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According to Cloudflare, TikTok is now the most visited site in the world ahead of Google and its multiple services. A first place that it should now consolidate thanks to its billion users, against a background of user mistrust.
It would have been difficult to bet on it. TikTok, which now has more than one billion monthly active users, became the most visited website in the world in 2021. This estimate is to the credit of the American company Cloudflare, which regularly publishes analyzes of the web activity via its Cloudflare Radar tool.
A classification turned upside down
The company observed several interesting data. While the year 2020 was globally dominated by Google and its various services (Maps, Translate, Photos, etc.), TikTok achieved its first success for a day, on February 17, 2021, by becoming the first site the most visited. The platform launched by ByteDance then relapsed several times in May, and finally took a lasting place in the lead from August 2021. “There were days when Google was number 1, but October and November mostly came back to TikTok, including Thanksgiving (November 25) and Black Friday (November 26)”, explains Cloudflare.
The performance is all the more commendable given that Google ended the year 2020 as the undefeated clear leader of its ranking, never descending from the first step of the podium from September to December. Conversely, and despite very positive signs, TikTok only occupied seventh or eighth place on this list.
This shakes up the codes somewhat since it is Google, Facebook and Microsoft who completed the podium in 2020. The three most popular sites are now TikTok, Google and Facebook. Note also that Amazon (6e) is back in front of Netflix (7e). Apple is in fourth place. As for YouTube, usually ranked 8e, he took the top spot on one date, February 2, 2021, thanks to a video that went viral. It featured a fitness teacher performing exercises during the Myanmar coup, as military vehicles paraded in the background.
Less trust, more and more users
These platforms, and in particular social networks, have never been so successful … and aroused so little trust. The year was marked by several scandals, notably at Facebook and Instagram with the revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen. This did not prevent Zuckerberg’s firm from posting similar performance to previous years.
Yet the Washington post, which builds on a November survey of a random sample of 1,122 adults nationwide, says Americans remain skeptical that several internet giants are responsible for handling their personal information and data. on their online activity.
Thus, only 20% of Internet users surveyed would trust Facebook, and 12% in TikTok. Conversely, six in ten users would be suspicious of TikTok and Instagram, and 72% of them would doubt the good faith of Mark Zuckerberg’s company. This mistrust concerns platforms, but also smartphones and other connected devices. The overwhelming majority of them think that these devices listen to them, at least from time to time (92%). Finally, 73% of respondents believe that the collection of personal information is not justified.