5. United Break Guitars

• Uploaded on July 6, 2009

• 5,914,000 views

4. MTV VMA's Remix: Kanye West Interrupts Obama's Speech

• Uploaded on September 13, 2009

• 4,200,000 views

3. SOUR '日々の音色 (Hibi no neiro)

• Uploaded July 1, 2009

• 1,600,000 views

2. Evian Roller Babies International Version

• Uploaded: July 1, 2009

• 12,436,000 views

1. JK Wedding Entrance Dance

• Uploaded: July 19, 2009

• 31,000,000 views

We've chosen the 10 in two batches. Firstly, the services that got the most number of mentions. As expected, these are well known apps that millions of people are using (or will use when it's launched, in the case of Google Wave). We didn't want this to be purely a popularity contest though, so we've also selected 5 lesser known web apps or services. Those apps all got multiple mentions and in our estimation they're each worthy of being labeled 'exciting.'

Top 5 Apps

1. Twitter 25 votes
2. Gmail 17 votes
3. Google Reader 11 votes
4. Google Wave 11 votes
5. Facebook 6 votes

This was fairly predictable, with Twitter well out in front. There's been such excitement and activity around Twitter this year, that nobody could really argue against Twitter being the most exciting web or service around in 2009.

Twitter was followed by no less than 3 Google products, one of them as yet unreleased! (Google Wave). This shows that Google still has that aura of being 'exciting,' at least with ReadWriteWeb's early adopter readers.

Facebook slipped in at number 5, so it too seems to have kept up its reputation for being innovative.

Top 5 Lesser Known Apps

6. Spotify (RWW coverage): this Swedish online music app is about to launch in the U.S. and is highly anticipated by that market. It's so exciting that we've predicted it may even threaten Apple's near monopoly iTunes product. We'll have to wait and see what happens on that front, but Spotify certainly has a lot of people salivating! Other online music services mentioned multiple times in our poll were Blip.fm and last.fm.

7. Dropbox: this was listed as one of ReadWriteWeb's 5 Favorite Online Storage Services in September last year. At the time it had only just opened to the public, but it has since gained many fans. Its integration with the desktop is perhaps the most exciting feature of this product. Other features we like are the sharing of folders and preservation of every revision of every file.

8. Seesmic: A number of Twitter clients were mentioned, like Hootsuite and TweetDeck. But one which has impressed us a lot in recent months has been Seesmic. In July we reported that Seesmic, previously only a desktop client, had released a web-based version and a new version of the Seesmic desktop. The web-based version of Seesmic recreates most of the features that are currently available in the desktop application. Our own Frederic Lardinois listed Seesmic Web as one of his 3 most exciting apps.

9. Wolfram|Alpha: Ever since Wolfram|Alpha's admittedly much hyped launch in May, we've been tracking this innovative product closely. It's a self-described "computational knowledge engine" and while it's not quite the Google killer some predicted, it has many potential uses - which makes it an exciting app to follow for us.

10. Pubsubhubbub: With a name harder to say that 'ReadWriteWeb,' this new Google Code project has excited the web development community. It's not a product, but a protocol. The project page describes it as a "simple, open, server-to-server web-hook-based pubsub (publish/subscribe) protocol as an extension to Atom (and RSS)." In laymans terms, it delivers your RSS feeds to you much quicker - in near real time.

To understand the context of Pubsubhubbub and similar exciting initiatives more, read Marshall Kirkpatrick's fine analysis of Distributed Social Networking.

There you have it, the top 10 most exciting web apps and services according to the ReadWriteWeb community! Let us know your further thoughts in the comments.

Here is the full list, a snapshot taken when the original post had 66 comments (sans links, but Google - or Bing - any app that catches your eye).

