Cloudflare publishes top internet trends for 2022

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today published its third annual Year in Review, exploring Internet insights, security trends and the trending online services of 2022.

Some of the biggest highlights from 2022 include:

  • 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).
  • 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.
  • Worldwide Internet traffic surged in late November as the FIFA World Cup got under way and holiday shoppers made Black Friday the busiest day online in 2022.
  • In 2022, more phishing emails originated from the United States than the next 22 countries combined.
  • Iran shut down the Internet more than any other country with 60 observed Internet blackouts this year, accounting for one third of all Internet shutdowns that Cloudflare analyzed.

“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.”

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.