Why are ugly websites so successful?

I think ugly websites do well is because the focus of the site is the content. The quality of the content draws people to return to the website. Craig's list is a great example of this. It doesn't look that great but it gets the job done.

Some reasons:

- They are simple

- Basic font faces that look like a magazine or newspaper seems approachable to basic users

- It's easy to take part in the content (consume) rather than interact.

- Basic layouts seem more approachable to interact with (prgmr.com vs rackspace.com)