It's always tricky to predict how the web will evolve – after all, who had heard of YouTube 12 months ago? However, we think we've got a pretty good idea which sites will transform the way you use the web in 2007. We've chosen 25 of them - and here are the Top 5.

1 Platial www.platial.com
What is it? The people's atlas. Build a map that interests you, then share it with the world.
From the response we've had to recent features we know your hooked on the mapping revolution that began with the breathtaking zoom-in wizardry of Google Earth. Well, online maps are constantly evolving and our top tip for 2007 is this gem, which marries the of usefulness maps to the build-it-yourself and social networking ideas behind the new wave of 2.0 sites.
Built around Google and Yahoo Maps, Platial lets you create a personalised atlas on any theme. You can put your life, neighbourhood and/or hobbies and interests onto a map, along with information and descriptions. You could build a map detailing places you've travelled to or, if you're feeling more ambitious, create an “autobiogeography” – a map-based autobiography highlighting all of the important places in your life to date.
Alternatively you can use the site to create a resource that will be of more use to other Platial users. For example, you could create a travel guide displaying all the top sights in your city, or every stop on your favourite band's next tour. You can easily add comments, web links and even photos to each location to help bring it to life.
Any map you build will be automatically shared, although you can specify if other users can only view your creation or collaborate on it and add places of their own. As well as hosting your map, Platial lets you add it to any web site or blog using its free MapKit.
There are currently more than 7,000 maps already on the site. You can find ones of interest by entering the topic you're looking for (restaurants for example) and a specific area. You can also browse tags, jump to a featured city or just search user picks and recent additions.
Platial is astonishingly easy to use and the maps created by other site members can prove to be surprisingly useful. The service is still being actively developed which means new features and ideas are being added all the time. Word-of-mouth response and rumoured interest from several big web companies should see Platial really making its mark this year.

2 Scrybe http://iscrybe.com
What is it? A superb online organiser, calendar and content management tool.
Some web-based calendars, such as Google Calendar, are so advanced that any newcomer would have to be very impressive just to survive. Thankfully Scrybe is extremely impressive. Its calendar application is superb, but the site offers a lot more than just a place to store and share dates and events. Useful features include world time clocks and to-do list transfers – you can drag and drop data from common programs, such as Excel or Word and Scrybe will intelligently convert them.
Possibly its most impressive feature is ThoughtPad. Using this you can enter ideas or cut and paste content from websites, including related images. Everything is automatically formatted into a beautifully laid out multi-column view. You can then print your data in a choice of useful foldable formats. And interestingly for a web application, Scrybe also has an offline mode so you can still use it even when not connected to the internet.
It's very new, and accounts are being allocated slowly, but this is definitely a site to keep an eye on.

3 Google Docs and Spreadsheets http://docs.google.com
What is it? A free online alternative to Microsoft Word and Excel.
Google's web-based Office tool is already very powerful and it's likely to become even more so this year. New features are in the pipeline which will mean greater integration with other Google applications. For example, American Googlemail users who receive an Excel attachment now have the option of opening it in Google Spreadsheets as well as viewing it as HTML or downloading it (the two usual choices). This feature will be rolled out to users in other countries in the coming months and the option to open Word documents in Google Docs shouldn't be far behind.
At the moment the two components work slightly differently from each other. Spreadsheets, unlike Docs, doesn't automatically save a new file unless you tell it to and its collaboration features aren't as advanced either. These inconsistencies are slowly being ironed out and the more features that Google can add, the more useful the site will become.

4 eBay Express http://express.ebay.co.uk
What is it? The new UK online shopping site from auction giant eBay.
eBay's latest venture launched in October 2006, just in time for Christmas. Although it has yet to have much of an impact, the potential is clearly there.
The new site is basically a straightforward extension of the company's Buy It Now service. Visitors purchase goods for a fixed price rather than bidding on them, and all products are new and covered with a minimum seven-day returns policy. Selling is limited only to established eBayers with a business account (and at least 98 per cent positive feedback) and you can browse and buy from multiple sellers using a shopping cart system.
eBay Express will take time to catch fire - there aren't enough sellers or goods on offer and many of the very latest items are unavailable. However, the potential is gigantic, and we expect it to grow significantly this year.

5 Jumpcut www.jumpcut.com
What is it? An online video editor and remixer now owned by Yahoo.
Sharing videos online has become massive over the last couple of years, thanks mainly to the likes of YouTube. Jumpcut lets you upload and share videos in the same way, but there's one major difference - the site also lets you edit your videos online. You can cut, copy, paste and move scenes around and add audio, transitions, titles, and effects. It's a powerful and sophisticated editing tool that lets you give your videos a professional polish before sharing them with the world at large.
What's really exciting about Jumpcut is that users don't even have to create original videos themselves. They can take someone else's work and remix it, editing any existing video clip so long as it's public.
At the moment the site is lacking both users and videos but it was acquired by Yahoo in September 2006 which should help to improve its popularity, especially when it gets integrated into Yahoo Video, Yahoo's YouTube alternative.

More top sites for 2007 >> click here.

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