Website awards - which are relevant?

April 7, 2005 2:31 PM

Website awards - which are relevant?

I received an email from WebAwards this morning "to Honor Best Websites in 90 Industries. It's time to be recognized for your outstanding Web development work by winning a 2005 WebAward. ...". I'm familiar with the Cyber Lion awards in Cannes, and with one or two blog awards - the landscape has certainly changed since the heady days of the late 90s.

What credible website awards remain in this latter half of the decade?

posted by seawallrunner to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

As someone who has been in the industry for a decade, I think I can say without fear of contradiction: None. There never have been credible awards, and I don't forsee credible awards appearing any time soon.
posted by majick at 3:19 PM on April 7, 2005

zip. nada. zilch. none.

If your page validates, thats good enough for me.
posted by jeremias at 4:24 PM on April 7, 2005

There are real website awards?
posted by sjvilla79 at 4:32 PM on April 7, 2005

None or almost none.

I think that the huge number of horridly lame "certified site of the day" badges back in the early years seriously hurt the entire concept of awarding websites.
posted by scarabic at 4:33 PM on April 7, 2005

Maybe the Webbys are still worth putting into your resume, but otherwise, I'd also vote "none".
posted by mathowie at 4:44 PM on April 7, 2005

Also, keep in mind there are spammers that will send you fake award things or tell you you've been added to award listings that are basically link farms looking for a link back to them.
posted by mathowie at 4:52 PM on April 7, 2005

the bloggies, but only because my partner won best european weblog this year. it made her happy.

that may not be relavent to the internets, but it's relavent to my peace and well being.
posted by quarsan at 8:55 PM on April 7, 2005

I'd say the Webbys or the Bloggies are valid, for one main reason: frequently journalists are searching for "good" blogs, and a recognised award (recognised by the majority of peers) or shortlist is a better starting point than simply bashing a few search terms into Google.

As to whether awards are 'valid' - well, ask the Oscars.
posted by snowgoon at 12:11 AM on April 8, 2005

None. I think the best award a web site can get are those emails out of the blue from readers who don't have anything to pitch and don't want a link exchange, but they just want to say, "I love your site. Keep up the good work."
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:52 AM on April 8, 2005

The Bloggies are valid to bloggers, at any rate. The A-listers tend to attend the awards, and the media is paying them attention.

Also, anything SxSW hands out may become well-recognized in the next few years.
posted by NickDouglas at 7:28 AM on April 9, 2005

"The A-listers tend to attend the awards" I'm not sure any of the lifetime achievement award winners have ever been present, and that's the most prestigious award. Not to take anything away from Nikolai, but the Bloggies seem more "fun" than "relevant".
posted by anildash at 3:06 PM on April 9, 2005