Web Reviews

25 Worst Sites

Indianapolis, IN - November 20, 2006

“Somewhere along the evolutionary chain of ameoba to build-your-own- web-page, the graphic design gene was completely destroyed.”

– Jim Cota

We've been pretty busy lately, launching four distinct sites in the last thirty days. And while we're keeping up a fairly hectic pace, we're always mindful of how quickly great ideas can digress to complete dogs if you take your eye of the ball for even a moment. I was reminded of this recently by an article from PC World covering the 25 Worst Web sites ever created. Many of them come immediately to mind (Pets.com is an example of dot-com excess I cite often), but others are a harder to label. There are those that are obviously horrible, but fly under the radar – like Inmates For You –, while others are extremely popular and still horrible – like MySpace.

On the obscure and seriously creepy side, there's Medicine Online, running a site that allows you to see competitive bids for surgery. Looking for a good price on laser eye correction? Don't want to pay too much for breast augmentation? This site will "introduce you to highly-qualified, well-experienced doctors, and have these doctors offer their "bids" for your procedure." Ewww. BidForSurgery hits the PC World list at number 14.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you could argue that anything that attracts more than 100 million users must be right. You'd be wrong. MySpace has grown to one of the hottest destinations on the Internet, enticing people, primarily teens and young adults, to create their own web page, upload photos, and share all manner of personal information about their lives with the world. In a kind of Wild West no-holds-barred environment, you can imagine how sexual preditors quickly picked up the baton and began soliciting communication with kids across the age spectrum.

Not to be outdone, politicians seized on the opportunity to appear hip by creating their own spaces, using the social networking scene to make friends and influence people. Corporate America, it should be noted, stepped in shortly later. Many companies created thinly veiled campaigns in an attempt to create viral marketing efforts and create "buzz". Most of these failed miserably, with the corporate suits not realizing that for something to be considered hip and cool it probably helps to actually be hip and cool.

Along with all of the challenges to keeping our kids safe and navigating a slew of spaces with dubious intentions, add the minor headache of keeping your computer healthy. MySpace has been a veritable breeding ground and distribution network for spyware and viruses.

As if that wasn't enough, somewhere along the evolutionary chain of ameoba to build-your-own-web-page, the graphic design gene was completely destroyed. As the PC World article states, "many MySpace pages look like a teenager's bedroom after a tornado – a swirl of clashing backgrounds, boxes stacked inside other boxes, massive photos, and sonic disturbance." Touche'. Taken as a whole, it's hardly surprising that this site – which Rupert Murdoch recently purchased for $580 million – topped their list as the worst site.

Visit PC World and search for "25 worst web sites" to see the entire list. You might find the examples useful the next time your brother-in-law comes up with a "can't-miss" idea.