Even though the internet was officially created in 1983, it wasn't until the 1990s that it became popular with people around the world. The early 90s were the heyday of the early internet, with sites like AOL, Yahoo!, and GeoCities ruling the web. These days, Google and social media sites like YouTube and Facebook top the list of most visited websites in the world.
The A2Hosting.com team looked at available historical data through the years to create a visualization of the most visited websites in the world since 1995. See how the top websites in the world have changed through the years.
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By A2Hosting.com
In 1995, the top websites by total global visits were AOL, Yahoo!, GeoCities, Netscape, and WebCrawler.
In June of 1995, AOL was at the top of the World Wide Web game. AOL was created in 1983, but truly became an internet phenomenon in the 1990s. It originally provided dial-up internet service to people around the world, and became known for its themed chat rooms and being one of the leading instant messaging services. While AOL.com still does exist today, it is not the powerhouse that it was at its peak as one of the most famous 90s websites.
Yahoo! was the second most popular website in 1995. Yahoo! was created in 1994 by two Stanford University students. The Yahoo.com domain was purchased in 1995. It originally started out as a web directory and later pivoted towards becoming a search engine. It is still a popular search engine aroundthe world, ranking eighth in website popularity in 2023.
GeoCities was a revolutionary website founded in 1994 that allowed regular internet users to create their own web pages based on their hobbies or interests. It included a web directory of “neighborhoods” where users could design their own pages. These neighborhoods were themed to particular topics – for instance, the “Hollywood” neighborhood was geared towards film/TV interests and “SiliconValley” was devoted to computer topics. At its peak, there were at least 38,000,000 pages on GeoCities. GeoCities was acquired by Yahoo! in 1999 and officially went offline in 2009.
Netscape, which ranked fourth in 1995, originally started out as a web browser called Netscape Navigator in 1994. It was one of the companies that was engaged in the “browser wars” of the 1990s, with Netscape Navigator being pitted against Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Netscape used their browser to drive traffic to their website. AOL acquired Netscape in 1999 and the original Netscape website now redirects to AOL.
The fifth most visited website of 1995 was WebCrawler, one of the oldest search engines still in existence and was the first engine to provide a full text search. It launched in 1994 and was acquired by AOL in 1995.
When Did Google Become Popular?
Google was officially created in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page at Stanford University. They began creating a search engine that utilized links to determine how popular a web page was. The name of the company is based on the number googol, which is a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. The Google.com domain was purchased in 1997. Brin and Page originally started working on the company at their dorm rooms at Stanford, but after a generous investment, they were able to move operations to a garage in Menlo Park, CA. The search engine because successful very quickly, and the company went public in 2004. Now, Google has offices and data centers in more than 200 cities around the world.
In addition to being the most popular search engine in the world, Google also offers an email service (Gmail) as well as a suite of word processing and collaboration tools including Google Docs, Google Meet, Google Calendar, and Google Chat.
What Are the Top Visited Websites of 2023?
As of November 2023, the top visited websites around the world are the following:
-
Google.com: 83,800,000,000 visitors
-
YouTube.com: 31,400,000,000 visitors
-
Facebook.com: 16,100,000,000 visitors
-
Instagram.com: 6,600,000,000 visitors
-
Twitter.com: 5,900,000,000 visitors
-
Baidu.com: 4,800,000,000 visitors
-
Wikipedia.org: 4,300,000,000 visitors
-
Yahoo.com: 3,400,000,000 visitors
-
Yandex.com: 3,200,000,000 visitors
-
WhatsApp.com: 3,000,000,000 visitors
Google has maintained its top position since 2011. Social media websites make up much of the top 10 most visited sites. Facebook was at the number two spot for many years before being overtaken by YouTube. In fourth is Instagram, followed by Twitter (now known as X) in fifth. It will be interesting to see what types of websites dominate the top 10 as the internet evolves in the future.
Thinking of starting your own website? See what kind of business site hosting or personal site hosting is right for you.
