The top ten UK web brands

Then there's the money factor where the amount you can make seems to be getting smaller and smaller, thanks to various fees (such as PayPal) and the recent change in postal charges (it's now down to size as well as weight) meaning some sellers are a bit out of pocket if they don't do their maths right.

The eBay market is also a bit saturated now with the world and its mother seemingly on there trying to sell exactly the same thing as you. Something's gotta give, so the eBay of the future could well be very different from today.

6) AOL 3.0 per cent market share

Ten years ago, AOL had 30 million subscribers. That had slipped well below 10 million by last year. That said, some of those are paying customers, and the site is clearly still a draw in the UK.

Indeed, its mail service still ranks higher than Google in many places hard though that may be to believe. Millions still use the mail service, bringing them back day after day. So if AOL does take advantage of its new-found freedom to remake itself into a modern, innovative web brand, it will only benefit from having an existing, loyal user base.

That said, it's going to take some pretty shiny products before AOL overcomes its "walled garden" reputation.

7) BBC 2.3 per cent

The BBC news site is the first stop for many as a trusted source of news. A simple layout that is easy to navigate, it is a model taken up by newspapers around the world but the BBC is one of the best of the bunch.

It also has its innovative iPlayer, allowing people to catch up on the week of television and radio programmes from their computers. These elements of choice and flexibility have obviously made the BBC popular and in turn helped it climb up the list.

But the iPlayer and the news site do not stand alone. As previously mentioned, with all the major newspapers, even smaller local ones, heading online, it does face stiff competition and now ITV, Channel 4 and Sky have got in on the act of putting their programmes up to watch on demand.

However as a brand, the BBC stands tall amongst its competitors and it may take a while for Auntie to be knocked off her perch.