Technology
Ranking the Top 100 Websites in the World
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As a greater portion of the world begins to live more of their life online, the world’s top 100 websites continue to see explosive growth in their traffic numbers.
To claim even the 100th spot in this ranking, your website would need around 350 million visits in a single month. Using data from SimilarWeb, we’ve visually mapped out the top 100 biggest websites on the internet. Examining the ranking reveals a lot about how people around the world search for information, which services they use, and how they spend time online.
Note: This is a ranking of biggest websites, specifically. Brands that extend across platforms or serve the majority of their users through an app will not necessarily rank well on this list. As a result, you’ll notice the absence of companies like WeChat and Snapchat.
The Top 100 Websites
The 100 biggest websites generated a staggering 206 billion visits in June 2019. Google, YouTube, and Facebook took the top spots, followed by Baidu and Wikipedia. Below is the full ranking:
Global Rank | Domain | Monthly visits (billions) | Parent | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Google.com | 60.49 | Alphabet Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
2 | Youtube.com | 24.31 | Alphabet Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
3 | Facebook.com | 19.98 | Facebook, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
4 | Baidu.com | 9.77 | Baidu, Inc | 🇨🇳 China |
5 | Wikipedia.org | 4.69 | Wikimedia Foundation | 🇺🇸 United States |
6 | Twitter.com | 3.92 | Twitter, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
7 | Yahoo.com | 3.74 | Verizon Comm. Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
8 | pornhub.com | 3.36 | Mindgeek | 🇨🇦 Canada |
9 | Instagram.com | 3.21 | Facebook, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
10 | xvideos.com | 3.19 | WGCZ Holding | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic |
11 | yandex.ru | 3.06 | Yandex | 🇷🇺 Russia |
12 | ampproject.org | 2.76 | N/A | 🇺🇸 United States |
13 | xnxx.com | 2.47 | WGCZ Holding | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic |
14 | amazon.com | 2.41 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
15 | live.com | 2.25 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
16 | vk.com | 2.16 | Mail.ru Group | 🇷🇺 Russia |
17 | netflix.com | 1.81 | Netflix, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
18 | qq.com | 1.76 | Tencent | 🇨🇳 China |
19 | whatsapp.com | 1.76 | Facebook, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
20 | mail.ru | 1.64 | Mail.ru Group | 🇷🇺 Russia |
21 | Reddit.com | 1.55 | Advance Publications | 🇺🇸 United States |
22 | yahoo.co.jp | 1.5 | Verizon Comm. Inc | 🇯🇵 Japan |
23 | google.com.br | 1.38 | Alphabet Inc | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
24 | bing.com | 1.32 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
25 | ok.ru | 1.08 | Mail.ru Group | 🇷🇺 Russia |
26 | xhamster.com | 1.06 | Hammy Media Ltd | 🇨🇾 Cyprus |
27 | sogou.com | 1 | Tencent, Sohu Inc | 🇨🇳 China |
28 | ebay.com | 0.95 | eBay Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
29 | bit.ly | 0.95 | Spectrum Equity | 🇺🇸 United States |
30 | twitch.tv | 0.91 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
31 | linkedin.com | 0.91 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
32 | samsung.com | 0.89 | Samsung Group | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
33 | sm.cn | 0.81 | Alibaba Group | 🇨🇳 China |
34 | msn.com | 0.8 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
35 | office.com | 0.79 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
36 | globo.com | 0.74 | Grupo Globo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
37 | taobao.com | 0.74 | Alibaba Group | 🇨🇳 China |
38 | pinterest.com | 0.74 | Pinterest, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
39 | google.de | 0.73 | Alphabet Inc | 🇩🇪 Germany |
40 | Microsoft.com | 0.72 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
41 | accuweather.com | 0.71 | AccuWeather Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
42 | naver.com | 0.64 | Naver Corporation | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
43 | aliexpress.com | 0.64 | Alibaba Group | 🇨🇳 China |
44 | fandom.com | 0.61 | Wikia Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
45 | quora.com | 0.58 | Quora Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
46 | github.com | 0.57 | Microsoft Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
47 | imdb.com | 0.57 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
48 | uol.com.br | 0.56 | Grupo Folha | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
49 | docomo.ne.jp | 0.56 | Tata Teleservices | 🇯🇵 Japan |
50 | youporn.com | 0.55 | Mindgeek | 🇨🇦 Canada |
