It was bound to happen eventually – a new study by global research company Sandvine announced that for the first time ever, Netflix has overtaken YouTube in worldwide internet traffic.
The info comes along with the unsurprising news that streaming and short-form video leads an uptick in internet use all around the globe. How much of an increase? A total of 23 percent in traffic. Sandvine also shared that there are six companies responsible for all overall internet traffic.
These companies include Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft. Google and Netflix share the highest volumes. Sandvine Chief Solutions Officer Samir Marwaha explained that COVID had a big part in changing the status quo.
“Following the historic COVID-driven internet traffic surges of 2020 and 2021, the ‘new normal’ in application usage and volumes seems to be here to stay. The rapid acceleration of digitization led to an enhanced reliance on applications and a rapid evolution toward more sophisticated apps that fuse together multiple functions and features.”
The main driving force in this equation is video. Per the company’s findings, video grew 24 percent last year and now accounts for 65 percent of all traffic on the internet. Netflix generates the most traffic, a coveted spot that was previously occupied by YouTube. Apps like TikTok, Disney Plus and Hulu are also in the top ten of most traffic-generating.
“Video is almost to the point where it can no longer be considered a standalone category, as it’s now integral to conferencing, gaming, social networking, messaging, and virtually all apps that want to drive interactions and engagement,” Marwaha said.
This is good news for Netflix, a company that’s had its fair share of growth issues in the past year. Time will tell if this is a temporary boon for the company or something that lasts long-term.