The Most Visited Websites Between 1995-2023
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 1995
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
AOL.com
37,485,000
2
Yahoo.com
32,612,000
3
Geocities.com
16,922,000
4
Netscape.com
16,075,000
5
Webcrawler.com
12,239,000
6
Excite.com
8,376,000
7
Prodigy.com
7,948,000
8
Infoseek.com
7,026,000
9
Lycos.com
6,849,000
10
Compuserve.com
3,283,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 1996
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
AOL.com
77,703,000
2
Yahoo.com
48,446,000
3
Geocities.com
22,275,000
4
Netscape.com
17,066,000
5
Excite.com
14,729,000
6
Lycos.com
14,129,000
7
Webcrawler.com
10,071,000
8
Prodigy.com
9,603,000
9
Infoseek.com
8,402,000
10
MSN.com
8,279,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 1997
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
AOL.com
161,643,000
2
Yahoo.com
91,576,000
3
MSN.com
40,792,000
4
Geocities.com
34,646,000
5
Excite.com
32,871,000
6
Lycos.com
31,517,000
7
Netscape.com
20,370,000
8
Prodigy.com
10,958,000
9
Infoseek.com
9,955,000
10
BBC.com
7,847,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 1998
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
AOL.com
246,988,000
2
Yahoo.com
143,983,000
3
MSN.com
123,646,000
4
Lycos.com
63,059,000
5
Excite.com
50,731,000
6
Netscape.com
27,830,000
7
Geocities.com
27,830,000
8
BBC.com
25,185,000
9
Amazon.com
24,324,000
10
AmericanGreetings.com
20,353,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 1999
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
AOL.com
323,639,000
2
MSN.com
239,002,000
3
Yahoo.com
192,891,000
4
Lycos.com
92,716,000
5
Amazon.com
58,860,000
6
Excite.com
56,352,000
7
About.com
41,303,000
8
BBC.com
40,874,000
9
AmericanGreetings.com
38,912,000
10
Infospace.com
38,293,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2000
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
413,204,000
2
AOL.com
406,153,000
3
MSN.com
359,860,000
4
Ebay.com
121,370,000
5
Lycos.com
118,100,000
6
About.com
104,226,000
7
BBC.com
95,408,000
8
Amazon.com
86,819,000
9
Excite.com
59,518,000
10
AmericanGreetings.com
52,346,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2001
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
965,376,000
2
AOL.com
474,909,000
3
MSN.com
472,018,000
4
Ebay.com
207,521,000
5
BBC.com
170,957,000
6
Amazon.com
138,583,000
7
Lycos.com
136,320,000
8
About.com
123,644,000
9
Google.com
116,648,000
10
CNET.com
84,132,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2002
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
1,839,287,000
2
MSN.com
680,335,000
3
AOL.com
544,466,000
4
Google.com
377,267,000
5
Ebay.com
318,808,000
6
BBC.com
239,685,000
7
Amazon.com
228,267,000
8
Ask.com
200,115,000
9
About.com
200,115,000
10
Lycos.com
140,908,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2003
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
4,258,080,000
2
MSN.com
1,539,395,000
3
Google.com
825,429,000
4
AOL.com
760,940,000
5
Ebay.com
631,780,000
6
Amazon.com
493,095,000
7
Ask.com
413,675,000
8
BBC.com
359,815,000
9
Walmart.com
317,090,000
10
CNET.com
217,882,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2004
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
5,819,746,000
2
MSN.com
1,857,488,000
3
Google.com
1,421,710,000
4
AOL.com
924,425,000
5
Ebay.com
822,499,000
6
Amazon.com
636,550,000
7
Ask.com
519,574,000
8
BBC.com
451,230,000
9
Walmart.com
417,716,000
10
Weather.com
