Stefan Mileschin

Clouds and streams take the crown

BitTorrent is not the top dog of the web anymore – after 20 years of ruling the roost, it's been knocked off its perch by none other than cloud storage and video junkies at YouTube.

Back in the day, BitTorrent was gobbling up a hefty 35 per cent of all internet traffic, with file-sharers swapping tunes and flicks faster than you can say "Napster." But now? It's just a wee drop in the ocean of data, with streaming giants like Netflix and TikTok hogging the limelight.

Even the shadier corners of the web have turned their backs on BitTorrent, opting for streaming shenanigans instead. And while BitTorrent used to be the upload king, these days, it's barely scraping by with a measly four per cent on fixed networks.

TorrentFreak reports that its latest Global Internet Phenomena Report Sandvine number crunchers say that video and social media are the new head honchos of downstream traffic, leaving BitTorrent in the dust.

BitTorrent's still kicking around, thanks to a loyal band of pirates and brainy boffins sharing hefty datasets. But with everyone and their nan jumping on the cloud and streaming bandwagon, it's looking like BitTorrent's glory days are well and truly over.

https://fudzilla.com/news/58649-bittorrent-s-reign-over