Google is no longer the most popular platform in the world. The search engine site has been dethroned by the social media app TikTok, according to web security and performance company Cloudflare.
Per Cloudflare, which tracks data using its Cloudflare Radar, TikTok became the most popular site within a matter of months this year.
“It was on February 17, 2021, that TikTok got the top spot for a day,” Cloudflare wrote in its year-end blog post. “Back in March, TikTok got a few more days and also in May, but it was after August 10, 2021, that TikTok took the lead on most days. There were some days when Google was #1, but October and November were mostly TikTok’s days, including on Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) and Black Friday (Nov. 26).”
Last year, the viral video app known as Douyin in China ranked No. 7 on Cloudflare’s list. The company believes its increasing popularity was seemingly due to the pandemic.
“In what was the second year of the pandemic, social media domains continued high on our ranking,” Cloudflare wrote. “The nine main social media applications were all in our top 100 list of most popular global domains … We can see that TikTok … took Facebook from its crown of the most popular social media website-domain in our ranking.”
WhatsApp entered Cloudflare’s top 10 this year — bumping Instagram off the list. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube remained the most popular domains across the Internet from 2020 to 2021.
The most popular artist on the Internet’s most popular site is Megan Thee Stallion, according to TikTok’s 2021 Music Report.
“New year, same queen: after racking up the most catalog video views of any artist in 2020, Megan Thee Stallion, first of her name, reigneth once again in 2021,” TikTok wrote in its year-end blog post. “The Houston-born rapper excels at crafting quotable songs with a danceable bounce, and always provides a smile with her amiable presence as @TheeStallion on TikTok.”
The app claims songs such as “Cognac Queen,” “Thot Shit,” and “Cry Baby” helped the H-town Hottie stay in the number one spot for the second straight year.