Twitter 25
Gmail 17
Google Reader 11
Google Wave 11
Facebook 6
Blip.fm 4
Dropbox 4
Hootsuite 4
Wolfram Alpha 4
Pubsubhubbub 3
Scribd 3
Seesmic 3
Spotify 3
Wordpress 3
Apture 2
Boxee 2
Delicious 2
Flickr 2
foursquare 2
getsatisfaction 2
Google 2
last.fm 2
PixelPipe 2
Posterous 2
Skype 2
TweetDeck 2
Xmarks 2
Appboy
Bespin
Bit.ly
Bloom
Brightkite
Caspio
chi.mp
Cliqset
Deezer
Digg
Dizzler
Dopplr
Edmodo
Evernote
Feedly
FriendFeed
Gmail chat
GMX Mail
Google Analytics
Google Analytics API
Google APIs
Google Docs
Google insight
Google Maps
Google Notebook
Google Voice
Hype Machine
Instant XRay
Instapaper
iWantMyName
JaJah
JobTitled
Jolicloud
Jott
justbought.it
Know Thy Congressman
kreeo
Lala
Layar
LinkedIn
metafilter
mint
MobileMe
My Name is E
Nanovor
Newsmap.jp
Pachube
Parade
Peoplebrowsr
PocketSmith
Ponoko
PopUrls
Prezi
Primal Fusion
Salesforce
Shapeways
SocialText
SoundCloud
Sweetcron
Tarpipe
TimeXchange.net
Tracer
Tumblr
tweetworks
Twitterfall
urtak
W3C QA Toolbox
XCODE
Youtube

Cat pic: Mr.Thomas

Powerset is a much-hyped semantic search engine that uses natural language processing to "understand" concepts in web content and match pages to queries. Right now it only searches Wikipedia (and Freebase). We put it through some early paces last week.

Wikiwix

Wikiwix calls itself the "ultimate Wikipedia articles search engine." It searches all of the Wikipedia sites at once (i.e., Wikiquote, Wikiionary, Wikinews, etc.) and has a very handy Wikipedia image search.

AskMeNow

AskMeNow is a mobile-targeted Wikipedia search engine that does some natural language processing similar to Powerset and then attempts to cull your answer directly from Wikipedia. Like any NLP search, it's not perfect, but often enough it is right on the nose.

Similpedia

Similpedia lets you find related content on Wikipedia. Paste a URL or a paragraph of text and it will dig up articles on Wikipedia that are in some way related.

Gollum

Gollum is a Wikipedia browser that supposedly "[reduces] the complexity of information" and makes it easier to browse the online enclyclopedia. To be honest, though, we can't really see any benefit over just browsing Wikipedia in Firefox.

Qwika

Qwika doesn't just search Wikipedia -- it searches wikis. 1,158 of them. Wikipedia is included in those it searches, however, and the site makes it easier to search across multiple languages.

WikiMindMap

WikiMindMap is one of the coolest Wikipedia search mashups out there. Enter a search term, and the site will generate a mindmap based on related Wikipedia entries allowing you to easily explore a topic and its related articles in full.

Wikiwax

Wikiwax gives Wikipedia search the AJAX suggestion treatment. Get search suggestions while you type and find that Wikipedia article a fraction of a second faster.

Lexisum

Lexisum takes Wikipedia articles and summarizes them to a smaller, more digestible format that are better set up for printing. You can choose from a number of standard print sizes to display your article summary (A4, A6, etc.).

Ask.com & SearchMash

Ask.com and SearchMash (a test sandbox for Google) each augment their search results with information from Wikipedia. Not a pure Wikipedia search, but interesting stuff from a couple of major search players.

Bonus site: Wikirage

Wikirage is something like Google Trends for Wikipedia. The site shows trends on Wikipedia based on edits. Hot this week for example, the Sichuan earthquake and American Idol. We gave the site a full review last August.

PatientsLikeMe is a social network for people to share experiences based around mental and physical illness. People can use the site to connect with others experiencing the same issues, discuss treatments, and track progress. The site is relatively new and so far has communities for ALS/Motor Neuron Disease, Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), Parkinson's Disease, and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). People can connect with other patients based around specific symptoms they are experiencing or treatments they are trying, and they can read the latest research on the site. PatientsLikeMe plans to expand its communities into other health areas in the future.

Trusera feels a little like MySpace centered around health issues. People who join Trusera are given a profile on which they can share stories, keep a journal, and create discussions about the things they are dealing with. The site aims to connect people with similar medical backgrounds so they can discuss and share common experiences.

DailyStrength is a huge network of online support groups. The site lets users discuss medical conditions with people experiencing the same thing but with the anonymity of the Internet if they desire to stay hidden. Users also get MySpace-like social networking profiles where they can keep a journal, make connections, upload photos or videos and give out "hugs" to anyone who looks like they could use one. One of the most compelling features of Daily Strength is the treatment directory, where members can review treatments and let others know if and how well a treatment worked for them.

