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No, You're Not Impatient. The Internet is Getting Slower

Kent Alstad

We live in a world where we expect instant gratification, especially when it comes to the quality of our internet experience. From the ability to have 24/7 access to our financial accounts, “one-click” shopping on eCommerce sites, and of course, searching for answers to the boundless array of questions we have on a daily basis.

However, as quickly as we can access this information right at our fingertips, there is a slight speed bump in doing so. Believe it or not – you aren’t being impatient. The Internet is getting slower and just about everyone is noticing.

So what’s part of the cause for this issue? Page bloat and unoptimized images.

Unoptimized Images Are Bogging Down the User Experience

People browsing the web expect a similar experience to a fast-paced HD TV channel, with intensive graphics, animations and other visual assets, and site designers have largely obliged.

However, there’s been a push-pull dynamic: people also expect websites to load as quickly as the changing of a channel, serving bright, high-resolution images in real-time.

According to data from HTTP Archive, the average website is now 2.1 MB which is twice as large as the average website in 2012. Images, scripts and video make up most of that space.

Image removed.
Source: HTTP Archive

What isn’t helping the cause is the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and even watches that can access the Internet, which lead to incredible fragmentation.

All of these devices come with marketing campaigns promising portable powerhouses and break-neck speed, but don’t speak to the real-world bottlenecks in play, from browsers to bandwidth.

And the Solution Is…?

While coverage of the issues present the challenges adequately, they don’t address the steps that can be taken to address the problem.

If they did, you’d be reading about automation solutions. Using the right web performance optimization (WPO) solution enables faster websites and web-based applications, optimizes images on the fly, and selects the most effective image compression format that the browser can support.

It’s an elegant solution to a complex challenge, but can yield serious gains on Time to Interact (TTI), the measurement of the total load time between the first request and the point where the feature image loads and/or interactive elements can be engaged with. This is a key metric, and the real gauge for site speed.

So, when you are feeling a bit impatient that you’re website isn’t loading quickly enough, remember – it's not you. Web pages simply aren’t loading as quickly as they used to. Just know that an automation solution can address the spinning wheel of interminable loading.

Kent Alstad is VP of Acceleration at Radware.

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No, You're Not Impatient. The Internet is Getting Slower

Kent Alstad

We live in a world where we expect instant gratification, especially when it comes to the quality of our internet experience. From the ability to have 24/7 access to our financial accounts, “one-click” shopping on eCommerce sites, and of course, searching for answers to the boundless array of questions we have on a daily basis.

However, as quickly as we can access this information right at our fingertips, there is a slight speed bump in doing so. Believe it or not – you aren’t being impatient. The Internet is getting slower and just about everyone is noticing.

So what’s part of the cause for this issue? Page bloat and unoptimized images.

Unoptimized Images Are Bogging Down the User Experience

People browsing the web expect a similar experience to a fast-paced HD TV channel, with intensive graphics, animations and other visual assets, and site designers have largely obliged.

However, there’s been a push-pull dynamic: people also expect websites to load as quickly as the changing of a channel, serving bright, high-resolution images in real-time.

According to data from HTTP Archive, the average website is now 2.1 MB which is twice as large as the average website in 2012. Images, scripts and video make up most of that space.

Image removed.
Source: HTTP Archive

What isn’t helping the cause is the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and even watches that can access the Internet, which lead to incredible fragmentation.

All of these devices come with marketing campaigns promising portable powerhouses and break-neck speed, but don’t speak to the real-world bottlenecks in play, from browsers to bandwidth.

And the Solution Is…?

While coverage of the issues present the challenges adequately, they don’t address the steps that can be taken to address the problem.

If they did, you’d be reading about automation solutions. Using the right web performance optimization (WPO) solution enables faster websites and web-based applications, optimizes images on the fly, and selects the most effective image compression format that the browser can support.

It’s an elegant solution to a complex challenge, but can yield serious gains on Time to Interact (TTI), the measurement of the total load time between the first request and the point where the feature image loads and/or interactive elements can be engaged with. This is a key metric, and the real gauge for site speed.

So, when you are feeling a bit impatient that you’re website isn’t loading quickly enough, remember – it's not you. Web pages simply aren’t loading as quickly as they used to. Just know that an automation solution can address the spinning wheel of interminable loading.

Kent Alstad is VP of Acceleration at Radware.

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E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

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The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

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The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

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Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating across the telecoms industry, with 88% of fixed broadband service providers now investigating or trialing AI automation to enhance their fixed broadband services, according to new research from Incognito Software Systems and Omdia ...

 

AWS is a cloud-based computing platform known for its reliability, scalability, and flexibility. However, as helpful as its comprehensive infrastructure is, disparate elements and numerous siloed components make it difficult for admins to visualize the cloud performance in detail. It requires meticulous monitoring techniques and deep visibility to understand cloud performance and analyze operational efficiency in detail to ensure seamless cloud operations ...

Imagine a future where software, once a complex obstacle, becomes a natural extension of daily workflow — an intuitive, seamless experience that maximizes productivity and efficiency. This future is no longer a distant vision but a reality being crafted by the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence ...

Enterprise data sprawl already challenges companies' ability to protect and back up their data. Much of this information is never fully secured, leaving organizations vulnerable. Now, as GenAI platforms emerge as yet another environment where enterprise data is consumed, transformed, and created, this fragmentation is set to intensify ...

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