The Webby Awards launched in 1997, recognizing excellence on the early Internet through every new format, industry, and wave of innovation it produced. In 2010, we brought that standard to Europe, launching the Lovies to benchmark the full breadth and nuance of what European digital culture produces, on its own terms.

Sixteen years later, that origin has never felt more relevant. It’s not hyperbole to say the Internet is at an inflection point as significant as its founding. AI is reshaping how we create, how we communicate, how we build. And Europe is responding in a distinctly European way, producing globally consequential products and work, with embedded values that offer an important counterweight to what’s prevailing elsewhere.

The Lovies have always applied the international Webby standard to Europe. What rises to that level of excellence here, across every region, every language, every creative tradition? In a moment when Europe’s contribution to the internet has never been more significant, the question matters more than ever.

This season, we are going deeper than ever across all of Europe. We have expanded our judge pool; we added nearly 100 new judges over the past year from 20 countries across Europe, bringing in new voices from every corner of the continent to ensure the work is evaluated with the full context it deserves. We have also expanded and refined our categories, expanding honours across social & creators and adding new categories for AI & Innovation, aligning more closely with the Webby Awards’ structure to reflect where European digital is growing, from AI to creators to podcasts and beyond.

If you’re building something that matters, creating work that represents where your corner of Europe is headed, or pushing the boundaries of what the internet can be, this is where you bring it. The Lovie Awards exist to benchmark that work against the Webby standard of internet excellence, and to recognize the makers, builders, and creators who represent the best of what Europe produces for the internet, and where it’s headed. We can’t wait to see what you’ve made.

Entries are now open for the 16th Annual Lovie Awards.

– Jesse Feister, Executive Director, The Lovie & Webby Awards