Misc
Ranked: The Most Popular Websites Since 1993
The Most Popular Websites Since 1993
The internet has become an increasingly important part of our everyday lives.
While it’s hard to imagine modern life without Google or YouTube, it’s interesting to reflect on how much the web has changed over the last few decades.
This animation by Captain Gizmo provides a historical rundown of the most popular websites since 1993, showing how much the internet has evolved since the early ’90s.
The Top Websites
While the web has changed drastically over the years, the top-ranking websites have remained relatively consistent. Here’s a look at the websites with the most traffic since 1993, and when each site held the number one spot:
Date Range | Top Ranking Website | Highest Number of Monthly Visits |
---|---|---|
Jan 1993 - Jun 2000 | AOL | 405,000,000 |
Jul 2000 - May 2006 | Yahoo | 5,500,000,000 |
Jun 2006 - Jul 2008 | 8,300,000,000 |
|
Aug 2008 - Jun 2010 | Yahoo | 11,600,000,000 |
Jul 2010 - current | 81,000,000,000 |
*Note: Numbers rounded for clarity.
AOL
AOL was one of the first major web portals, back in the era of CD-ROMs and dial-up modems. In its heyday, the company dominated the market, largely due to an aggressive free trial campaign that cost millions (possibly even billions) of dollars to execute.
Despite the large investment, the campaign worked—at its peak, AOL had over 30 million users, and a market cap of over $200 billion. It was the most popular website online until the early 2000s, when broadband started to replace dial-up. As the sands shifted, AOL struggled to stay relevant and was eventually sold to Verizon for just $4.4 billion.
Yahoo
Following AOL’s downfall, Yahoo became the next internet giant.
Starting off as a web directory, Yahoo was the first website to offer localized indexes for major cities. At Yahoo’s zenith, it was worth $125 billion, but a series of missed opportunities and failed acquisitions meant that it could not keep up. Like AOL, Yahoo is now also owned by Verizon, but remains a top 10 website globally.
It’s no surprise that Google currently comes in at number one. It started out in the early ’90s as a university research project. Today, it’s become virtually synonymous with the internet, which makes sense, considering 90% of all internet searches are made on Google-owned properties.
Old School Search Engines
Prior to Google’s success, there were several other go-to search engines that paved the way for Google in many ways:
- WebCrawler: One of the earlier search engines, WebCrawler was the first search engine to enable full-text search. At one point, the website was so popular, it’s server would constantly crash, making it virtually unusable during peak hours.
- Lycos: This was another pivotal search engine, created in 1994 (a year before Yahoo). Lycos was the first of its kind to incorporate relevance retrieval, prefix matching, and word proximity.
- Infoseek: As Netscape’s default search engine, Infoseek was popular during the web browser’s heyday. Eventually, Infoseek was purchased by Disney and rebranded to go.com.
Unlike Infoseek, Lycos and WebCrawler have somehow managed to stick around—both companies still exist today. Of course, they’re nowhere near comparable to Google in terms of revenue or daily search volume.
The Evolution of Social Media
Unless you are a Gen Zer, you probably remember MySpace. Like Lycos and WebCrawler, MySpace technically still exists, although it’s certainly not the high traffic site it used to be.
Created in 2004, MySpace became a hub for musicians and music fans on the web. In just a year, the website saw massive growth, and by 2005, it was acquired by News Corp. MySpace continued to dominate the social media landscape until 2008, when Facebook took over as the internet’s most popular social media platform.
Facebook’s story is well-known at this point. The Zuckerberg-led creation was a social networking site that was exclusive to Harvard students, but it soon opened up to dozens of other universities and then finally the general public in 2006. Just two years later, and the site had 100 million active users, rising to the top of the social media spectrum.
Although Facebook often finds itself mired in controversy today, the site remains the world’s most popular social media platform on the internet with close to 3 billion users.
What’s Next?
It’s hard to predict what the future holds for Facebook, or for any of the other websites currently dominating the web.
If anything is clear from the above animation, it’s that the list of the world’s most popular websites is constantly shifting—and only time will tell what the next few decades will bring.
Automotive
Mapped: Most Searched-For Electric Vehicles by Country
Industry stars, new entrants, and local models all populate this map of the most searched-for electric vehicles by country in 2022.

The Most Searched-For Electric Vehicles By Country
The EV revolution has been in full swing over the last few years, with new electric vehicles reaching milestones in range and affordability.