51 | bbc.co.uk | 0.55 | Public owned | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
52 | microsoftonline.com | 0.55 | Unknown | 🏴 Unknown |
53 | paypal.com | 0.53 | Paypal | 🇺🇸 United States |
54 | google.fr | 0.53 | Alphabet Inc | 🇫🇷 France |
55 | yidianzixun.com | 0.51 | Particle Inc | 🇨🇳 China |
56 | wordpress.com | 0.51 | Automattic | 🇺🇸 United States |
57 | news.google.com | 0.51 | Alphabet Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
58 | sohu.com | 0.51 | Sohu | 🇨🇳 China |
59 | duckduckgo.com | 0.51 | Duck Duck Go, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
60 | google.co.uk | 0.51 | Alphabet Inc | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
61 | 10086.cn | 0.5 | China Mobile | 🇨🇳 China |
62 | iqiyi.com | 0.5 | Baidu, Inc | 🇨🇳 China |
63 | booking.com | 0.5 | Booking Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
64 | amazon.co.jp | 0.49 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇯🇵 Japan |
65 | cricbuzz.com | 0.49 | Times Internet | 🇮🇳 India |
66 | taboola.com | 0.48 | Taboola Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
67 | amazon.de | 0.48 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇩🇪 Germany |
68 | cnn.com | 0.47 | Turner Broadcasting | 🇺🇸 United States |
69 | jd.com | 0.47 | Various (Tencent 20%) | 🇨🇳 China |
70 | apple.com | 0.47 | Apple Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
71 | google.it | 0.45 | Alphabet Inc | 🇮🇹 Italy |
72 | bilibili.com | 0.44 | Bilibili Inc | 🇨🇳 China |
73 | google.co.jp | 0.44 | Alphabet Inc | 🇯🇵 Japan |
74 | livejasmin.com | 0.44 | Docler Group | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg |
75 | tmall.com | 0.44 | Alibaba Group | 🇨🇳 China |
76 | news.yahoo.co.jp | 0.44 | Verizon Comm. Inc | 🇯🇵 Japan |
77 | youtu.be | 0.44 | Alphabet Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
78 | tribunnews.com | 0.43 | Kompas Gramedia Group | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
79 | amazon.co.uk | 0.43 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
80 | chaturbate.com | 0.43 | Multi Media LLC | 🇺🇸 United States |
81 | google.co.in | 0.41 | Alphabet Inc | 🇮🇳 India |
82 | craigslist.org | 0.41 | Craigslist | 🇺🇸 United States |
83 | imgur.com | 0.41 | Imgur Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
84 | bbc.com | 0.41 | Public owned | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
85 | fc2.com | 0.39 | FC2, Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
86 | tsyndicate.com | 0.39 | Unknown | 🏴 Unknown |
87 | redtube.com | 0.38 | Mindgeek | 🇨🇦 Canada |
88 | tumblr.com | 0.37 | Verizon | 🇺🇸 United States |
89 | foxnews.com | 0.36 | Fox Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
90 | rakuten.co.jp | 0.36 | Rakuten Inc | 🇯🇵 Japan |
91 | google.es | 0.36 | Alphabet Inc | 🇪🇸 Spain |
92 | outbrain.com | 0.36 | Outbrain Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
93 | discordapp.com | 0.36 | Various | 🇺🇸 United States |
94 | amazon.in | 0.35 | Amazon.com, Inc | 🇮🇳 India |
95 | crptgate.com | 0.34 | Unknown | 🏴 Unknown |
96 | weather.com | 0.34 | Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC | 🇺🇸 United States |
97 | toutiao.com | 0.34 | Bytedance | 🇨🇳 China |
98 | youku.com | 0.34 | Alibaba Group | 🇨🇳 China |
99 | adobe.com | 0.34 | Adobe Inc | 🇺🇸 United States |
100 | news.yandex.ru | 0.33 | Yandex | 🇷🇺 Russia |
Search Reigns Supreme
Search engines provide the connective tissue that binds the internet together, and they accounted for the majority of website traffic in the top 100 ranking.
Google is the undisputed top website in nearly every country in the world. In fact, Alphabet’s 11 domains in the top 100 ranking – including YouTube and a number of international versions of Google – racked up an impressive 90 billion visits in a single month.
Exceptions to Google’s dominance can be found in China (Baidu) and Russia (Yandex), where homegrown search engines have managed to capture the domestic market.
One scrappy competitor, DuckDuckGo, is slowly gaining prominence as an alternative to Google. The search engine’s focus on user privacy appears to be resonating with internet users as the site’s traffic has surpassed 500 million visits per month.
Full Stream Ahead
Video streaming and sharing is another major driver of global internet traffic.
Thanks to high-powered phones and bigger data plans, video is now a prominent portion of internet content consumption. This can take a few forms, from binge watching TV shows on Netflix to short-form video uploads on platforms like Douyin and Instagram.
Live streaming is increasingly a bigger part of the mix. Twitch, which is focused on gaming, is now ranked 30th in the world in web traffic. The Amazon-owned platform is now so popular that on any given night, its viewership surpasses many of the major U.S. cable networks.