252,014,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2005
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
6,200,000,000
2
Google.com
2,983,000,000
3
MSN.com
1,728,000,000
4
AOL.com
1,012,000,000
5
Ebay.com
924,487,000
6
Amazon.com
694,533,000
7
Ask.com
589,296,000
8
BBC.com
539,296,000
9
Myspace.com
461,733,000
10
Walmart.com
436,812,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2006
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
5,734,160,000
2
Yahoo.com
5,483,378,000
3
MSN.com
1,367,198,000
4
Myspace.com
1,150,250,000
5
Ebay.com
956,730,000
6
AOL.com
921,415,000
7
Ask.com
724,510,000
8
Amazon.com
719,352,000
9
BBC.com
629,714,000
10
Wikipedia.org
575,169,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2007
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
7,576,675,000
2
Yahoo.com
5,658,736,000
3
MSN.com
1,259,779,000
4
Myspace.com
1,218,556,000
5
Ebay.com
944,525,000
6
Ask.com
919,328,000
7
AOL.com
820,922,000
8
Amazon.com
794,674,000
9
BBC.com
711,674,000
10
Wikipedia.org
682,863,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2008
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
8,213,560,000
2
Yahoo.com
7,856,799,000
3
YouTube.com
1,449,202,000
4
Facebook.com
1,302,065,000
5
MSN.com
1,247,701,000
6
Ask.com
1,115,043,000
7
Amazon.com
1,002,144,000
8
Myspace.com
997,719,000
9
Yandex.com
885,351,000
10
BBC.com
802,212,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2009
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
10,573,351,000
2
Google.com
9,325,801,000
3
YouTube.com
2,762,898,000
4
Facebook.com
2,525,012,000
5
Amazon.com
1,291,697,000
6
MSN.com
1,231,751,000
7
Ask.com
1,200,840,000
8
Yandex.com
1,063,153,000
9
Wikipedia.org
923,866,000
10
BBC.com
886,215,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2010
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Yahoo.com
11,598,556,000
2
Google.com
11,303,349,000
3
YouTube.com
4,766,487,000
4
Facebook.com
3,791,902,000
5
Amazon.com
1,540,149,000
6
Yandex.com
1,295,506,000
7
MSN.com
1,178,207,000
8
Ask.com
1,160,395,000
9
Wikipedia.org
1,058,836,000
10
Baidu.com
1,013,557,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2011
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
14,015,307,000
2
Yahoo.com
11,016,805,000
3
YouTube.com
7,527,513,000
4
Facebook.com
6,923,515,000
5
Amazon.com
1,696,735,000
6
Yandex.com
1,648,992,000
7
Wikipedia.org
1,340,628,000
8
Baidu.com
1,216,326,000
9
Ask.com
1,204,221,000
10
MSN.com
1,061,960,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2012
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
17,076,795,000
2
Facebook.com
11,130,228,000
3
YouTube.com
11,030,822,000
4
Yahoo.com
9,859,557,000
5
Wikipedia.org
1,913,093,000
6
Amazon.com
1,825,419,000
7
Baidu.com
1,484,314,000
8
VK.com
1,257,729,000
9
Yandex.com
1,252,246,000
10
Ask.com
1,213,521,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2013
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
20,001,388,000
2
Facebook.com
16,072,038,000
3
YouTube.com
14,840,088,000
4
Yahoo.com
8,441,420,000
5
Wikipedia.org
2,570,509,000
6
Twitter.com
2,009,118,000
7
Amazon.com
1,923,214,000
8
Baidu.com
1,720,279,000
9
Yandex.com
1,474,270,000
10
VK.com
1,355,939,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2014
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
25,610,591,000
2
Facebook.com
20,552,540,000
3
YouTube.com
19,162,764,000
4
Yahoo.com
6,919,332,000
5
Wikipedia.org
3,244,545,000
6
Twitter.com
2,542,169,000
7
Yandex.com
2,205,151,000
8
