NEW YORK -- This year's list of nominees for Webby awards celebrating Internet achievement range from celebrities such as Beyonce and Ellen DeGeneres to Google and GoPro, the maker of popular mountable video cameras.
The organizations with the most nominations are Vice Media with 11, The New York Times with 10 and Google Inc. with nine. Among the online videos nominated is "24 Hours of Happy," a 24-hour music video starring Pharrell Williams.
The winners of the 18th annual awards will be announced on April 29. The Webbys are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a group of about 1,000 Internet experts and professionals. Webby categories are split into a regular award, chosen by the academy, and a "people's voice" award, which lets members of the public vote.
Among the mobile apps and games nominated are the secret-sharing app Whisper, vacation rental site Airbnb and QuizUp. The viral ads category includes "The Epic Split" featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, in which the action film star does a split in between two Volvo trucks, along with "Real Beauty Sketches" by Dove. The Citi Bike app, used for New York City's bike sharing program, is among the apps nominated in the city and urban innovation category which also includes PulsePoint, an app that lets people trained in CPR help people nearby who are in need of assistance.
This year's awards received more than 12,000 entries from over 60 countries. Of these, 8 per cent were selected as nominees.
