In 2002, BBC ran an article about the fact that internet sites, back then at 32 million, was about to drop more than grow.

"For only the second time ever, an authoritative monthly survey of the number of sites on the net has found fewer sites online than in the previous month.  The fall has been put down to a drop in the number of registered domains.  But between November and December 2001, the number of sites on the web fell by 182,142.

During the closing months of 2001, the number of new domains registered was lower than the number that were not renewed.

The only other time that Netcraft has seen a drop in the number of sites was in August 2000.  That drop was the result of some organisations going bust, others swapping software and the effects of the Code Red virus.  In September 2000 the net resumed its steady upward climb - until its latest stumble. Experts say the latest change looks more long-lasting."

 

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Last week, we quietly slipped through our newest iteration of the G2iX website, our second for the year.  At first glance, the homepage comes as a welcome surprise owing to the design illustration carousel that introduces and distinguishes the major product lines. But personally, I think it is not a far-cry from the first one we debuted from February of this year as we retained most of the elements and the color palettes but of course, with layout improvements.

How G2iX.com Looked Then (compared to Now)

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If you'd like to find out if the number of websites has petered out just as had been reported then, it may or may not come as a surprise to you that, indeed, the number of websites deleted has far exceeded the number of existing websites to date by a ratio of 3:1. 

As of Oct 14, 2009 via Domain Tools, there has been a recorded 372 million sites that used to be registered but now has been deleted compared to the active 112 million still in the active column if we base it on current domain registration.

Does that mean the the web is dying?

On the contrary, I think not.  Recent statistics also show that new site registrations outnumber those that expire at a ratio of almost 2:1 (112,000 new registrations vs 74,000 expired) .  And speaking of births, new websites may not come close to the number of new stars being born in the galaxy but it isn't really too far from the number of humans born each day.

If ever, what these numbers reveal is how sites are not built for the long run and generally have short-term lives.  That to keep sites up, they need upkeep and continuous management more than few are willing to admit and plan for. 

And by management, we don't just mean the budget and the money to keep it running.  More importantly is the creation of content and desire to always make it better, design-wise, according to the times or not, in order to entice and reach the intended audience while at the same time, remain a more accurate representation of the person or the company of which it stands for.

Props to our G2iX Web Team and Congratulations! [May you remain inspired all the way to the next iteration which started the day we launched last week.]