But as with traditional automobiles, countries around the world have different favorite models.
So which electric vehicle is each country’s inhabitants interested in? GRIDSERVE pulled together a database of the most searched-for electric vehicles by country in 2022.
Using Google Keyword Planner, they gathered the volume of online searches for 317 EVs across more than 200 countries and mapped the most popular results in each location.
The Most Googled Electric Vehicles By Country in 2022
Lexus’ first fully electric car, the Lexus RZ, was the most searched-for model in a whopping 47 countries, more than one-fifth of the entire dataset.
The car’s unusual steering—a yoke that isn’t physically connected to the tires—could certainly make it worth a quick Google to see what all the fuss is about.
The Tesla Model 3 came in strong at second place as the top search in 35 countries, with the Kia EV6 ranked third.
Here’s the full database of the most searched for EV in each country, along with the search volume.
Country / Territory | Most-Searched EV | Search Volume |
---|---|---|
🇦🇫 Afghanistan | Lexus RZ | 730 |
🇦🇱 Albania | MG5 EV | 7,590 |
🇩🇿 Algeria | Tesla Model 3 | 9,860 |
🇦🇸 American Samoa | Tesla Model 3 | 100 |
🇦🇩 Andorra | Tesla Model 3 | 930 |
🇦🇴 Angola | Porsche Taycan | 840 |
🇦🇮 Anguilla | Nissan Leaf | 130 |
🇦🇷 Argentina | IVECO eDaily | 63,800 |
🇦🇲 Armenia | Volkswagen ID.4 | 44,720 |
🇦🇺 Australia | Tesla Model 3 | 538,900 |
🇦🇹 Austria | Skoda Enyaq | 220,100 |
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | Lexus RZ | 9,600 |
🇧🇸 Bahamas | Tesla Model 3 | 1,210 |
🇧🇭 Bahrain | Lexus RZ | 6,680 |
🇧🇩 Bangladesh | Tesla Model 3 | 10,610 |
🇧🇧 Barbados | Nissan Leaf | 1,040 |
🇧🇾 Belarus | Tesla Model S | 14,480 |
🇧🇪 Belgium | Chery QQ Ice Cream | 304,200 |
🇧🇿 Belize | Lexus RZ | 490 |
🇧🇲 Bermuda | BMW i3 | 620 |
🇧🇯 Benin | VinFast VF 9 | 9,600 |
🇧🇹 Bhutan | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 1,140 |
🇧🇴 Bolivia | Beijing EU5 | 3,800 |
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina | Rimac Nevera | 13,280 |
🇧🇼 Botswana | BMW iX | 730 |
🇧🇷 Brazil | Porsche Taycan | 670,500 |
🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands | Lexus RZ | 140 |
🇧🇳 Brunei | Lexus RZ | 1,880 |
🇧🇬 Bulgaria | BMW i3 | 24,500 |
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | VinFast VF 9 | 5,310 |
🇧🇮 Burundi | VinFast VF 9 | 280 |
🇰🇭 Cambodia | VinFast VF 9 | 7,400 |
🇨🇲 Cameroon | Lexus RZ | 9,920 |
🇨🇦 Canada | Kia EV6 | 916,500 |
🇨🇻 Cape Verde | Mazda MX 30 | 260 |
🇰🇾 Cayman Islands | Tesla Model 3 | 470 |
🇨🇫 Central African Republic | Lexus RZ | 120 |
🇹🇩 Chad | VinFast VF 9 | 370 |
🇨🇱 Chile | VinFast VF e34 | 48,300 |
🇨🇳 China | Tesla Model 3 | 10,200 |
🇨🇴 Colombia | Tesla Model S | 56,600 |
🇰🇲 Comoros | Kia EV6 | 100 |
🇨🇰 Cook Islands | Nissan Leaf | 110 |
🇨🇷 Costa Rica | BMW iX | 13,090 |
🇭🇷 Croatia | Rimac Nevera | 60,700 |
🇨🇾 Cyprus | Nissan Leaf | 7,490 |
🇨🇿 Czech Republic | Porsche Taycan | 74,900 |
🇨🇩 DRC | Lexus RZ | 3,140 |
🇩🇰 Denmark | Polestar 2 | 316,500 |
🇩🇯 Djibouti | Tesla Model 3 | 230 |
🇩🇲 Dominica | Lexus RZ | 15,600 |
