To round off the year, we bring you the top 100 stories that shaped the digital landscape. It was an amazing year, with the continued speed of change towards a more digitally centric society: the rise and rise of social, the migration to mobile, the rising value of online businesses and the growing regulation to manage the digital economy. The stories show big rewards for getting the strategy right – and brutal realities of failing to innovate.
Warmest holiday wishes.
JANUARY
Facebook beats Google as most visited site in US
MySpace to lay off half of workforce
Piracy websites ‘attract 53 billion visits a year’
Amazon buys LoveFilm ‘for £200m’
BBC to cut 360 online jobs as web budget slashed by 25%
Cadbury’s case study: Digital campaign generates over £3 for every pound spent
Facebook shelves phone and address data sharing plan after privacy outcry
Facebook turns ‘likes’ into ads with ‘Sponsored Stories’
Google takes on Groupon with ‘Offers’ voucher scheme
98% of music singles tracks now bought online
Orange takes on YouTube? Telco buys 49% stake in Dailymotion
BSkyB buys Wi-Fi provider The Cloud
FEBRUARY
Facebook gives Brits local offers as ‘Deals’ launches in UK
Google takes on Facebook Places and Foursquare with Latitude check-in tool
UK Internet population: Now more Silver Surfers than youngsters use web
UK survey: Over 35s prefer email ads, while under 35s prefer web ads
Anti-spam email provider Goodmail to shut down
Nokia CEO issues ‘brutal’ memo and ditches first MeeGo smartphone
AOL snaps up Huffington Post for $315m
YouView web TV platform postponed until 2012
Facebook brand ‘Pages’ get profile-style revamp
First look: Nokia reveals Windows 7 phone designs
UK social media app TweetDeck sold for $30m – report
Google includes personalised social links in users' search results
Online vs. store rentals: Blockbuster goes up for sale, closes 609 US stores
MARCH
Google revamps search to filter out ‘content farms’
First product placement appears on UK TV
Qype takes on Groupon, buys German coupon provider
Search wars: Bing overtakes Yahoo! globally for first time
Google buys UK comparison site BeatThatQuote
The Times claims paywall creates better audience for advertisers
YouTube buys Next New Networks, expands into video production
Social networks ‘now most popular online destination in the UK’
Google People Finder: Digital services that drive use, benefit and brand love
Apple sues Amazon over ‘App Store’ name
UK filesharing act delayed by BT and Talk Talk legal claims
APRIL
Google takes on Facebook ‘likes’ with ‘+1’ social tag
Microsoft expands into ad exchange arena
Smartphones, apps and dating site fees added to UK’s inflation basket
1 in 4 ads are now on the Internet- IAB
Ebay buys GSI Commerce for $2.4bn
Amazon takes on Apple with cloud-based music storage
Salesforce boosts social media monitoring with Radian6 buy
Blackberry and M&S first to sign to AOL’s ‘Project Devil’ display ad format
Bankrupt Blockbuster sells for just $320m to Dish Network
Google’s new search rankings: Winners and losers revealed
BT dodges bullet over secret Phorm trials
Android ad market share ‘overtakes iPhone globally for first time’
Hackers bring down Playstation Network: 70 million gamers affected
UK court backs internet piracy act: BT and TalkTalk lose case
Cookies, online ad regulation and the ‘you’ve been targeted button’
Royal Wedding ‘generating one mention every ten seconds online’
MAY
YouTube buys social bookmarking firm Delicious from Yahoo
Could super-injuctions take down Twitter?
Bin Laden death sparks record Twitter surge
Top 100 global brands: Apple overtakes Google
Google cuts out Microsoft with cloud-based laptop ‘Chromebook’
Microsoft's $8.5bn gamble on Skype: Can they make the leap into VoIP integration?
Playstation Network back online... 26 days after hack
Did Facebook accidentally leak user data to advertisers?
