"Web 2.0" refers to what is perceived as a second generation of web development and web design. It is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, User-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. It has led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and web applications. Examples include social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies.

Web 2.0 is neither a product nor an application that is used directly. Rather, it is a list of de facto standards and features that aim to utilize the way people use and interact with websites. It focuses on implementing websites best practices, such as Amazon and Flicker, in order to increase the chance of building a successful website. These standards impose some constraints on the websites development team in terms of usability, accessibility, and providing rich user experience. For developers, Web 2.0 requires the use of new technologies such as Ajax to create Rich Internet Applications (RIA) and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to deliver the site content asynchronously to other parties.

Nowadays, more and more companies are moving toward standardizing their websites using Web 2.0 as a reference. The most obvious benefit that comes with Web 2.0 is the user comfort when browsing the site increasing his/her potential to buy services and products. Moreover, Web 2.0 increases the chances of sites’ success since they are built using the best practices in the industry. Web 2.0 opens a new horizon of services like RIA experience that was not possible by sticking with old technologies.