2022 highlights include Google coming in at #1 overall, with Instagram (#3) beating out Elon-led Twitter (#4) in the social media category. In the streaming wars, Netflix (#2) lost to YouTube (#1) in the video category, while Apple Music (#1) took the crown over Spotify (#2) in audio. In crypto, FTX fell from #7 to #21 after declaring bankruptcy, while Binance took the #1 spot in the category.
“Cloudflare has built one of the world’s largest networks that offers a unique view of Internet traffic and online activity around the world,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “The world continues to rely on the Internet, and we are humbled to have been able to do our part to keep the world connected through protests, conflicts, and natural disasters in 2022. It’s a privilege to help build a better, more transparent and more informed Internet.”
-
Google was the #1 most popular service of the year according to Cloudflare data. The search giant beat out Facebook (#2), Apple and TikTok (tied at #3) and YouTube (#5).
Social Media:
-
Facebook was the most popular social media service of 2022, followed by TikTok in the #2 position.
-
Instagram (#3) overtook Twitter (#4) in the Social Media category: the photo and video sharing app knocked Twitter from 3rd place in August.
-
With discourse swirling about alternatives to Twitter, Cloudflare found that servers for Mastodon – the open-source software for self-hosted social networking services – rose in popularity to the #18 spot in the Social Media category for the first time.
Video Streaming:
-
YouTube was the most popular video streaming service of the year. The video platform beat out Netflix (#2) and live streaming platform Twitch (#3).
-
Roku and Disney+ battled it out for fourth place during 2022, with Roku taking the title and Disney+ ending the year in fifth.
E-Commerce:
-
Amazon kept its crown as the #1 e-commerce service of 2022.
-
Other US services in the top 10 faced tough competition from China-based Alibaba Group services including Taoboa (#3), Alibaba (#5), and AliExpress (#6).
Music:
-
Spotify and Apple Music/iTunes went head to head to be the top Music/Audio service at the start of the year, but ultimately Apple Music/iTunes took the #1 spot for 2022.
Crypto:
-
Binance (#1), Coingecko (#2), and Coinbase (#3) dominated the most popular cryptocurrency services in 2022. FTX fell from the #7 most popular crypto service to #21 in November 2022 after declaring bankruptcy.
This data comes from Cloudflare Radar, a free tool that lets anyone view global trends and insights across the Internet. Radar is powered by data from Cloudflare’s global network (one of the world’s largest, spanning 275+ cities in 100+ countries), and aggregated and anonymized data from Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 public DNS Resolver, widely used as a fast and private way to browse the Internet. All rankings are based on positions compared to others and are not necessarily indicative of a single platform losing or gaining traffic.