Google online music store launch: cloud storage for 20,000 songs
First US social network to go public: LinkedIn to be valued at $3bn in IPO
Twitpic faces backlash for selling rights to users’ photos
Bing ramps up Facebook ‘Like’ data in search rankings
Hargreaves report: 10 steps to shake up UK copyright laws for digital world
Time to buy shares in social media? LinkedIn valued at $4.25bn in stock exchange debut
Twitter sued in super-injunction row
Twitter buys Tweetdeck after bidding war- report
UK websites given extra year to comply with Cookie privacy law
JUNE
Facebook’s ‘stealth’ facial recognition roll-out sparks privacy outcry
Apple takes on Amazon and Google with ‘iCloud’ storage service
Apple takes on Google One Pass with ‘digital newsstand’
Searches to influence interest rates? Bank of England monitors Google for consumer trends
Government axes COI ad agency- 400 advertising jobs at risk
ICANN gives greenlight for ‘.brand’ domain names
UK: Facebook overtakes Microsoft as second most-visited website
JULY
MySpace sold for $35m to Specific Media (and Justin Timberlake)
Google tackles social media 'oversharing' with Google+
New Media Age shuts print edition- goes online only
Facebook debuts ‘comment’ ad format
News of the World closure: Has Murdoch bought TheSunOnSunday.co.uk domain?
Facebook ties with Skype for video chat
Google halts Realtime search as Twitter deal ends
Microsoft partners Baidu for English-language search
News of the World scandal: New media to benefit as consumers switch to digital?
Mobile ad wars: Apple to slash iAd prices by 70%?
Google closes down Labs to focus on existing products
EA takes on Zynga, buys PopCap Games for $1.3bn
Google+ attracts nearly 20m users in just 3 weeks
Web ad watchdog IASH to expand role in UK
AUGUST
Google debuts ‘AdWords Express’ for local businesses
Yahoo switches to Bing search results in Europe
Google becomes phone maker- buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5bn
Google+ adds social gaming, undercuts Facebook's commission by 25%
UK riots: Blackberry hit by hackers after helping police
Hewlett-Packard buys Autonomy, ditches mobiles and PCs to become software maker
Budweiser to sponsor Facebook’s first-ever live football match
Facebook ditches 'Deals' scheme after four months
Steve Jobs steps down as Apple CEO
Facebook drops ‘Places’ for universal location tagging
Google takes on Facebook 'Likes': Links +1 button to Google+
Boost for cloud music services as EMI loses copyright case
SEPTEMBER
Sony unifies online services, launches tablets
Yahoo fires CEO Bartz over the phone
Google axes 10 products to refocus on Google+
Twitter debuts analytics tools, expands Promoted Tweets
Google buys Groupon rival DailyDeal
PayPal payments now accepted offline
Facebook lets users follow strangers’ status updates with Twitter-style ‘Subscribe’ button
Facebook denies tracking users after they log out
OCTOBER
Google opens East London office in 'Silicon Roundabout'
Spotify ties future to Facebook- new sign ups 'need Facebook accounts'
Google offers real-time and paid analytics
Amazon unveils £199 Kindle Fire tablet: Is it an iPad killer?
YouTube launches Google AdWords for Video
Facebook debuts new ad format, updates analytics tools
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies at 56
Napster to shut down: Rhapsody buys ailing online music firm from Best Buy
Google buys Twitter analytics firm SocialGrapple
Findaproperty and Zoopla merge to take on Rightmove
Hulu not for sale- video site focuses on ads and subscriptions
Netflix axes DVD spin off ‘Qwikster’ after customer outrage
Google axes Buzz network to focus on Google+
Google encrypts search: Will tracking be affected?
Nokia debuts first Windows 7 smartphone 'Lumia'
Facebook denies building ‘shadow profiles’ of non-users
Netflix to take on LoveFilm with 2012 UK launch
SeeSaw video-on-demand site shuts down after 2 years
NOVEMBER
Groupon raises $700m in biggest tech IPO since Google
Google search ‘tweak’ affects 35% of searches
YouTube launches 100 original web TV channels
Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo confirm online ad alliance
Bad week for UK electrical retailers: Comet sold for just £2 as Best Buy closes UK stores
Google gets serious about mobile payments: Merges Checkout into Google wallet
Google Music goes live in US with Android store
$40 Akash tablet gets commercial launch in India
Google axes 7 more products to focus on Google+
Six degrees of separation? Facebook makes it 4.74
DECEMBER
Facebook’s ‘$100bn April float’: Insanity or visionary?
Google launches YouTube analytics tool
Salesforce mixes social media with CRM after Radian6 buy
Toyota’s new concept car: A ‘smartphone on wheels’
Adobe buys digital ad buying platform Efficient Frontier
WordPress takes on Google AdSense with WordAds
Facebook location services: Boost with Gowalla acquisition
Facebook’s most radical redesign yet: Social network rolls out ‘Timeline’ layout
Online gaming giant Zynga valuation: $7bn (but is it worth it?)
