Biggest hits on the net

What do Friends Reunited, easyJet, Robbie Williams and Harry Potter have in common? They are among the most popular websites in the country, according to a leading industry analyst.

The survey of internet activity shows which British websites, across a range of categories from entertainment and arts to news to dating sites, enjoy the greatest number of "hits" by Net users.

So Harry Potter, Robbie Williams and Transport for London all topped their respective categories in the survey.

It shows that the main growth areas are online shopping, which grew in size by 55 per cent; travel, up by 42 per cent; and internet chatroom sites like Friends Reunited, which grew by 52 per cent.

The poll was carried out by Hitwise UK, which monitors the activity of 8.5 million web users to produce an annual snapshot. General manager Simon Chamberlain said: "This is a barometer of public attitudes. When there is a high-profile event, you can see changes in online behaviour: during the Sars outbreak, visits to the Foreign Office and World Health Organisation went through the roof.

"Equally, in entertainment, the current interest in Harry Potter is reflected in the survey."

The results reveal some interesting facts about our national habits. Among pop sites, Robbie, teen favourite Gareth Gates and boy band Blue comprise the top three.

But a glance at the list of arts sites, for example, indicates we are quite capable of being highbrow. At number one is the website for the Tate: perhaps the "op-art" of Bridget Riley at Tate Modern is what is pulling them in - or perhaps it's the chance to buy prints, posters and mugs online that appeals to armchair-bound art lovers.

Also in the top 10 are the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Academy and easyart.co.uk, the website which allows customers to order prints of famous paintings over the internet.

We are a little less high-brow in other areas of the arts. Harry Potter, unsurprisingly, tops the "movie entertainment" section, with websites for cinema chains including Warner, Odeon and UCI next in line.When it comes to
personalities, it is clearly celebrities and gossip we rate most highly. The BBC's Celebdaq - the "celebrity stock exchange" that has been one of the hits of the year - is at number one, with Popbitch, the gossip website, second.

Kylie, her Australian pop rival Holly Vallance and Will Young make the top 10 in the "entertainment personalities" section. Gourmands might quail at some of the top 10 "restaurants and catering" sites: McDonald's is at number two and Domino's, the pizza delivery company, at three. At number one is openroads.com, the online travel planning site.

Some things remain predictable: the top "men's lifestyle" site is fhm.com, the online version of the lad's magazine, closely followed by a website that surely needs no explanation: page3.com.