Hope Cube is another fairly new social network based around the idea of people providing support for others going through the same things they're dealing with. In addition to basic social networking features, the site has a Yahoo! Answers-like health discussion community, and uniquely has a list of trained professionals available as friends on the site. There are huge potential liability risks for doctors giving out advice over the Internet, so it is unclear just how much advice the Hope Cube doctors would be willing or able to give (right now it doesn't look like many of them have participated much on the site). According to the site, Hope Cube has plans to move into ZocDoc territory as well and do online appointment scheduling.

iMedix is a MySpace-style social networking site that links people based on common medical conditions. Users enter conditions they are interested in and the site uses tags to link them together. Beyond social networking, iMedix also adds a health information search engine to the mix. ReadWriteWeb network blog AltSearchEngines had a full review when the site launched last December.

Healia is a slickly designed health community site based around questions and answers. Users form groups around specific health issues and ask and answer questions in a Yahoo! Answers-style environment and the site has a list of trained medical professionals who participate as well. Healia tracks its top contributors using "Healia Points." Right now the points just get you on a list of the week's most helpful members, but in the future, says Healia, they may be redeemable for something more.

ICYou (a clever play on words where the IC, in this case, stands for "Intensive Content") is a health video sharing site. Patients and doctors upload videos sharing the latest health information, their own personal experiences, or advice for others. ICYou also creates some of its own content on the site, mainly consisting of interviews with patients and doctors.

Take the features of every site we've mentioned in this roundup so far, and you have TauMed. Along with social networking, TauMed has a question and answer site, topical health guides, communities based around specific ailments, health news, health information search, video sharing, patient stories, a drug database, and even a directory of doctors. Phew! With all that, the site is still pretty easy to get around and certainly has some helpful information to be found.

MDJunction is a network of online support groups and discussion boards that feels a lot like DailyStrength -- right down to the concept of "hugs." In addition to the discussion board based support groups, MDJunction has a MySpace-style social network with all the usual trimmings.

While Ning isn't specifically a health related support site, it is one of the best places to find social networks devoted to specific physical or mental health issues. Ning has over 220,000 social networks and is growing at a rate of 1,000 per day. Search the site for whatever type of support group you're looking for and you're likely to find a niche network dedicated to just that. For example, here's a search for "diabetes."

Bonus site: If you're craving a more face-to-face support setting, try Meetup to find a real world support group in your town.

Are there any general support group 2.0 sites we've missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Google's pranks each year are probably the most anticipated on the web. Last year, they hit users with two: Sewage-based home WiFi, and printed Gmail. Other classics from the Google prank archive include: the Google Mentalplex, Google Gulp, Google's jobs on the moon, Google PigeonRank, and Google Romance.

Being the tricksters they are, Google also sometimes makes some extaordinary real announcements on April 1, like in 2004 when it used a rather tongue-in-cheek press release to announce Gmail. Google also inspires others to create Google-centric pranks, such as Google Maps Rooms from Google Blogoscoped in 2006.

2. Ebay

Auction site eBay is another great place to trawl for April Fools jokes. Some intrepid auctioneer usually tries to pull a prank each year, perhaps most famously that distinction fell to prop-maker Dan Baines. In 2006 he caused quite a stir when he put up for sale what was purported to be the body of a dead "fairy" on the site. It took him days to respond to all the email he got as a result. ""I've had all sorts of comments including people who say they've seen exactly the same things and one person who told me to return the remains to the grave site as soon as possible or face the consequences," he told the BBC.

Sometimes people play off of other pranks on eBay as well. In 2005, one could find invites to Google's fictitious "Gulp" program being auctioned off on the site.

3. ThinkGeek

Geek-friendly shopping site ThinkGeek sometimes gets in on the Apirl Fools Day act by putting up all sorts of fanciful objects for sale. Last year, for example, they offered the Wii Helmet and inhalable caffeine sticks.

4. Wikipedia

While the validity of Wikipedia for serious research is in doubt already, don't be surprised if everyone's favorite crowd-sourced encyclopedia site gets just a tad be more unreliable tomorrow. In 2005, for example, the site announced that it had been taken over by Encyclopedia Britannica. The article, now labeled a hoax, claimed that the new encyclopedia would cost £99.97/page to edit.

5. NASA

The American space organization has been pulling a prank on its "Astronomy Picture of the Day site on April 1 for many years. Some of the best include last year's space Quidditch match, 2003's Ollie the Owl constellation, and 1998's lunar field goal. Our favorite, though, is 2005's hilarious Water on Mars -- pictured below.

