Cloudflare Reports On Internet Trends In 2024

According to Cloudflare’s 2024 Year in Review, global internet traffic grew by 17.2% in 2024, with a rise from August through November. This growth aligns with the increasing reliance on online services around the world.

Mobile devices generated 41.3% of all traffic globally, with nearly 100 regions reporting more traffic from mobile devices than desktops. Starlink’s satellite internet service saw substantial growth, with its usage tripling worldwide. Countries like Malawi experienced a 38-fold increase, while Paraguay saw traffic grow 900 times compared to the previous year.

Google remained the most accessed online service globally, with Facebook, TikTok, and Amazon following. This trend highlights how major platforms continue to attract users across diverse services.

What Are the Trends In Device And Platform Usage?

Android maintained its dominance, generating 2/3 of mobile traffic globally. Regions such as Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh reported over 90% of traffic coming from Android devices due to how accessible its become.

In wealthier areas, such as Denmark, iOS led the way, generating 66% of mobile traffic. Browser preferences mirrored these patterns, with Google Chrome leading overall, Safari dominating iOS devices, and Microsoft Edge being the second-most-used browser on Windows systems.

Search engines also varied geographically. Google maintained 88% of global usage, while local platforms like Naver in South Korea captured some major regional shares.

How Is Internet Connectivity Changing?

IPv6 traffic went up globally, reaching 28.5% of usage. India led this growth with 68.9%, followed by Malaysia with 59.6%. These advancements are thanks the increasing demand for scalable and efficient internet protocols.

Spain topped internet speed rankings, providing an average download rate of 292.6 Mbps. This success stems from investments in fibre networks and affordable high-speed plans. Improved speeds give users access to richer online experiences with less delays.

Major outages, often caused by government-directed shutdowns, continued to disrupt connectivity. Bangladesh experienced a complete internet blackout due to protests, while infrastructure failures in Cuba led to disconnections.

What About Internet Security?

Internet security is still a problem, with 6.5% of global traffic flagged as harmful. The United States generated 1/3 of global bot traffic, much of it originating from cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services and Google.

The gambling and gaming sectors became the most attacked industries in 2024, overtaking finance. Older vulnerabilities, such as Log4j, remained active, with attackers exploiting them throughout the year.

Email threats also evolved, with 4.3% of messages classified as malicious. Deceptive links and identity fraud were common tactics, and attackers frequently targeted users with misleading emails.

Which Technologies Are Dominating Website And API Development?

React, PHP, and jQuery are still popular for building websites. Platforms like WordPress led in content management, while HubSpot gained traction for marketing.

Go overtook NodeJS as the preferred language for automated API requests, growing its share by 40%. This shift reflects developers’ focus on tools that provide efficient and scalable solutions for modern demands.

Googlebot generated the highest crawler traffic, indexing content for searches. Other bots, like ByteDance’s Bytespider, reduced activity, while Anthropic’s ClaudeBot had sporadic spikes in usage during the year.

How Are AI Bots And Crawlers Impacting Internet Traffic?

AI bots and crawlers highly influenced internet traffic. Googlebot led activity with its search indexing, while ByteDance’s Bytespider decreased usage by up to 85%.

ClaudeBot from Anthropic showed intermittent peaks but declined toward the end of the year. The shifting activity of these bots reflects changes in content needs and priorities across industries.

Tools introduced this year allowed website owners to block or monitor AI-based requests, giving them more control over how their content was accessed.

What About Trends In Email Security?

Malicious emails accounted for 4.3% of all emails analysed in 2024. Deceptive links and identity fraud were the primary methods attackers used to target individuals and organisations.

Certain domain types, such as .bar, .rest, and .uno, were associated with spam or malicious activity. Over 99% of emails originating from these domains were flagged as harmful, making them a recurring worry.