Of course, this category also includes adult content, which is well represented in this ranking. XNXX, XVideos, and PornHub all made the top 20, and the three websites combined for over nine billion visits in the most recent month of data available.
Old Dogs, New Tricks
Classic web portals such as MSN and Yahoo are still putting up impressive traffic numbers, but major players are increasingly staying relevant by acquiring rising internet stars.
In the case of Microsoft, acquiring Github and Linkedin helped the company target new markets and grow their overall presence online. Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch proved to be a good bet, and Instagram continues to breathe new life into Facebook, which has seen a backlash focused on its original namesake social network.
Google isn’t sitting still either. The company recently championed the open-source AMP Project to help improve the performance of mobile pages, which are increasingly bogged down by adware, unoptimized images, and JavaScript. In a short amount of time, the AMP Project has taken off to become one of the biggest websites in the world.
The project is not without controversy though.
Critics point out that cached AMP pages – which are hosted by Google – essentially cut out content creators, and that non-compliant pages may lose their ranking on mobile search results. As the project moves towards becoming a foundation, it remains to be seen how AMP will evolve and how much involvement Google will have in the future.
The Geography of the Top 100 Websites
The internet may be a global network, but many of the gatekeepers are still located in the United States. If international domain suffixes of companies like Amazon and Google are counted, 60 of the 100 websites in the ranking are American.
Below is a breakdown of the Top 100 by country.
China is a strong runner-up, with 15 websites in the Top 100. While most of these Chinese companies are focused on the sizable domestic market, some are also making global inroads through investment. Tencent has partially backed the fast-growing chat platform, Discord, and it also has double-digit stakes in Snapchat and Spotify.
With the exception of Baidu, all of the biggest websites in the world have swelled in size by serving a global audience. As the tech market continues to mature in China, it remains to be seen whether Chinese companies can successfully move beyond the firewall to become the next Facebook or Google.
Correction: Bilibili, a website run by a Chinese company, was incorrectly identified as a Japanese company.
Technology
The Top Downloaded Apps in 2022
Six of the top 10 most downloaded apps in Q1 2022 were social media apps, and four of them are owned by Meta.

The Top Downloaded Apps in 2022
Whether they’re providing a service like ride-sharing or acting as a mere source of entertainment, mobile apps have become an integral part of many peoples’ day-to-day lives.
But which apps are most popular among users?
This graphic uses data from a recent report by Sensor Tower to show the top 10 most downloaded apps around the world in Q1 2022 from the Google Play and Apple App Store.
Social Reigns Supreme
According to the report, total app downloads reached 36.9 billion in Q1 2022, a 1.4% increase compared to Q1 2021.
A majority of the top 10 most downloaded apps were social media platforms, with Meta and ByteDance owning six of the top 10.
Rank | App | Category |
---|---|---|
1 | TikTok | Entertainment |
2 | Photo and video | |
3 | Social networking | |
4 | Messaging | |
5 | Shopee | Shopping |
6 | Telegram | Messaging |
7 | Snapchat | Photo and video |
8 | Messenger | Messaging |
9 | CapCut | Photo and video |
10 | Spotify | Music |
Meta’s four platforms on the list are Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger, while ByteDance owns TikTok and video-editing platform CapCut.
Just outside the top 10 are Zoom and WhatsApp Business (yet another Meta-owned app).
TikTok’s Winding Road to the Top
In Q1 2021, TikTok exceeded 3.5 billion all-time downloads, becoming the fifth app (and the first non-Meta app) to reach this milestone. This is impressive considering the app has been banned in India as of June 2020. Prior to the ban, India accounted for 30% of TikTok’s downloads.
India’s not the only country that’s banned the use of TikTok. Pakistan has blocked TikTok multiple times because of concerns over “inappropriate” content. However, it’s worth noting that the bans in Pakistan only lasted a few days before being lifted, and currently, Pakistanis are able to access the platform.
Top 10 Highest Grossing Apps
TikTok isn’t just the most downloaded app in the world—it’s also the highest-grossing non-game app, based on Q1 2022 revenue from the App Store and Google Play:
Rank | App | Category |
---|---|---|
1 | TikTok | Entertainment |
2 | YouTube | Photo and video |
3 | Disney+ | Entertainment |
4 | Google One | Productivity |
5 | Tinder | Lifestyle |
6 | Piccoma | Books |
7 | Tencent Video | Entertainment |
8 | iQIYI | Entertainment |
9 | HBO Max | Entertainment |
10 | LINE Manga | Entertainment |
TikTok generated an impressive $821 million in consumer spending in the last quarter. The video-sharing platform was the top-grossing app on the App Store, and the second-highest-grossing on Google Play, coming just after Google One.
