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Welcome back to the Webware 100!

It worked before, so we're doing it again: Today Webware is launching its second Webware 100 Awards, honoring the people's choice for the best Web 2.0 apps and services.

In our 2007 awards, more than half a million votes were cast to determine the most the popular Web apps. This time, with more apps available and even people using Web 2.0 apps, the contest should be even more intense.

There are 10 categories for awards in the Webware 100. Each category will have 10 winners in it. We've freshened the category lineup for this year:

Audio: Music, podcasts, audiobooks. Browsing: Browsers, start pages, RSS readers, widgets, runtime engines. Commerce and events: Retail, auctions, travel, real estate, concerts, conferences. Communications: E-mail, chat, voice. Productivity: App suites, to-do lists, groupware. Publishing and photography: Blogging, content management, photo sites. Search and Reference: Search engines, encyclopedias, mapping. Social: Social networking, family sites, recommendations, online worlds, contests. Utility and Security: Infrastructure providers, storage, online protection. Video: Video storage, playback, streaming, editing, and animation.

Nominations are open

Today we are opening up the awards with the nomination phase. If there's a site that you want people to vote on, nominate it now using this form on www.webware.com/100. Nominations will close on January 25, 2008.

There's no need to nominate a site more than once, or to encourage friends to nominate a site that you have already nominated. Save the grassroots efforts for the voting phase, which starts after we've processed all the nominations.

All live sites that have been covered in the Webware blog so far will be automatically nominated, but if you are an official representative for a product that we've written up, please nominate again anyway and enter in your contact information so we can contact you if necessary (like, if your product wins).

Qualifications for nomination: Entries must be live by January 25, 2008. It's OK if a site is in beta, but it must be an open beta. The site must be entered into 1 of our 10 categories. We reserve the right to recategorize nominations. See full awards terms and conditions.

Once the nominations are closed, Webware editors will go over the entries, remove the nonqualifying and duplicate nominations, and make sure all services are in the correct category. Then we'll select 30 services per category for the finalist round. We'll make sure the most important, most innovative, and most useful products are selected as Webware 100 finalists.

Voting starts in February, but nominate now

In late February, we'll take these 30 finalists in each of our ten categories, and open up user voting. Users will be able to vote on their favorite webware in each category. Voting will happen on the Webware site, and we will also distribute voting buttons and code to the finalists that they can put on their own sites.

Voting will run through March. The top 10 services in each category will be crowned the 2008 Webware 100 on April 21.

We'll keep you up to date on Webware 100 progress on the blog, and of course we'll announce the winners with a ton of fanfare, possibly even at a nice event replete with speeches and ice sculptures.

Once again, the Webware 100 process is this:

1. Users nominate (that's what we're doing now).
2. Editors filter the nominations.
3. Everyone votes on finalists.
4. Winners announced.

Nominations are open now. What are your favorite webware services?

Oh, one final note: This awards program is about the best Web apps. That's all we care about at Webware. I couldn't give a hoot about the personality of Web startup CEOs, how companies are funded, or the creativity of various marketing programs. I want to help you find the webware sites and apps that are worth your time. Nominate the services you like and use, so we can vote on the important stuff.