DNS Data Reveals Which Brands Got the Biggest Super Bowl LV Bump
While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took home the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Cloudflare Radar's DNS data offers a different winner: Dexcom, whose commercial drove a 100x spike in traffic to their website — the largest of any advertiser that night.
Cloudflare's team tracked DNS name resolution data for advertiser websites, social media, food delivery services, and football-related sites before, during, and after the game. They only analyzed top-level domain names, so subdomains were excluded from the measurements.
Traffic Patterns Around the Game Itself
Traffic to NFL team sites and football news sites built steadily leading up to kickoff at 1830 local time, then dropped to a mid-game low around 2015. The halftime show produced a 30-minute spike in traffic, followed by a notable peak around 2145 — coinciding with a streaker running onto the field — and another smaller jump after 2200 when the Bucs sealed their win.
US social media usage followed a similar arc, dipping slightly before kickoff and climbing through the game until the outcome was final. Food delivery orders ramped up about 90 minutes before the game started, with interest tapering off before the final whistle.
Auto Advertisers Got an Early Boost
Multiple vehicle brands saw significant traffic bumps when their commercials aired. GM's electric vehicle battery spot, Cadillac's EV ad, and Jeep's commercial all triggered clear spikes in DNS queries for their respective domains.
Food and Drink Brands Kept Traffic Flowing
Anheuser-Busch's corporate ad produced an immediate, clearly visible spike that aligned exactly with the commercial's airing. Bud Light traffic stayed elevated throughout the game, while Mountain Dew — which had seen a steady baseline beforehand — jumped over 25x when their commercial ran and held interest well into the night.
Pepsi, as halftime sponsor, got a sustained lift through The Weeknd's performance. Doritos maintained steady popularity throughout the evening with visible commercial-driven spikes.
Less-established brands saw outsized relative gains. Oat milk company Oatly and sandwich chain Jimmy John's both registered substantial traffic jumps when their spots aired.
Surprising Sustained Interest for Tide
Cleaning and personal care advertisers followed a predictable pattern for the most part. Dr. Squatch, Microban24, and Tide all spiked when their commercials aired, but Tide was unusual: its traffic remained elevated throughout the entire game rather than reverting to baseline.
Notable Peaks Across Categories
Several other advertisers drove meaningful interest. WeatherTech, which ran its commercial multiple times, peaked above 20x baseline. Rocket Mortgage's traffic stayed high well into the night, and Klarna got a large boost as the game wrapped up.
Paramount+, promoted multiple times during the broadcast, drew steady interest. Skechers resonated with viewers through the first half, and Fiverr effectively got the word out to potential freelancers.
Weighing Peak Magnitude vs. Absolute Traffic
The raw peak magnitude flatters smaller brands. Dexcom, which makes continuous glucose monitors for diabetes patients, logged a 100x spike from very low pre-game traffic. Inspiration4, the privately funded space tourism project, surged to over 70x and sustained interest throughout the evening — unsurprising given its tiny baseline before the game.
High-traffic platforms tell a different story. Mercari managed just a 2x jump despite its commercial airing, and companies like Disney or Amazon generate such enormous baseline traffic that even strong commercial performance becomes difficult to discern in the data.
Tom Brady Got a Post-Game Bump
The winning quarterback's fitness brand TB12, despite having no commercial during the broadcast, saw traffic grow as the game ended and continue rising into the night.
