Cloudflare Introduces Speed Brain to Instantly Make Millions of Web Pages 45% Faster

Rhea-AI Summary

Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) has introduced Speed Brain, a new product that can make webpages load up to 45% faster for free. Speed Brain predicts the next page a user will visit and preloads it into the browser cache, aiming to eliminate load times completely. This innovation works with popular web browsers and is enabled by default for millions of domains on Cloudflare's Free plan.

Speed Brain utilizes the Chrome Speculation-Rules API and Cloudflare's global network to speculate on user behavior. Future enhancements will include more aggressive predictions using machine learning and artificial intelligence. The feature is available immediately for all Cloudflare plans, with Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans able to enable it manually.

Positive

• Cloudflare introduces Speed Brain, potentially increasing webpage load speed by up to 45%
• The feature is available for free across all Cloudflare plans
• Speed Brain is enabled by default for millions of domains on Cloudflare's Free plan
• Future enhancements will include AI and machine learning for more accurate predictions
• The innovation leverages Chrome Speculation-Rules API and Cloudflare's global network

Negative

• None.

Insights

Web Performance Expert

Speed Brain represents a significant leap in web performance optimization. By leveraging predictive prefetching, Cloudflare is addressing one of the last major bottlenecks in page load times. The potential 45% speed improvement is substantial and could have far-reaching impacts on user experience and engagement metrics across millions of websites.

The integration with Chrome's Speculation-Rules API is clever, allowing for conservative predictions based on user behavior. The planned expansion into AI-driven predictions could further revolutionize how we approach web performance. However, it's important to note that aggressive prefetching could potentially increase bandwidth usage, which might be a concern for users with data plans.

For businesses, faster load times often correlate with improved conversion rates and reduced bounce rates. This free feature could provide a significant competitive advantage, especially for e-commerce sites where speed is crucial. The automatic enablement for Free plan users is a bold move that could rapidly accelerate adoption across the web ecosystem.

Tech Industry Analyst

Cloudflare's introduction of Speed Brain is a strategic move that reinforces its position as a leader in web infrastructure and performance. By offering this feature for free, including to millions of domains on their Free plan, Cloudflare is likely aiming to expand its market share and potentially upsell premium services in the future.

The collaboration with Google on the Chrome Speculation-Rules API demonstrates Cloudflare's strong industry partnerships and ability to leverage emerging technologies. This could lead to increased adoption of Cloudflare's services among developers and businesses seeking cutting-edge performance solutions.

From an investor perspective, this innovation could drive growth in Cloudflare's customer base and potentially increase revenue from higher-tier plans as websites seek to fully optimize their performance. However, the impact on Cloudflare's bottom line will depend on how effectively they can monetize this feature in the long term, balancing free offerings with premium services.

Cloudflare makes a quantum leap in everyday web performance for millions of Internet users

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced Speed Brain, a new product that works with some of the most popular web browsers to speed up how webpages load by up to 45% faster, for free. Speed Brain aims to eliminate load times completely by predicting the next page a user will visit, and downloading a webpage to the browser cache before a user navigates to it. Now websites using Cloudflare will load faster than ever before, almost instantly.

As the web has evolved, speed has been one of the most critical factors to improve online experiences – the Internet has matured from waiting minutes to download a song, to 100 milliseconds feeling “instant” enough for an ideal browsing experience. One of the remaining roadblocks to fast load times is the delay of downloading certain pieces of a webpage – from HTML files to static images – when visiting a website. Speed Brain aims to eliminate this wait time completely and render pages instantly.

“By turning on Speed Brain, Cloudflare has made millions of web pages nearly 50 percent faster – instantly. That means Internet users across the world can browse, communicate, learn, and work faster and more reliably,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO, Cloudflare. “We believe that no one should have to pay to speed up their webpage, and that Internet users deserve the fastest experience possible. While many have attempted to reduce or eliminate load times, Cloudflare is in a unique position to actually make it happen instantly for the significant portion of the Internet that uses our network.”

Cloudflare’s new Speed Brain feature prefetches the content of the page a user is most likely to visit next. Currently, this is done conservatively by speculating the next page a user will visit when their cursor hovers over a link or starts to click. In the coming months and into 2025, Cloudflare will offer more aggressive predictions using machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict the next page a user will visit based on previous web traffic and requests. For example, Speed Brain enabled on an ecommerce website selling clothing will use insights from previous web requests to predict with high accuracy that a typical visitor is likely to click on ‘Shirts’ when viewing the parent page ‘Mens > Clothes’. Based on this, Speed Brain can start delivering static content, like images, before the user even clicks the ‘Shirts’ link. As a result, when the user clicks ‘Shirts’, the page loads instantly. This innovation is made possible by the Chrome Speculation-Rules API, and Cloudflare’s massive global network that sits between clients and servers, making it well positioned to speculate.

“Cloudflare has built a reputation in the industry as the experts in speed, and in helping to make the Internet better for everyone,” said Barry Pollard, Web Performance Developer Advocate, Google. “Our team is excited to see a company like Cloudflare jump at the chance to make browsing experiences so much faster for so many people right off the bat by using the Speculation-Rules API, in such a simple way for site owners. The machine learning optimizations in the works will take even more burden off site owners, and make so much of the Internet faster for so many more people.”

Speed Brain is available with all Cloudflare plans immediately and for free; Speed Brain is currently enabled by default to millions of domains on Cloudflare’s Free plan. Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans can be enabled manually with one click. Speed Brain is for Chromium-based web browsers like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

To learn more, please check out the resources below:

• Technical Blog: Introducing Speed Brain: making the web 45% faster
• Join us online for demos, product announcements, and more at our first Builder Day Live Stream on September 26 at 11am PT. Register at https://builderday.pages.dev.

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at https://radar.cloudflare.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “explore,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern Cloudflare’s expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the capabilities and effectiveness of Speed Brain and its related features and Cloudflare’s other products and technology, the benefits to Cloudflare’s customers from using Speed Brain and its related features and Cloudflare’s other products and technology, Cloudflare’s technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by Cloudflare’s CEO and others. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in Cloudflare’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Cloudflare’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 1, 2024, as well as other filings that Cloudflare may make from time to time with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Cloudflare undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. Cloudflare may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements.

© 2024 Cloudflare, Inc. All rights reserved. Cloudflare, the Cloudflare logo, and other Cloudflare marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Cloudflare, Inc. in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names referenced herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240925063832/en/

Cloudflare, Inc.

Daniella Vallurupalli

Vice President, Head of Global Communications

press@cloudflare.com

Source: Cloudflare, Inc.

FAQ

What is Cloudflare's Speed Brain and how does it improve webpage loading?

Speed Brain is a new Cloudflare product that predicts and preloads the next webpage a user is likely to visit, potentially reducing load times by up to 45%. It uses the Chrome Speculation-Rules API and Cloudflare's global network to speculate on user behavior and preload content.

Is Speed Brain available for all Cloudflare customers, including those on the free plan?

Yes, Speed Brain is available for all Cloudflare plans, including the Free plan. It's enabled by default for millions of domains on the Free plan, while Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans can enable it manually with one click.

How will Cloudflare (NET) enhance Speed Brain's predictive capabilities in the future?

Cloudflare plans to implement more aggressive predictions using machine learning and artificial intelligence by 2025. These enhancements will be based on previous web traffic and requests to predict user behavior more accurately.

Which web browsers are compatible with Cloudflare's Speed Brain feature?

Speed Brain is compatible with Chromium-based web browsers, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.