Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert was Webby’s “Person of the Year” winner for the innovative way he has used the internet to interact with fans through his show, The Colbert Report, the organization announced on Tuesday. Colbert managed to become the top searched result for “the greatest living American” on Google. His presidential campaign, called “One Million Strong for Stephen T. Colbert” had 78 viewers per minute on Facebook in the first week of appearance.

Stephen Colbert has been hosting his very own television show since October 2005, which proved to be a success within its first month on the air. In an interview with the Associated Press, Colbert talked about the Internet and his online audience: “The web is essentially improvisational… The Internet is the shortest, hardest wall against which your voice will echo back. It’s a big place, but, boy, you get an echo back really fast.”

Will.i.am became Webby’s “Artist of the Year” for his contribution to Barak Obama’s political campaign through videos posted on the Internet and featuring many celebrities, such as Scarlet Johansson or John Legend, who agreed to be part of the “Yes We Can” campaign.

Michael Gondry was declared “Film &Video Person of the Year”, for his “inventive visual style and storytelling,” which “consistently set new motion picture standards." His low budget film “Be Kind Rewind” inspired filmmakers to recreate scenes from their favorite films and share them online, the organizers of the Webby Special Achievement Awards have said.

The “Best Actor” award went to Tim and Eric, who made their online debut with timanderic.com and started making short films and videos years ago. After Bob Odenkirk discovered them, they became responsible for Cartoon Network’s animated series “Tom Goes to the Mayor”, and then for the live-action show “Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job.”

The Webby Special Achievement Awards will be presented by the Academy at the 12th Annual Webby Awards Celebrations on June 8-10, 2008 in New York City.