6. Facebook

Though a newcomer to the fraternity of April Fools prankers, Valley-darling Facebook got in on the act last year with some interesting stuff delivered to users via the News Feed. They announced their new "LivePoke!" feature, in which users could pay to have their friends literally poked by a real person. They sent out humorous relationship updates, such as, "Harry and Voldemort have set their relationship status to 'Mortal Enemies.'" And existential status updates like, "You are on Facebook, reading your News Feed." They even announced, much to the chagrin of sports fans everywhere, that Ohio State and Florida -- who were set to meet in the 2007 NCAA championship basketball game -- had mututally agreed upon a tie.

7. Blizzard

Blizzard entertainment, makers of the ultra-popular "World of Warcraft" games, likes to have a little fun with its fans on April Fools Day. In 2006, for example, they announced the creation of BurgerCraft, a chain of theme restaurants based on their games. "At BurgerCraft, players will have a chance to truly taste the flavor of Blizzard's games and savor traditional dishes from all the company’s popular game universes," the company wrote in a bogus press release that included the names of some of the dishes that would be served at the restaurants, such as, Red Dragon Wings, Zealot Fries, and the Frost Shock Smoothie.

Last year, Blizzard got in on the act again by announcing the World of Warcraft tinfoil hat which was of course the "logical result of [a] profound insight, combining tinfoil's powerful mental shielding properties with the excellent counter-hexing effect of troll tears and the outstanding mind-focus powers of one of Azeroth's most precious gems."

8. HowStuffWorks

Beginning in 2006 HowStuffWorks has begun to put up a fake article on the first of April each year. So far, they've been must-reads. In 2006 it was animated tattoos, and last year they brought us cell phoe implants.

9. Craigslist

Though not a guaranteed place to seek out an official prank every year, the one that Craigslist pulled in 2002 was just too good not to mention. Known for its simple, and ad-free design, Craigslist has grown to be the largest classifieds sites in the US serving 27 million unique users monthly. In 2002, those users got quite a shock when founder Craig Newmark announced to its visitors that the site would start running banner ads.

"Craigslist represents virgin territory for banner ad placement," the site said on a page that even included a form for purchasing ads. However, even without the guarantee of an official prank, like eBay, expect Craigslist to be flooded with prank adverts tomorrow.

10. Newspapers

Newspaper, especially those in Britain, love to publish fake stories on April 1. Ever since the 1977 seven-page supplement published in the Guardian detailing life on the fictional island of San Serriffe, newspapers and magazines have been bonkers for April Fools Day hoaxes.

Just last year there was CNet's April 1 homepage, which sported some fanciful stories including the Dalai Lama being exiled to Second Life and a preview of a new Wii knitting game. There was the grow-your-own Viagra craze in the Independent, Tony Blair heading to the stage via the Observer, and the Register's fake story on Google and Apple joining forces to make a phone.

Conclusion

Of course, the web isn't the web isn't the only place you might be fooled. Companies have a long history of spending real money to put out fake news on April 1st. In 1998, for example, Burger King took out a a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the "left handed Whopper" -- a new version of their famous burger specifically made for lefties. In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the famed US historical landmark, "The Liberty Bell," and was renaming it -- you guessed it -- "The Taco Liberty Bell." So keep your eyes peeled, and remember to take everything you read tomorrow with a large helping of salt.

Even we're not immune. Late last year we reported that CoRank and Menéame had merged before realizing a tad too late that it was actually a prank for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which is sort of a Latin American and Spanish equivalent of April Fools Day.

Be sure to check out April Fool's Day on the Web which has been attempting to catalog every web-based April Fool's Day gag since 2004. ]]> Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_places_to_get_fooled_on_april_1.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_places_to_get_fooled_on_april_1.php Trends Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:34:35 -0800 Josh Catone Embedded chat in a website provides the ability to more closely connect with your readers or customers, depending on the instance. Chat widgets provide real-time feedback and spur thought-provoking discussions - features lacking in e-mail. However the disadvantages should be acknowledged too. In some cases, widgets may slow down the page load or take away from the overall site experience rather than enhance it. However I encourage everyone to give some of the following chat widgets a try and make your own conclusions. Let's take a look at some of the top ones...

MeeboMe

MeeboMe is the leader in the space. This spin-off of the original multiple client chat (Meebo) is a nice, simple chat widget. It features publisher status, user nickname editing, and sound control. Also be sure to check out MeeboRooms, launched earlier this year.

Plugoo

Plugoo is a slick little chat widget that enables you to talk with site visitors via your IM client. In other words, you can work as usual without having to keep an eye on the chat box. Then if someone initiates a chat, a message will pop up on your IM. Great concept.

