And the winner is ... YouTube?

It's no secret that the Webby Awards, at one time the toast of digerati set, have seen better days. Once dubbed the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, they have soared and plummeted like a dot-com IPO.

Still, the Webbys have survived to see their 10th anniversary this year, and--true to the event's history--its organizers are looking to ride another wave to the top, this time through a Web 2.0 rebirth. And that, in a word, means videos.

A spinoff called The Webby Film and Video Awards has been created as "the world's first major awards honoring original film and video premiering on the Internet." The video Webbys have distinctly Hollywood roots, spearheaded by former Variety publisher Gerry Byrne and supported by the likes of Showtime's Matt Blank and Fox Entertainment's Jim Gianopulos, as well as the Sundance Channel's Larry Aidem.

But it's a new day, and other awards arose in the video business while the Webbys wallowed through its trough. Far more important, in a universe where grassroots opinions matter most, one can't help but wonder whether the Webbys--or any other awards organization--can stay relevant.