While none of Meta’s platforms made it onto the top 10 list for gross revenue, these platforms make a ton of money that doesn’t necessarily flow through app stores. In 2021, Meta generated more than $117.9 billion in revenue, with over 97% of that coming from ads.
Growth’s on the Horizon
The pandemic had a massive impact on the app market.
In 2020, app spending on things like premium access, in-app purchases, and subscriptions surged by 30% year-over-year to reach $111 billion.
And while COVID-19 restrictions are easing in most places around the world, app spending isn’t likely to taper off anytime soon. By 2025, spending is expected to grow to $270 billion.
Technology
Synthetic Biology: The $3.6 Trillion Science Changing Life as We Know It
The field of synthetic biology could solve problems in a wide range of industries, from medicine to agriculture—here’s how.

How Synthetic Biology Could Change Life as we Know it
Synthetic biology (synbio) is a field of science that redesigns organisms in an effort to enhance and support human life. According to one projection, this rapidly growing field of science is expected to reach $28.8 billion in global revenue by 2026.
Although it has the potential to transform many aspects of society, things could go horribly wrong if synbio is used for malicious or unethical reasons. This infographic explores the opportunities and potential risks that this budding field of science has to offer.
What is Synthetic Biology?
We’ve covered the basics of synbio in previous work, but as a refresher, here’s a quick explanation of what synbio is and how it works.
Synbio is an area of scientific research that involves editing and redesigning different biological components and systems in various organisms.
It’s like genetic engineering but done at a more granular level—while genetic engineering transfers ready-made genetic material between organisms, synbio can build new genetic material from scratch.
The Opportunities of Synbio
This field of science has a plethora of real-world applications that could transform our everyday lives. A study by McKinsey found over 400 potential uses for synbio, which were broken down into four main categories:
- Human health and performance
- Agriculture and food
- Consumer products and services
- Materials and energy production
If those potential uses become reality in the coming years, they could have a direct economic impact of up to $3.6 trillion per year by 2030-2040.
1. Human Health and Performance
The medical and health sector is predicted to be significantly influenced by synbio, with an economic impact of up to $1.3 trillion each year by 2030-2040.
Synbio has a wide range of medical applications. For instance, it can be used to manipulate biological pathways in yeast to produce an anti-malaria treatment.
It could also enhance gene therapy. Using synbio techniques, the British biotech company Touchlight Genetics is working on a way to build synthetic DNA without the use of bacteria, which would be a game-changer for the field of gene therapy.
2. Agriculture and Food
Synbio has the potential to make a big splash in the agricultural sector as well—up to $1.2 trillion per year by as early as 2030.
One example of this is synbio’s role in cellular agriculture, which is when meat is created from cells directly. The cost of creating lab-grown meat has decreased significantly in recent years, and because of this, various startups around the world are beginning to develop a variety of cell-based meat products.
3. Consumer Products and Services
Using synthetic biology, products could be tailored to suit an individual’s unique needs. This would be useful in fields such as genetic ancestry testing, gene therapy, and age-related skin procedures.
By 2030-2040, synthetic biology could have an economic impact on consumer products and services to the tune of up to $800 billion per year.
4. Materials and Energy Production
Synbio could also be used to boost efficiency in clean energy and biofuel production. For instance, microalgae are currently being “reprogrammed” to produce clean energy in an economically feasible way.
This, along with other material and energy improvements through synbio methods, could have a direct economic impact of up to $300 billion each year.
The Potential Risks of Synbio
While the potential economic and societal benefits of synthetic biology are vast, there are a number of risks to be aware of as well:
- Unintended biological consequences: Making tweaks to any biological system can have ripple effects across entire ecosystems or species. When any sort of lifeform is manipulated, things don’t always go according to plan.
- Moral issues: How far we’re comfortable going with synbio depends on our values. Certain synbio applications, such as embryo editing, are controversial. If these types of applications become mainstream, they could have massive societal implications, with the potential to increase polarization within communities.
- Unequal access: Innovation and progress in synbio is happening faster in wealthier countries than it is in developing ones. If this trend continues, access to these types of technology may not be equal worldwide. We’ve already witnessed this type of access gap during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, where a majority of vaccines have been administered in rich countries.
- Bioweaponry: Synbio could be used to recreate viruses, or manipulate bacteria to make it more dangerous, if used with ill intent.
According to a group of scientists at the University of Edinburgh, communication between the public, synthetic biologists, and political decision-makers is crucial so that these societal and environmental risks can be mitigated.
Balancing Risk and Reward
Despite the risks involved, innovation in synbio is happening at a rapid pace.
By 2030, most people will have likely eaten, worn, or been treated by a product created by synthetic biology, according to synthetic biologist Christopher A. Voigt.
Our choices today will dictate the future of synbio, and how we navigate through this space will have a massive impact on our future—for better, or for worse.
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