2012 Webby Awards Winners Announced

Press Release from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences:

New York, NY — Pinterest, Google+ and Spotify will each be presented with their first Webby Awards alongside special recognition honorees Instagram and Bjork at The 16th Annual Webby Awards on May 21, at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The Webby Awards ceremony will be hosted by Patton Oswalt and will broadcast live at webbyawards.com [1] starting at 4:30PM EDT.

Academy judges like Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone, Arianna Huffington and mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper selected The Webby Award Winners while Internet voters around the world chose the Winners of The Webby People's Voice Awards with a Webby record of nearly 1.5 million votes cast from over 200 countries.

Each year, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) acknowledges the outstanding individuals whose groundbreaking Internet work stands out among others. The Special Achievement Webbys, selected by the Academy, celebrate the winners' commitment to using the Internet to foster innovation and add to the growth of Internet culture.

This year's special achievement winners include Webby Person of the Year Louis CK who is being honored in acknowledgement of the groundbreaking digital-only release of his comedy special Louis C.K. - Live at the Beach Theater. The special, which was available directly from C.K.'s site for $5 and published without restrictions, set a new precedent for distribution that has since been followed by fellow comedians Aziz Ansari and Jim Gaffigan.

Bjork will be presented with the Webby Artist of the Year Award for her "Biophilia" album. Dubbed the world's first "app album", Biophilia establishes the Icelandic musician as a ground-breaking creative innovator in the digital realm. Instagram, the photo-sharing startup that recently became a household name after the $1 billion acquisition deal with Facebook, will be honored as the Webby Breakout of the Year. Past recipients of this award include now globally-popular sensations Twitter (2009) and Flickr (2005). Additionally, Juliette Lewis and Graydon Sheppard will be honored as Best Actresses for their original YouTube series "Sh*t Girls Say."

In the wake of political and social transformation around the globe, Facebook [2] was named the winner of the inaugural People's Special Achievement for Social Change, besting Twitter, YouTube, Kiva, and Change.org. The first-ever Award honors the important work that the Internet plays in enabling and fostering social and political development. The winner was selected by the online public as part of The Webby People's Voice voting process.

Not to be outdone, the entertainment industry's biggest names also continued to use the power of the web to encourage people do good. Wieden + Kennedy won three awards for Nike's "Back for the Future" [3] campaign, which featured Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Bill Hader and Kevin Durant and benefitted The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Funny or Die picked up a Webby for its "Drunk History Christmas with Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes." [4] In the Best Drama Online Film & Video category "The Confession," [5] which featured Kiefer Sutherland, won both a Webby and People's Voice Award. Old Spice's "Mano a Mano en El Baño" [6] won three People's Voice Awards for Isaiah Mustafa and Fabio. And 72andSunny's campaign for "K-Swiss, MFCEO Kenny Powers" [7] earned Danny McBride two People's Voice Awards. "Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Star Wars" [8] was honored with two People's Voice Awards for CollegeHumor. Last, and certainly not least, Will Ferrell won his third Webby Award for impersonating President George W. Bush in Funny or Die's "President Bush Reacts to Osama Bin Laden's Death" [9].

This year's Agency of the Year honors, highlighting the agency that wins the most overall Webby Awards (including People's Voice awards) went to BBH which won nine Webby Awards for four of their entries.

"This year's winners represent an amazing cross-section of the new and continuing trends we've seen across the Internet this year," said David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of the Webby Awards. "We want to thank all of the IADAS members -- people like Richard Branson, Biz Stone, and Arianna Huffington, among many others -- for once again picking a truly inspiring list of Webby winners. We also want to thank the online voters for making their voices heard in the form of this year's Webby People's Voice winners."

Flipboard [10] built on its success from last year, this time winning two awards for its new iPhone application. The Onion [11], which won five awards in total, beat out perennial Best Humor Website winners Funny or Die and College Humor for top honors. And Showtime and HBO both took home awards for their second screen technologies -- Showtime for its Showtime Social app for iPad, and HBO for its HBO Connect [12] website -- which allow viewers to interact with the shows they're watching on TV. Pandora [13], which swept the music category last year, took home two People's Voice Awards this year but it was the IADAS that voted Pitchfork [14] as Best Music Website.