Mabber is a simple, basic chat widget. No frills or gimmicks. It has an easy set-up process and intuitive interface, which makes this a good choice if you're looking to add a little something extra to your site.

Pladeo

Formerly InCircles, Pladeo is beautifully designed Flash chat widget. Some might call it overkill though. Site owners can choose a vertical or horizontal layout, as well as the color. Nicely designed, but it may take away from the rest of your site.

Userplane

Userplane is a more sophisticated chat offering. I found the sign up process to be a bit tedious, but the end product was worth it. The company launched a revenue-sharing program in May of this year. [disclosure: Userplane is a R/WW sponsor]

Geesee

Geesee is highly functional and robust, yet it's also a cumbersome service. I found the interface and color scheme to be a bit childish, although I suppose the service is tailored as a more 'fun' offering than some of the others.

Gabbly

Gabbly is a slick, multi-user chat widget. The service also provides RSS and audio functionality. I found it to be a pretty good overall offering, unless you're looking for something extremely basic.

Chatango

Chatango is a personalized chat widget. The set-up was easy, yet it still provided a high level of customization. The interface wasn't the slickest, but it was intuitive. Overall though, I thought Chatango was mediocre.

Zoho Chat

Zoho Chat was one of my favorite services that I tested. It is extremely easy to set-up and very slick. The widget is very simple to use and professional-looking. [disclosure: Zoho is a R/WW sponsor]

ParaChat

ParaChat is more of an application than a widget. The embedded chat box is a "presence" and feels like it's part of the website. However the look n' feel is very web 1.0 and the ads take away from the experience. Overall, I wasn't overly impressed.

Conclusion

The implementation of a chat widget should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Not all websites may benefit, as some people may not have the time or resources to operate the technology. Having said that, the ability to facilitate real-time, pertinent discussions cannot be understated. Check out one or more of the above chat widgets and let us know what you think. Also if you know of other chat widgets or embedded chat programs that we missed, be sure to list them in the comments.

For in-depth analysis on start pages, check out Read/WriteWeb's The Future of Personalized Start Pages and Business Models For Start Pages.

Netvibes is one of the leaders in the space. The interface is not only clean, but also very well thought-out. Usability seemed to be a big factor when designing the experience - and it shows. In March they released their Coriander Edition - a "super personalized homepage, including a "Netvibes Reader" with multimedia capabilities and new "instant sharing" capabilities.

Pageflakes

Pageflakes is another leading start page. I am a big fan of the initial 3 step set-up process and the high level of customization. It's a very nice overall service. In July Pageflakes announced their latest version, code-named Blizzard. It introduces social networking functionality, themes, a slick Ajax UI, and more.

Protopage

Protopage is very cool. It may not be quite as practical as the front runners, but the 'sticky note' type interface gets big points. Though the messaging is scattered, the drag-and-drop is wonderfully smooth.

iGoogle

iGoogle is probably the most simple of all the offerings. It is Google's first big kick at AJAX start pages. The offering is extremely basic and lacks any clutter. See a full review here: iGoogle: The Epitome of Google Personalization

MyYahoo

MyYahoo is clearly tailored for the average Internet user. Messaging and instructions are clear and concise. Having said that, the interface is rather bland and functionality is limited. However, this is soon to change - as in March Yahoo announced a new beta My Yahoo with web 2.0 features. The beta My Yahoo has a fresh new design and some neat interactive features (using ajax of course!). It also aims to make personalization simpler.

Inbox

Inbox is a portal with an AJAX start page wrapper. As is the case with Yahoo, this offering will most likely appeal to regular folks, as it is easy-to-use. Advanced users may skip over it, as it lacks in the functionality department.

Eskobo

Eskobo ressembles a Netvibes clone, but there are slight differences. The service provdes a nice, clean page, but does not include anything revolutionary or particulary interesting.

ItsAStart

ItsAStart is a generic, two-column AJAX start page. There is nothing overly flashy or extraordinary about the service. In fact, I found that it offered the least attractive interface.

Favoor

Favoor is a beautifully designed start page, but it lacks in two key areas. Firstly, there is a mandatory registration process. Secondly, there is no default content once you finally access the page. Once these two obstacles can be eliminated, I think the site may have a chance at competing with the big boys.

24eyes

24eyes immediately engages the reader with a page full of news content. However, this can be somewhat daunting, as my eyes got lost! Perhaps I need 24 eyes to truly enjoy the experience to the utmost extent.