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | VinFast VF 9 | 15,600 |
🇨🇩 Congo | Lexus RZ | 3,140 |
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste | Tesla Model 3 | 120 |
🇪🇨 Ecuador | Chery QQ Ice Cream | 22,000 |
🇪🇬 Egypt | Volkswagen ID.4 | 29,690 |
🇸🇻 El Salvador | Tesla Model 3 | 4,110 |
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | Lexus RZ | 820 |
🇪🇷 Eritrea | Tesla Model 3 | 50 |
🇪🇪 Estonia | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 12,120 |
🇸🇿 Eswatini | BMW iX | 210 |
🇪🇹 Ethiopia | Volkswagen ID.4 | 10,940 |
🇫🇴 Faroe Islands | Kia EV6 | 890 |
🇫🇯 Fiji | Nissan Leaf | 900 |
🇫🇮 Finland | Polestar 2 | 210,900 |
🇫🇷 France | Tesla Model 3 | 1,909,000 |
🇬🇫 French Guiana | Arcfox Alpha-S | 1,030 |
🇵🇫 French Polynesia | Tesla Model 3 | 1,000 |
🇬🇦 Gabon | Lexus RZ | 1,100 |
🇬🇲 Gambia | Lexus RZ | 490 |
🇩🇪 Germany | Tesla Model 3 | 1,954,000 |
🇬🇪 Georgia | VinFast VF 9 | 21,500 |
🇬🇭 Ghana | Lexus RZ | 38,300 |
🇬🇮 Gibraltar | Kia EV6 | 190 |
🇬🇷 Greece | Tesla Model 3 | 90,600 |
🇬🇱 Greenland | Subaru Solterra | 630 |
🇬🇹 Guatemala | Arcfox Alpha-S | 5,660 |
🇬🇺 Guam | Lexus RZ | 1,200 |
🇬🇬 Guernsey | Volkswagen ID.Buzz | 630 |
🇬🇳 Guinea | VinFast VF 9 | 9,600 |
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau | Polestar 2 | 130 |
🇬🇾 Guyana | Geometry EX3 | 2,180 |
🇭🇳 Honduras | Tesla Model 3 | 4,350 |
🇭🇰 Hong Kong | Tesla Model Y | 122,200 |
🇭🇺 Hungary | BMW i3 | 142,700 |
🇮🇸 Iceland | Kia EV6 | 18,440 |
🇮🇳 India | Tata Nexon | 2,364,000 |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | Wuling Air Ev | 992,120 |
🇮🇶 Iraq | Lexus RZ | 4,530 |
🇮🇷 Iran | BMW iX | 10 |
🇮🇪 Ireland | Kia EV6 | 123,700 |
🇮🇲 Isle of Man | Vauxhall Vivaro | 820 |
🇮🇱 Israel | Aiways U5 | 58,600 |
🇮🇹 Italy | Tesla Model 3 | 911,000 |
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | Tesla Model 3 | 2,750 |
🇯🇲 Jamaica | Lexus RZ | 3,360 |
🇯🇵 Japan | Lexus RZ | 190,600 |
🇯🇴 Jordan | Dongfeng EM10 | 46,200 |
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | VinFast VF 9 | 49,000 |
🇰🇪 Kenya | Lexus RZ | 17,700 |
🇽🇰 Kosovo | Porsche Taycan | 4,140 |
🇰🇼 Kuwait | Lexus RZ | 10,170 |
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan | Lexus RZ | 9,270 |
🇱🇦 Laos | Tesla Model 3 | 2,110 |
🇱🇻 Latvia | Nissan Leaf | 10,960 |
🇱🇧 Lebanon | Volkswagen ID.4 | 14,380 |
🇱🇸 Lesotho | Tesla Model X | 220 |
🇱🇷 Liberia | Lexus RZ | 340 |
🇱🇾 Libya | Lexus RZ | 600 |
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 870 |
🇱🇹 Lithuania | Nissan Leaf | 24,000 |
🇱🇺 Luxembourg | Kia EV6 | 13,620 |
🇲🇴 Macao | Tesla Model Y | 1,500 |
🇲🇬 Madagascar | IVECO eDaily | 480 |
🇲🇼 Malawi | Beijing EU7 | 450 |
🇲🇱 Mali | VinFast VF 9 | 1,020 |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | BMW iX | 167,300 |
🇲🇻 Maldives | Tesla Model 3 | 910 |
🇲🇹 Malta | Honda E | 5,090 |
🇲🇭 Marshall Islands | Ford F-150 Lightning | 80 |
🇲🇷 Mauritania | Lexus RZ | 570 |
🇲🇺 Mauritius | Kia EV6 | 25,160 |
🇲🇽 Mexico | Tesla Model 3 | 375,500 |
🇲🇩 Moldova | BMW iX | 8,520 |
🇲🇨 Monaco | Tesla Model 3 | 470 |
🇲🇳 Mongolia | Lexus RZ | 6,530 |
🇲🇪 Montenegro | Rimac Nevera | 3,010 |
🇲🇦 Morocco | Tesla Model 3 | 15,780 |
🇲🇿 Mozambique | Lexus RZ | 900 |
