SparkToro Reports Traffic To Open Web Has Fallen 24%
Traffic to the open web has decreased 24% in 5 years, despite a 25% growth in internet users, according to SparkToro. This decline may be due to increased app usage or search engine and social network dominance.
Original reporting · sparktoro.com
Original: “New Research: Traffic to the Open Web Has Fallen 24% in 5 years”
Read “New Research: Traffic to the Open Web Has Fallen 24% in 5 years” at SparkToro →
How this was written. GMS Agency Desk wrote this article with a language model from SparkToro’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from SparkToro’s report
- Traffic to the open web has decreased 24% in 5 years, despite a 25% growth in internet users.
- The distribution of traffic to the open web has not changed much in the last 5 years.
- The decline in traffic may be due to increased app usage or search engine and social network dominance.
SparkToro, with the help of Similarweb's research team, has published new data analyzing traffic to the open web from 2021 to 2026. The research aimed to verify the theory that top websites, dominated by Big Tech players, are hoarding more of the web's traffic, while smaller sites receive fewer visits.
The data shows that the distribution of traffic to the open web has not changed much in the last 5 years, with the top 10 most visited domains, and other buckets of trafficked sites, showing similar trends. However, this data only accounts for mobile and desktop web traffic via the browser, and does not include app traffic.
Despite the relatively stable distribution of traffic, the total amount of traffic flowing to the top million sites has decreased. This decline is notable, given that the number of people with regular internet access has grown significantly, with nearly 25% more people online, according to DataReportal's quarterly reports.
The growth in internet users has been steady, with the number of estimated global web users increasing from 4.95 billion in Q4 2021 to 6.15 billion in Q3 2026. However, the traffic to the top million sites has not kept pace with this growth, resulting in a decline in visits per internet-connected human.
The cause of this decline is uncertain, but it may be due to increased use of apps, search engines, or social networks, which could be keeping people from visiting more websites. SparkToro plans to further validate this research with additional sources and monitor the trend in the future.
The research has implications for the health and diversity of the web, and SparkToro hopes to see a web that remains vibrant and diverse. The company will continue to watch the numbers and analyze the trend to understand its evolution.
Questions and answers
What is the main finding of SparkToro's research?
The main finding is that traffic to the open web has decreased 24% in 5 years, despite a 25% growth in internet users.
What could be causing the decline in traffic to the open web?
The cause is uncertain, but it may be due to increased use of apps, search engines, or social networks.
What are the implications of this research for the web?
The research has implications for the health and diversity of the web, and SparkToro hopes to see a web that remains vibrant and diverse.