Conclusion

The need for a start page is undeniable. The ability to personalize and customize your own space saves time and hassle. A drag-and-drop interface is extremely easy and intuitive for newcomers to the feed aggregation concept. Adoption is simply dependent upon further education. One key question still remains however - where is the revenue model? Though these mini-portals are able to attract millions of users, monetization is needed for long term survival.

There are many other AJAX start pages available on the net. We have only chosen to list 10 of them and we're not claiming this to be a 'top ten' list. Please feel free to add others in the comment section below. Also, let us know which is your favorite.

Twitter

Twitter is the key player in space and the company name is used synonymously with micro-blogging. The free service allows users to post status updates via SMS, e-mail, or web browser. What's more, Twitter has an open platform allowing third party developers to build on top of it.

Pownce recently launched a micro-blogging platform with added functionality. On top of messaging, users can quickly and easily share links, files, or events with any or all of his/her contacts. See our in-depth review of Pownce for more details.

Tumblr

Tumblr is a very clean, slick micro-blogging platform. Its focus is on simplicity and elegance. Similar to Pownce, users can share a variety of things, including text, photos, quotes, links, chats, or even videos.

Jaiku

Jaiku is considered by many to be Twitter's closest competitor. Most features and functions are similar. It will be interesting to see how the company plans to emerge from the shadow of its main rival.

MySay

MySay is what it says. Instead of text updates, users call MySay and say how they are doing today. Then, friends or family can listen via phone, e-mail, or the web.

Hictu

Hictu is a service for video microbloggers. A webcam and a mouse-click are all that is needed to create a videopost. This streamlined solution saves time and effort for traditional vloggers.

Moodmill

Moodmill is a way to express your mood or current state of being. A sliding scale facilitates this process, while a quick text update completes the personalized service.

Frazr

Frazr is also very similar to Twitter. The main difference is one of language. Frazr is focused primarily on the French and German markets.

IRateMyDay

IRateMyDay allows you the ability to (yes, you guessed it) rate your day on a scale of 'Worst' to 'Great'. Users can also provide a short text update to accompany the rating.

Emotionr

Emotionr is a way to gauge your happiness on a scale of 1-10 (decimals included). As the name touts, it is a way to express and share your emotions and feelings with those around you.

Conclusion

Micro-blogging isn't a short-term trend - it is here to stay. The evolution of blogging has spawned this new mini version of blogging and many are latching on. The simplicity and ability to post frequently are what attract most to the concept. We expect much faster adoption and mainstream penetration than blogging in general.

Clicky

Clicky is a clean, all-encompassing analytics package. The service is tailored for small websites and blogs. It's easy to implement and contains advanced features such as real-time visitor tracking and in-depth content analysis.

Enquisite

Enquisite is focused specifically on incoming search engine and PPC traffic. It provides in-depth statistics including page position, landing pages, and specific geographic data.

CrazyEgg

CrazyEgg provides the ability to track, evaluate, and optimize your site based on where your visitors click. Heatmaps and overlays quickly provide perspective into user behavior and habits.

103bees is a real-time search engine analysis and statistics tool. It is highly focused on natural search engine traffic and the analysis of keywords and terms for SEO purposes.

Measure Map

Measure Map provides free, easy-to-understand web stats for bloggers. Currently the site isn't offering new accounts, but you can enter your e-mail for future notice. Owned by Google and some of its technology was ported to Google Analytics.

whos.amung.us

Whos.amung.us is an attractive, real-time visitor counter. It displays the total number of visitors on your site at any given moment. The easy-to-install widget requires no registration.

FeedBurner

Feedburner, as many already know, is tailored for blogs. In-depth feed statistics and general blog statistics are provided in a slick, intuitive interface. Now owned by Google.

Snoop

Snoop offers real-time visitor tracking. The service streams the page-to-page activity of visitors right to your desktop. Advanced features include audible event triggering and name tag integration.

ClickTale

ClickTale literally records the actions and activity of visitors. The website owner can then analyze the video footage to understand user behavior and increase the usability of the site.

MyBlogLog

MyBlogLog is essentially a social network for blogs. However, the service also provides valuable statistics; including onsite clicking habits and referral information. Owned by Yahoo.

Conclusion

There are many ways to monitor user activity beyond the capabilities of a generic stats package. The niche offerings listed above can provide insight and understanding, to help optimize your traffic and create a more compelling online experience.

Of course there are many other great Web analytics products out there - please list your favorites in the comments.