Other Highlights of The 16th Annual Webby Awards winners include:

The Museum of Me [15]: Best Use of Social Media Interactive Advertising

The Sound of Football [16]: Best Augmented Reality Interactive Advertising

Mashable [17]: Best Blog - Business Website

Take This Lollipop [18]: Best Online Guerilla & Innovation Interactive Advertising

TED.com [19], which won a number of Webbys including the Webby People's Voice Award for Best Education site.

The winners of multiple awards include:

Dropbox (4) [20]: Webby and People's Voice Award for Best Practices Website and Webby and People's Voice Award for Best Web Services & Applications Website

The 21st Century Beetle - Rock 'n' Scroll (4) [21]: Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Automotive Website and Webby Award for Best Navigation/Structure Website and Best Visual Design � Function Website

Counterspill (3) [22]: Webby and People's Voice Award for Best Activism Website and a Webby Award for Best Green Website

Draw A Stickman (3) [23]: Webby and People's Voice Award for Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics Website and Best People's Voice Award for Best Viral Marketing Interactive Advertising

The Creators Project (3) [24]: Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Music Online Film & Video and Webby Award for Best Branded Content Interactive Advertising

Epicurious.com (3) [25]: Webby and People's Voice Award for Best Lifestyle Website and People's Voice Award for Best Lifestyle (Handheld Devices) Mobile & Apps

KAYAK (3) [26]: Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Travel Website and the People's Voice Award for Best Travel Mobile & Apps

Skype (3) [27]: Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Social (Tablets & All Other Devices) Mobile & Apps and People's Voice Award for Best Use of Device Camera Mobile & Apps

Sesame Street Muppets (2) [28]: Webby Award for Best Youth Website and People's Voice Award for Best Home/Welcome Page Website

Super 8 (2) [29]: Webby Award for Best Use of Device Camera Mobile & Apps and Best Entertainment (Handheld Devices) Mobile & Apps

Winners of both The Webby Award and The People's Voice Award:

Manilla [30]: Best Banking/Bill paying Website

Jameson1780.com [31]: Best Use of Interactive Video Online Film & Video

Ben & Jerry's Fair Tweets [32]: Best Corporate Social Responsibility Website

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [33]: Best Cultural Institutions Website

BabyCenter [34]: Best Family/Parenting Website

Mint.com [35]: Best Financial Services Website

MINI Maps [36]: Best Games (Tablets & All Other Devices) Mobile & Apps

NASA [37]: Best Government Website

Yelp Mobile [38]: Best Guides/Ratings/Reviews Mobile & Apps

CitizenshipWorks [39]: Best Law Website

Unstuck [40]: Best Lifestyle (Tablets & All Other Devices) Mobile & Apps

The Creators Project [24]: Best Music Online Film and Video

FactCheck.org [41]: Best Politics Website

Target iPhone App [42]: Best Shopping (Handheld Devices) Mobile & Apps

Fab.com app [43]: Best Shopping (Tablets & All Other Devices) Mobile & Apps

ESPN.com [44]: Best Sports Website

From Peru for Peru [45]: Best Travel & Adventure Online Film & Video

Evernote [46]: Best Utilities & Services (Handheld Devices) Mobile & Apps

'I will never be cut': Kenyan girls fight back against genital mutilation [47]: Best Documentary: Individual Episode Online Film & Video

The VICE Guide To Congo [48]: Best News & Politics: Individual Episode Online Film & Video

Winners will be fêted at a star-studded ceremony at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on Monday, May 21, at 5:30PM. There, many will deliver their take on the famous Webby 5-Word Speeches. The show will be hosted by critically-acclaimed stand-up comedian, writer, and actor Patton Oswalt, and streamed live in HD at www.webbyawards.com [49]. Winners will be presented with the Webby Award (as voted on by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences) and the People's Voice Award (as voted on by online fans). A full list of this year's winners can be found at http://wbby.co/winners [50].