Torrent file traffic once again surpasses that of Netflix in Europe

torrents-netflix-01

What are you doing during confinement? Some were clear that, from day one, they would get to work with all those series that they had pending on Netflix. However, it seems that the plans of the rest of the world's inhabitants were going in other directions. And it is that in many places torrent traffic has increased and has even surpassed Netflix during the quarantine.

A study published just now by the Sandvine company, dedicated to managing broadband services in Canada, reveals that during the COVID-19 pandemic there have been some interesting changes in the way people connect to the internet. And although during these days, torrent traffic has decreased in some countries , in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this has increased and has even exceeded that of Netflix.

torrents-netflix-02

The return to everything: torrents are again protagonists

But what have we done during the pandemic? What have been our quarantined habits with regard to content consumption through the internet? The Sandvine study data reveals that the queen is streaming video as well in general.

YouTube has doubled its market share, reaching almost 16% of the pie. Interestingly, Netflix and BitTorrent traffic has dropped to 11% and 5%, respectively. Although be careful, this is relative data. Consumption, in general, has increased in all areas. So much so that we must talk about 40% more consumption compared to the data we had at the beginning of the year, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began. What has happened, in short, is that YouTube has powerfully increased its traffic.

What has happened with torrents is interesting to observe by region, because that is where we find the most curious patterns. For example, the share of traffic has increased in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, even surpassing Netflix, which has been in fourth position. Thus, YouTube traffic and browsing are now above torrents.

Ok, in general terms both BitTorrent and Netflix traffic have increased in the indicated regions . However, BitTorrent has grown faster, going from 5.26% in 2019 to 8.38% now. Which indicates that in absolute terms, the traffic has doubled.

torrents-netflix-03

One hundred percent reliable data?

Well, we must not forget that we are talking all the time in terms of traffic. This is important to note, because during the pandemic, Netflix has reduced the resolution of its transmissions. This reduction in the quality of the service has resulted in a lower use of bandwidth, which would give us misleading data on the real consumption of the platform.

In any case, it would be necessary to indicate that Netflix has come out winning in the quarantine . Because the data we have on the table indicates that the platform has added almost 16 million new users during the pandemic, which would have served to double its benefits (and increasing) during the first half of 2020. And it has achieved, of This mode, amassing a whopping 183 million subscribed users around the world.

Torrent traffic has not increased in other regions, so we can speak of uneven growth, especially in the mentioned regions. What has happened in America and the Asia-Pacific region has nothing to do with this. Here the share of torrent traffic has continued to fall, a trend that was already observed in 2019. So much so that YouTube is the true queen, along with Netflix, which is light years away from torrenting.