Amazon.com
2,065,553,000
9
Baidu.com
1,999,261,000
10
VK.com
1,443,723,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2015
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
29,624,373,000
2
Facebook.com
24,265,472,000
3
YouTube.com
22,864,078,000
4
Yahoo.com
5,944,186,000
5
Wikipedia.org
3,912,736,000
6
Twitter.com
3,099,006,000
7
Baidu.com
2,619,774,000
8
Instagram.com
2,491,450,000
9
Yandex.com
2,461,906,000
10
Amazon.com
2,229,093,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2016
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
40,702,498,000
2
Facebook.com
26,989,878,000
3
YouTube.com
25,375,270,000
4
Yahoo.com
5,220,226,000
5
Wikipedia.org
4,582,853,000
6
Baidu.com
3,879,321,000
7
Twitter.com
3,584,921,000
8
Instagram.com
2,822,023,000
9
Yandex.com
2,735,758,000
10
Amazon.com
2,246,945,359
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2017
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
54,647,684,000
2
Facebook.com
28,005,364,000
3
YouTube.com
26,841,510,000
4
Baidu.com
5,273,012,000
5
Wikipedia.org
5,170,855,000
6
Yahoo.com
4,593,205,000
7
Twitter.com
3,892,130,000
8
Instagram.com
3,073,246,000
9
Yandex.com
2,948,048,000
10
Amazon.com
2,192,150,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2018
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
66,300,530,000
2
YouTube.com
27,877,823,000
3
Facebook.com
27,674,646,000
4
Baidu.com
6,275,483,000
5
Wikipedia.org
5,559,665,000
6
Yahoo.com
4,143,796,000
7
Twitter.com
4,042,091,000
8
Instagram.com
3,272,390,000
9
Yandex.com
3,073,000,000
10
Amazon.com
2,229,477,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2019
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
73,699,263,000
2
YouTube.com
28,291,019,000
3
Facebook.com
27,640,802,000
4
Baidu.com
6,317,160,000
5
Wikipedia.org
5,707,347,000
6
Twitter.com
4,081,256,000
7
Yahoo.com
3,942,509,000
8
Instagram.com
3,437,517,000
9
Yandex.com
3,117,345,000
10
Xvideos.com
3,020,281,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2020
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
77,656,262,000
2
YouTube.com
29,504,361,000
3
Facebook.com
27,432,205,000
4
Baidu.com
6,346,892,000
5
Wikipedia.org
5,619,667,000
6
Twitter.com
4,637,597,000
7
Instagram.com
3,877,214,000
8
Yahoo.com
3,730,470,000
9
Yandex.com
3,022,064,000
10
Xvideos.com
3,007,802,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2021
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (June)
1
Google.com
88,348,530,000
2
YouTube.com
33,592,057,000
3
Facebook.com
24,335,554,000
4
Twitter.com
6,323,288,000
5
Instagram.com
5,837,937,000
6
Baidu.com
5,729,096,000
7
Wikipedia.org
5,713,378,000
8
Yahoo.com
3,721,278,000
9
Yandex.com
3,405,301,061
10
Xvideos.com
3,302,754,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2022
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (November)
1
Google.com
88,400,000,000
2
YouTube.com
74,800,000,000
3
Facebook.com
10,700,000,000
4
PornHub.com
10,200,000,000
5
Xvideos.com
8,700,000,000
6
Twitter.com
8,180,000,000
7
Wikipedia.org
6,670,000,000
8
Reddit.com
4,820,000,000
9
Instagram.com
4,460,000,000
10
Xnxx.com
3,740,000,000
The 10 Most Visited Websites in 2023
Rank
Website
Monthly Visits (November)
1
Google.com
83,800,000,000
2
YouTube.com
31,400,000,000
3
Facebook.com
16,100,000,000
4
Instagram.com
6,600,000,000
5
Twitter.com
5,900,000,000
6
Baidu.com
4,800,000,000
7
Wikipedia.org
4,300,000,000
8
Yahoo.com
3,400,000,000
9
Yandex.com
3,200,000,000
10
WhatsApp.com
3,000,000,000
