Top 20 Most Profitable Websites in the World

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Aima Zaheer

Tue, Jul 4, 2023, 3:13 PM 11 min read

The rapid developments in the internet sector have played a pivotal role in the global economy as the digital economy now takes up 15% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Washington DC-based think-tank Wilson Center. In the last decade and a half, the contribution of the Internet sector to the global economy has grown at a pace that is two and a half times faster than the growth of the total global GDP. According to research ordered by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and led by a Harvard Business School (HBS) researcher, the contribution of the Internet sector grew seven times faster than the US economy in the four years leading to 2021. The Internet sector now accounts for 12% of the US GDP. Since 2008, the contribution of the sector to the US economy has risen by eight times from $300 billion to $2.45 trillion. Furthermore, the sector also employs 17 million people in the US as compared to seven million four years earlier. Some of the Top 20 Online Shopping Websites in USA in 2023 also have a key role to play in the expansion of the market.

As discussed in one of our previous articles, the e-commerce sector is forecasted to expand from a value of $48 billion in 2022 to $117.7 billion by the end of 2030. The high penetration of the Internet in the developed world has resulted in 70% of the population in these countries buying goods and services online. On the other hand, only 2% of people in the least developed regions like the Sub-Saharan countries use the Internet to buy goods and services online. To ensure global internet connectivity by the end of this decade, an investment of $428 billion is required, with a special emphasis on low-income and underdeveloped countries. Furthermore, the global economy would require an outlay of $1 trillion to keep up with the requirements of 5G, data centres, and other digital initiatives like intelligent transportation or smart cities. The internet revolution has resulted in the drastic rise of notable companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the last 15 years. These companies also own some of the top 10 earning websites in the world.

Overall, there are 4.80 billion social media identities present on the internet. This is equivalent to 59.9% of the global population. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, the number of internet users increased by 2.9% or 147 million people. This is three times faster than the global population growth of 0.9% YoY or 69 million people only. Meanwhile, the number of social media identities increased by 3.2% YoY or 150 million. It must be noted that 96.6% of internet users between the ages of 16 to 64 years use smartphones as a device to access the internet. Meanwhile, 57.8% of internet users between the ages of 16 to 64 years do this through a laptop or desktop computer. On average, a user between the ages of 16 to 64 years spends six hours and 35 minutes daily on the internet. The highest amount of time is taken up by watching television on the internet through broadcast or streaming media. Users are also increasingly looking to make income through trusted online earning sites and look for simple websites that make money. Best earning websites for students like Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) and Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE:FVRR) have also become more popular. South Africa is the country that spends the highest amount of time on the internet, at a daily average of nine hours and 27 minutes.