🇲🇲 Myanmar | Lexus RZ | 3,860 |
🇳🇦 Namibia | Nissan Leaf | 1,100 |
🇳🇷 Nauru | Lexus RZ | 70 |
🇳🇵 Nepal | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 18,910 |
🇳🇱 Netherlands | Kia EV6 | 764,000 |
🇳🇨 New Caledonia | Kia EV6 | 980 |
🇳🇿 New Zealand | Nissan Leaf | 80,400 |
🇳🇮 Nicaragua | Tesla Model S | 2,010 |
🇳🇪 Niger | VinFast VF 9 | 1,960 |
🇳🇬 Nigeria | Lexus RZ | 328,500 |
🇲🇰 North Macedonia | Rimac Nevera | 4,850 |
🇲🇵 Northern Mariana Islands | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 180 |
🇳🇴 Norway | Tesla Model Y | 388,600 |
🇴🇲 Oman | Lexus RZ | 7,950 |
🇵🇰 Pakistan | Audi e-tron GT | 28,100 |
🇵🇼 Palau | Tesla Model X | 120 |
🇵🇸 Palestine | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 1,390 |
🇵🇦 Panama | Lexus RZ | 5,510 |
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | Lexus RZ | 290 |
🇵🇾 Paraguay | Tesla Model 3 | 10,050 |
🇵🇪 Peru | Tesla Model S | 26,200 |
🇵🇭 Philippines | Tesla Model S | 64,000 |
🇵🇱 Poland | IVECO eDaily | 281,100 |
🇵🇹 Portugal | Kia EV6 | 199,400 |
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 17,160 |
🇷🇴 Romania | Arcfox Alpha-S | 174,600 |
🇷🇼 Rwanda | Beijing EU5 | 480 |
🇧🇱 Saint Barthelemy | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 50 |
🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis | Lexus RZ | 170 |
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia | Lexus RZ | 1,030 |
🇲🇫 Saint Martin | Tesla Model Y | 60 |
🇵🇲 Saint Pierre & Miquelon | Tesla Model 3 | 90 |
🇼🇸 Samoa | Tesla Model X | 120 |
🇸🇲 San Marino | Tesla Model 3 | 410 |
🇸🇹 Sao Tome & Principe | Kia EV6 | 100 |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | Lexus RZ | 35,900 |
🇷🇸 Serbia | Rimac Nevera | 27,000 |
🇸🇳 Senegal | Arcfox Alpha-S | 1,710 |
🇸🇨 Seychelles | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 490 |
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | Lexus RZ | 920 |
🇸🇬 Singapore | BYD e6 | 57,000 |
🇸🇰 Slovakia | Kia EV6 | 60,400 |
🇸🇮 Slovenia | BMW i4 | 15,960 |
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | Tesla Model 3 | 90 |
🇸🇴 Somalia | Arcfox Alpha-S | 490 |
🇿🇦 South Africa | BMW iX | 106,800 |
🇰🇷 South Korea | BMW i4 | 99,200 |
🇪🇸 Spain | Tesla Model 3 | 816,122 |
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | Geometry EX3 | 37,100 |
🇸🇩 North Sudan | Tesla Model X | 520 |
🇸🇸 South Sudan | Arcfox Alpha-S | 10 |
🇸🇷 Suriname | Lexus RZ | 2,340 |
🇸🇪 Sweden | Kia EV6 | 499,000 |
🇨🇭 Switzerland | Tesla Model 3 | 201,300 |
🇹🇼 Taiwan | Chery QQ Ice Cream | 208,200 |
🇹🇯 Tajikistan | Lexus RZ | 4,380 |
🇹🇿 Tanzania | Lexus RZ | 3,080 |
🇹🇭 Thailand | Ora Good Cat | 573,100 |
🇹🇬 Togo | Lexus RZ | 2,520 |
🇹🇴 Tonga | Tesla Model S | 80 |
🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago | Nissan Leaf | 5,010 |
🇹🇳 Tunisia | Sono Motors Sion | 7,620 |
🇹🇷 Turkey | Porsche Taycan | 434,200 |
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | Lexus RZ | 7,360 |
🇹🇻 Tuvalu | Tesla Model S | 20 |
🇻🇮 U.S. Virgin Islands | Lexus RZ | 630 |
🇺🇬 Uganda | Lexus RZ | 3,340 |
🇦🇪 UAE | Volkswagen ID.4 | 114,920 |
🇬🇧 UK | Tesla Model 3 | 1,258,500 |
🇺🇾 Uruguay | BYD e2 | 19,620 |
🇺🇸 U.S. | Tesla Model 3 | 6,855,000 |
