically how it was a decade or more ago. The only real difference is that there are millions more articles than there used to be.

Google has introduced so many features since starting as a search engine

Where would we be without Google? It might not be the only search engine available on the internet, but it’s far and away the most popular one. Since the late ‘90s, it’s proven itself to be a reliable option for anyone needing to search for information online. Of course, in time, it’s grown to be far more than just a place to answer questions. Throughout the 2000s, the likes of Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Chrome were all introduced. Now, we also have stuff like Google+ and Google Drive, making this your one-stop shop for so many different things online. Let’s also not forget the regular Google doodles that sometimes provide surprisingly captivating games to play. They add that little bit more excitement to searching online.

The internet as we know it hasn’t been around that long, and so much has changed in that time. These websites are the perfect example of that. It makes us wonder just how different things will be in another ten years' time.