The Most Visited Sites of 2022

Since 2020, cloud-infrastructure company Cloudflare has ranked the world’s most visited sites by following global internet traffic patterns, including app usage or when a person visits a site on a web browser. Unsurprisingly, Google was the most visited site on the internet in 2022. However, some unexpected names made the list. Here’s the rundown! 

Who were the top 10 most visited sites of 2022? 

1. Google 
2. Facebook 
3. Apple and TikTok (tied for third) 
4. YouTube 
5. Microsoft 
6. Amazon Web Services 
7. Instagram 
8. Amazon 
9. iCloud, Netflix, Twitter, Yahoo 

By comparison, here was the list for 2021: 

1. TikTok 
2. Google 
3. Facebook  
4. Microsoft 
5. Apple 
6. Amazon  
7. Netflix 
8. YouTube 
9. Twitter  
10. WhatsApp 

Facebook beat TikTok as the most popular social media service 

Last year, we reported that TikTok was the most visited site of 2021 (with over 1 billion monthly active users!). This year, despite suffering the worst single-day drop in stock value for any company in the history of the stock market, Facebook has taken the lead as the internet’s most visited social media platform.  

 Why is Facebook so popular? Here are some reasons: 

• Sheer number of users. Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly users, as of Q1 2022.  
• Advertising. With so many active users and an inordinate amount of user data, Facebook has target marketing down to an art. In 2021, Facebook’s ad revenue was over 114.9 billion dollars. 
• It has stayed ahead of mobile trends. Since the launch of Facebook Messenger in 2011, it has seen a steady increase in users (with 138.1 million just in the US).  

Instagram overtook Twitter 

From Elon Musk’s acquisition to the subsequent layoff of almost half its staff, this year has not been a pretty one for Twitter. And the list has reflected that, with Instagram taking over as the third most popular social media platform on the internet behind TikTok. 

Instagram released a slew of new features this year, including: 

• Candid stories. Piggybacking off BeReal, Candid Stories allows you to “capture and share what you’re doing right now in a story that’s only visible to those who also share their own.”

• Notes. The Notes feature allows you to share your thoughts in 60 characters or less using just text or emojis. Notes shows up in the DMs section of Instagram above your private messages. 

• Group profiles. This update (not yet released) will allow users to share stories and posts on a dedicated profile with other friends. Content shared on that profile will only be shown to other members - not to the rest of your followers.

Updates like these keep Instagram’s user-based engaged and reduce the need for specialized apps that offer up the same features. 

What should brands do with this list? 

• If you rely on Google to amplify your brand’s visibility and consideration (and who doesn’t?) -carry on! Google is still critical for any business’ digital footprint. Just make sure that your search engine optimization efforts are aligned with your goals for 2023. 
• Continue to embrace as many social media platforms as possible but understand the risks that come with advertising on platforms that have trouble regulating misinformation and hate speech.  
• Keep up with platform updates and innovations – you can use them to strengthen your brand’s digital presence, story, and relevance using a comprehensive content strategy tailored to each platform. 

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