25 Worst Websites?

October 29, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

PCworld.ca has listed their 25 Worst Websites: “websites that have managed to swindle us out of our money, enslave our computers and hold the net hostage with endless spam, pop up screens and teenage-on-a-rampage web design.”

[I have linked to the Wayback Machine when sites no longer exist; I've checked that the links (at the time of posting) but let me know if anything nasty happens.]

MySpace – does its evilness need to be explained? It’s ugly and noisy … just like its users
CyberRebate – pay over the odds for electronic goods, let this website look after your money, and then you’ll get 100% back – honest … yeah, sure.
Cartoonnetwok.com (deliberately not linked) – an example of “typo-squatting”; it “was one of some 5500 deceptive domains owned by John Zuccarini. But that wasn’t Zuccarini’s only nasty bit of business. FTC investigators visiting one of his sites found their screens filled with 29 new browser windows for instant credit, online psychics, gambling and porn sites. When they hit the Back button, another 7 windows opened–a technique known as “mousetrapping”. Worse, many of Zuccarani’s typosquatting sites were aimed at children. In 2003, Zuccarini pleaded guilty to violating the Truth in Domain Names Act and was sentenced to 2.5 years in an American federal penitentiary.” Nice!
CDuniverse.com – “In December 1999 a Russian hacker named Maxim broke into the music retailer’s site, stole 350,000 credit card numbers, and then demanded $100,000 in ransom.” Bit of a security whoops by CDuniverse; now the website has a “Hacker Safe” sign at the top of the page.
AllAdvantage.com – getting paid to surf websites and view banner ads seems too good to be true…
Pixelon.com – not a site I’ve heard of, but apparently it was “more dot con than dot com”.
Pets.com – a fast-moving company, it was “launched in August of 1998 and went from IPO on a major stock exchange (the Nasdaq) to liquidation in 9 months.”
BonziBuddy – there was no escaping the annoying pop-ups with the animated purple gibbon until the site was killed in 2004.
HamsterDance.com – Be sure to turn your speakers up before going to this site or you’ll miss the full experience.
MyLackey.com – a “Seattle-based site offered to walk your dog, pick up your dry cleaning and do all other manner of scut jobs for a fee.” Apparently it didn’t even last a year, but then with motivational emails like this it’s a surprise they lasted that long.
Rabies for Kids is part of the Center for Disease Control‘s website … and likely to induce vomiting!
The Dancing Baby – even now it annoys me! Burning Pixel Productions have got a lot to answer for!
Whitehouse.com – It’s funny that the article starts by saying “Not the virtual home of the American president (that’s Whitehouse.gov)” because my first thought was Whitehouse.org, the satirical website with probably more facts that the .GOV site. Anyway, back to the .COM site: “In September 1998 it helped distribute the Starr Report, but, by then, it had also become the most notoriously named porn site on the web–featuring, among other things, a White House Intern of the Month. Today the site hosts a white-pages listing.”
BidForSurgery.com – eBay meets Freddy Kruger
Neuticles.com – “Testicular Implantation For Pets” – yes, seriously!
Microsoft Windows Update – if you don’t see an error saying that you have to run Internet Explorer to use their site, then you’re probably using a buggy browser
Boo.com – Apparently (should that be “Allegedly”?) “the real stars of Boo were its founders, who spent money like it was going out of style–$120 million in six months on lavish apartments and expensive gifts, as well as a site that was too unwieldy for the largely dial-up world of 2000.”
Tie: Beenz.com and Flooz.com – two attempts at creating an online currency; both failed.
WebVan.com – closed down in July 2001. Wikipedia says “Webvan was an online “credit and delivery” grocery business that went bankrupt in 2001. It is often considered an archetype of misapplying Internet technology to an existing form of business. It is also considered a classic example of a company trapped by sudden demands from venture capitalists for short-term profitability, instead of growth and market share.”
Hotmail.com – home to many, many spammers, and the reason free email services got a bad reputation
GoldenPalace.com – is there anything they won’t buy?
Digital Entertainment Network – not one I’m familiar with but the article says “This DEN of iniquity blew through more than $100 million before it shuttered its doors in January 2002. A sex scandal involving the site’s CEO didn’t help matters.”
InmatesForYou.com – because there aren’t enough freaks & weirdos on the Internet already?
IKissYou.org – “I live alone !!!!!!!!!” – you don’t say!
RentMyChest.com – now it’s just dull, but it used to be Chris Pirillo