In this topical1 paper we try to give an analysis and overview of the current state of Semantic Web research. We point to different interpretations of the Semantic Web as the reason underlying many controversies, we list (and debunk) four false objections which are often raised against the Semantic Web effort. We discuss the current status of the Semantic Web work by reviewing the current answers to four central research questions that need to be answered, and by surveying the uptake of Semantic Web technology in different application areas. Finally, we try to identify the main challenges facing the Semantic Web community. 1 Which Semantic Web? It has already been pointed out by Marshall and Shipman in [1] that the term "Semantic Web" is used to describe a variety of different goals and methods. They distinguish (1) the Semantic Web as a universal library for human access; (2) as the habitat for automated agents and web-services 2 ; and (3) as a method for federating a variet...