54 articles by Joao Tome.
AI competition intensified in 2025 as ChatGPT gained strong challengers. Instagram climbed, X declined, and platforms like Shopee, Temu, and Kwai reshaped global Internet usage. Our 2025 DNS data shows how Internet patterns evolved.
Fogos.pt, a volunteer-run wildfire tracker in Portugal, grew from a side project into a critical national resource used by citizens, media, and government. During 2025 fire season it was hit by DDoS attacks, but stayed online thanks to Cloudflare’s protections under Project Galileo.How a volunteer-run wildfire site in Portugal stayed online during DDoS attacks
This post examines which Generative AI services are more popular, new entrants into the space, how these services have grown in traffic, where that traffic originates, and the evolution of cyberattacks targeting these services.
This blog examines how diverse cultural celebrations — from Western Christmas to Orthodox and Lunar New Year festivities — shape global Internet traffic, revealing consistent offline patterns, and compares these trends with those observed in 2023.
On January 19, 2025, ByteDance suspended TikTok and related apps for US users. We examine the 14-hour traffic plunge, recovery near Donald Trump’s inauguration, and how alternatives like RedNote surged.
On January 19, 2025, ByteDance shut down access to TikTok and other owned/operated apps for US users, causing an 85% traffic plunge and a rapid shift to alternatives like RedNote.
From Christmas Eve dinners in Europe to New Year’s Eve countdowns in Asia, Cloudflare data reveals how global festivities have typically shaped Internet usage and cultural rhythms, drawing insights from the previous holiday season.
In 2024, as elections took place across over 60 countries, the Internet became both a battleground for cyberattacks and a vital platform for democratic engagement.
The 2024 popular Internet services landscape highlights rising generative AI, e-commerce shifts, and the continued dominance of platforms like Google and Facebook, as revealed by Cloudflare’s rankings.
How significant are Cyber Week shopping days on the Internet? Is it a global phenomenon? Does E-commerce interest peak on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, and are attacks increasing during this time? We try to answer these questions and more.
See how the first 2024 US presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump influenced Internet traffic patterns compared to the Biden-Trump debate. We also review email trends and observed attack activity.
This analysis highlights the 2024 Democratic National Convention’s impact on Internet traffic and security, with spikes in interest for sites related to Kamala Harris and the Democrats, as well as news sites, plus pre-convention attacks on political organizations.
As the Paris 2024 Olympics ended, our analysis shows the event’s impact on the Internet in France and other countries at different moments, its effect on specific web properties, and a spike in cyber threats and emails related to Simone Biles and others.
Here we examine how UEFA Euro 2024 football matches have influenced Internet traffic patterns in participating countries, with a special focus on the two finalists, Spain and England, on their journey
Check the dynamics of the 2024 French legislative elections, the surprising election results’ impact on Internet traffic changes, and the cyber attacks targeting political parties
Here, we explore the dynamics of Internet traffic and cybersecurity during the UK’s 2024 general election, highlighting late-day traffic changes and a post-vote attack on a political party
How Cloudflare mitigated DDoS attacks targeting French political parties during the 2024 legislative elections, as detailed in our ongoing election coverage
See how the first 2024 US presidential debate between Biden and Trump influenced Internet traffic patterns, email trends, and heightened cybersecurity concerns across digital platforms
Discover how UEFA Euro 2024 is shifting Internet traffic patterns during games across Europe with insights into traffic drops and cybersecurity concerns during national team games
The 2024 EU Parliament election caused declines in Internet traffic during voting and spikes during results announcements, with persistent cyber threats targeting government sites
2024 brings a global increase in election activity. Here, we highlight traffic and cyberattack trends witnessed in countries like the Netherlands, South Africa, Iceland, India, and Mexico. Additionally, we provide an up-to-date 2024 Election Insights report on Cloudflare Radar
Cloudflare’s data shows a clear impact on Internet traffic from Mexico to the US, and Canada, following the path of totality of the total solar eclipse that occurred on April 8, 2024
In this 2023-early 2024 email analysis, we examine how certain generic Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are primarily used for spam and phishing, and their evolution over a year.
How significant are Cyber Week days on the Internet? Is it a global phenomenon? Does e-commerce interest peak on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, and are attacks increasing during this time?
Which US states logged off on Thanksgiving Day? Is there a difference between coastal and central states? Do hackers take a Thanksgiving break? Are food delivery services gaining or losing traffic?