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | Tesla Model 3 | 26,300 |
🇻🇺 Vanuatu | Tesla Model 3 | 100 |
🇻🇪 Venezuela | Tesla Model S | 10,190 |
🇻🇳 Vietnam | Lexus RZ | 204,800 |
🇼🇫 Wallis & Futuna | Kia EV6 | 60 |
🇪🇭 Western Sahara | Tesla Model S | 180 |
🇾🇪 Yemen | Lexus RZ | 590 |
🇿🇲 Zambia | VinFast VF 9 | 2,360 |
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | Beijing EU7 | 2,700 |
Aside from popular global brands, GRIDSERVE’s database also highlights regional automakers. For example, Croatian manufacturer Rimac Automobili’s Nevera was the most highly searched-for electric vehicle in multiple Balkan countries. In India, the country’s own Tata Nexon dominated search volume.
And Vietnamese brand VinFast’s electric vehicles were the top EVs of interest in neighboring Cambodia and 12 other countries across the world (though not Vietnam itself, which searched more for the Lexus RZ).
In China, where Google isn’t the most-used search engine, results favored the Tesla Model 3. But Tesla was distinctly outsold by Chinese automaker BYD in 2022.
It’s also worth noting that most of the top searches were for a sedan or crossover SUV, but not all. In the British crown dependencies Guernsey and Isle of Man, the most searched EVs were an electric minivan (Guernsey) and van (Isle of Man).
The Most Googled Electric Vehicle In the U.S.
In the U.S., the Tesla Model 3 was the most searched-for electric vehicle in 2022. Breaking down results by states highlights its massive local footprint:
The Tesla tide across the map is unsurprising, given its aggressive market entry and role in popularizing EVs in the country. But as new entries continue to chip away at the market, warnings around Tesla’s projected decline in market share have begun to spring up.
Of the nine states that searched more for other electric vehicle makers, six of them were for foreign manufacturers Hyundai and Kia and three of them preferred U.S. carmakers Rivian and Cadillac.
The Most Searched-For Electric Vehicle By Search Volume
Tesla’s popularity in countries like the U.S., Germany, and France helps gave it the most searched-for electric vehicle by sheer volume, despite Lexus winning first place in more locations.
Here are the top 10 most searched for electric vehicles by total volume in 2022:
Electric Vehicle | Google Search Volume (2022) |
---|---|
Tesla Model 3 | 19,989,872 |
Kia EV6 | 15,815,185 |
Tesla Model Y | 13,908,451 |
Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 12,689,787 |
Tesla Model S | 11,459,099 |
Porsche Taycan | 10,511,286 |
Tesla Model X | 9,535,778 |
Polestar 2 | 8,212,142 |
Lexus RZ | 7,186,840 |
BMW i4 | 7,063,510 |
The Model 3’s sheer popularity put it in first place. The company’s Model Y and Model S were also in the top five, where they were joined by the Korean-made Kia EV6 and Hyundai IONIQ 5.
The Lexus RZ, by contrast, ranked as the 9th-most-popular electric vehicle by search volume. It had less than half of the Model 3’s search volume and was also behind the Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model X, and Polestar 2.
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