Google has maintained its position as the most popular internet service in the world, according to the cloud connectivity company Cloudflare, which handles 25% of global internet traffic.
Even as antitrust investigations loom, Google remained the most popular internet service, search engine and browser for the third year running, according to Cloudflare's annual Year in Review report into internet trends and threats. Google Chrome has a whopping 65.7% share of the worldwide browser market with Safari (15.4%), Edge (6.8%), Firefox (4%), and Samsung Internet (2.7%) rounding out the top five.
Following Google were Facebook, Apple and TikTok, in that order. Amazon notably fell to 10th place this year after ranking ninth in 2023. Among other findings:
TikTok holds up under pressure: The social media platform remains the fourth most popular service overall and second most popular social media site, even with the increasingly credible threat of looming bans and regulations.
AI remains the hot topic of the year: Despite a growing field of competitors and a series of leadership shakeups, OpenAI remains the most popular Generative AI service for the second year in a row. It is followed, in order, by Character.AI, Codeium, QuillBot and Claude.
Facebook is a mainstay: Facebook beat out TikTok again as the leading social media platform, with Instagram, X and Snapchat rounding out the top five.
Video streaming shows no signs of fading: In 2024, the Top 3 rankings stayed unchanged, with YouTube firmly holding top spot, followed by Netflix and Twitch. Among paid streaming services, Netflix leads, trailed by Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video.
News services: It might come as a surprise to the English-speaking world but the most popular global news site is that of Globo, the Brazilian mass-media conglomerate. It is followed in order by BBC, New York Times, CNN, Fox News, Google News, Yahoo Finance, Daily Mail, RT and NewsBreak.
Internet outages more widespread: Internet outages were due mostly to government-directed internet shutdowns -- both regional and national -- with over 220 global outages accounted for in 2024, compared with 180 in 2023.
Starlink traffic soars: As tech billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk continues to make headlines, traffic to Starlink satellite internet services nearly tripled again this year. Malawi witnessed the highest increase in traffic (42 times) since initiating service in July 2023.
More data insights into the change, growth and evolution of the internet are available on the Cloudflare Radar 2024 Year In Review microsite, at https://tinyurl.com/4bb8mcx9