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, attacks from the Palestinian group Hamas launched from the Gaza Strip against the south of Israel started a new conflict in the region. Cloudflare's data shows that Internet traffic was impacted in different ways
In this reading list, we want to highlight some of the new additions to Radar, as well as some of the Internet disruptions and trends we’ve observed and published posts about during this year
Here is a reading list with 2023 trends, what you need to know about attacks, and a guide on how to stay protected using Cloudflare
As the coronation ceremony unfolded, on Saturday morning, May 6, 2023, there were clear spikes and dips in traffic, each coinciding with key moments of the ceremony
On Saturday, April 15, 2023, an armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of Sudan began. Cloudflare observed a disruption in Internet traffic on that Saturday, starting at 08:00 UTC, which deepened on Sunday
How Easter (including Orthodox Easter), Passover & Ramadan affected 2023 Internet traffic
Phishing attacks come in all sorts of ways to fool people. Email is definitely the most common, but there are others. Here are some tips to help you catch these scams before you fall for them.
Yesterday, November 24, 2022, was Thanksgiving Day in the US. Last year, we saw how the US paused shopping (and browsing) for Thanksgiving. So, how was it this year?
What happens to the Internet traffic of a country when an important election happens. In Brazil, the first round of the Presidential elections brought a 10% decrease in Internet traffic, but the runoff on Sunday had a bigger: 21% drop
Nobody likes CAPTCHAs. Now, with iOS 16 on iPhones, a small enabled toggle can make them disappear while improving privacy on your device. Here’s how to check if it’s “on” and try it out
We have amazing deep dives in our blog, but also research and how the Internet works kind of stories. Here are some highlights from 2022, and before (with glimpses of our history).
We show how the July 11-12 James Webb Telescope images that were revealed had an impact on DNS traffic in NASA and ESA websites, video and image hosting platforms, and news websites. The ‘cosmic’ results may be surprising
The UK's Internet traffic was clearly impacted with less traffic than usual during this weekend's celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. We also show impact from Canada to New Zealand and the royals and news websites
The 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, in Turin, Italy, had two semi-finals (May 10 and 12) and a final (May 14), all of them with highlights, including Ukraine’s victory. The Internet was impacted in more than one way, from whole countries to the fan and official broadcasters sites, but also video platforms.
What happens to the Internet traffic in countries who observe Ramadan? Depending on the country, we see clear shifts and changing patterns in Internet use, particularly before dawn and after sunset.
This year, for the 66th edition, we have a dedicated page for Eurovision fans, journalists or anyone interested in following Internet trends related to the event taking place in Turin, Italy.
We blogged previously about some trends concerning the first round of the 2022 French presidential election, held on April 10. Here we take a look at the run-off election this Sunday, April 24, that ended up re-electing Emmanuel Macron as President of France
How tax related websites were impacted by the Tax Day 2022 (the April 18 deadline to fill federal and state taxes)? With the highest growth in April
What happens to the Internet trends in France when an election like the 2022 French presidential happens? Here are some answers.
How the Internet was impacted by the Oscars 2022 moments, including the Will Smith incident
Tonga, the South Pacific archipelago nation (with 169 islands), was reconnected to the Internet this early morning (UTC) and is back online after successful repairs to the undersea cable that was damaged on Saturday, January 15, 2022, by the January 14, volcanic eruption
The early hours of Sunday, January 23, 2022, started in Burkina Faso with an Internet outage or shutdown
The early hours of Friday, January 21, 2022, started in Yemen with a country-wide Internet outage
The latest Internet outage, in the South Pacific country of Tonga (with 169 islands), is still ongoing. It started with the large eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, an uninhabited volcanic island of the Tongan archipelago on Friday, January 14, 2022
In Kazakhstan, the year had barely got going when yesterday disruptions of Internet access ended up in a nationwide Internet shutdown from today, January 5, 2022
Throughout the pandemic we saw different trends caused by people being more at home than usual, but Internet patterns also change at specific times of the year (like when students go back to school or when it’s colder outside) or on some holidays like Thanksgiving.
People living in Burkina Faso are facing an Internet shutdown. Cloudflare Radar shows that after 22:00 UTC (the same local time) Internet traffic went down significantly, something that has happened in the context of social tensions in the country that started on November 14, 2021.
We used Cloudflare Radar to find out those countries on the planet that have more (and less) mobile traffic on the Internet. Africa and the Middle East are the areas of the planet where mobile traffic dominates the Internet experience
Cloudflare Radar shows how Spanish media outlets had an increase in Internet traffic after the volcano eruption on the island of La Palma.