NEW DELHI: Hot and happening Websites from BigAdda, Fropper, Indyarocks to smaller sites like Tagz.in have made it to Dataquest’s list of the 25 Hot Indian Web 2.0 start-ups. The research is part of technology publisher CyberMedia’s effort to highlight the fast maturing and growing segment of online business in India.

The list, prepared by Dataquest, with help of Indianweb2.com, that tracks Indian start-ups in the technology space in general and web 2.0 space in particular, is an interesting mix of social networking sites, tool makers, rating sites, and creators of close-knit online communities and collaborative mobile applications.

'India’s 25 Hot Web 2.0 Start-ups' is the first such list created in India and is part of the May 15 issue of the 27-year-old magazine.

The final list was prepared by the Dataquest editors, from 54 companies that were shortlisted based on a set of parameters.

“India has the potential to significantly drive the direction in which Web 2.0 is moving. Micro-blogging and video streaming are the future of Web 2.0 along with 'niche' networking, be it on a friendship portal or around communities,” says Shyamanuja Das, Editor, Dataquest, who led the project.

“A stronger revenue model and a shift from ad-based framework to an e-commerce based set-up is desirable,” he added.

The Web 2.0 hit India only 3 to 4 years ago. The editors of Dataquest have identified a set of reasons for the late adoption of Web 2.0 in India. These include low Internet penetration, limited access devices, low adoption of web-cameras, recorders and high-end phones.

There are many things that have changed from the era of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. One significant change is that all the innovations in web 1.0 era were largely confined to the United States, while web 2.0 is a global phenomenon with India playing a very significant role, probably second only to the US.

Companies are trying innovative ways to woo the users. BigAdda, for example, has roped in Amitabh Bachchan to write his blog in it. Other companies are also creating differentiations based on their overall offering.