The globalization of the internet has put the world in touching distance, and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are one more tool that brings societies and their shared content even closer together. Digital content production and consumption are defining culture in the modern age, and #CompadoInsights, a leading format in data insights, has released a comprehensive analysis of the ways people use VPNs to connect securely.
Solving the Problems
VPNs can be used to solve a variety of problems that modern internet users face. They increase privacy, prevent trackers from observing web movements, and bypass website blockers on private and public networks. However, #CompadoInsights’ analysis highlights the ability to choose a VPN’s apparent location as its most valuable feature. Choosing a location is crucial for users who seek to bypass regional content restrictions, to view content that is only streamed or released in certain countries, and this kind of user is the most common.
Regional Leagues
One industry that is full of regional content is sports broadcasting. Even elite professional sports events are often broadcast only within specific regions, and fans of lower-tier leagues and tournaments struggle with this barrier even more. #CompadoInsights data indicates that the primary motivation for VPN usage is to access sports content, with location-based restrictions being a significant problem for fans of almost every sport.
“We found that sports are a huge driver for the VPN industry,” says Tim Vowden, Data Scientist for Compado, “and within that there are two main types of users.”
“The sports fan is the first type – usually a fan of a team or league they don’t have access to watch in their country. They will use VPNs regularly to watch their team whenever they play and are most likely to buy a long-term subscription to a VPN provider.”
“The second type is the event tourist – less serious sports fans, who want to tune in to the large sporting events held worldwide. These viewers don’t regularly watch the sports in question but want to join in with the festivities of the World Cup or Superbowl when they happen. They are less likely to subscribe but are a huge portion of the user base which can’t be ignored.”
#CompadoInsights found that the sports which drive the most Americans to become VPN users are Basketball, Formula 1, American Football, Soccer, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
A Rising Star
A sport that doesn’t make the top 5 most popular for VPN users in the US, but does hit the top 10, is Tennis. The sport hosts 4 “Grand Slam” tournaments each year, and only one is regionally available for Americans to watch. This format is seen in a lot of sports and is an understandable driver for many VPN users. However, a driver that some may be surprised to hear has recently risen to a similar level of popularity is Anime.
“With sports being such a driver for the VPN industry, and Tennis being such a popular sport, we were surprised to discover that Tennis and Anime draw a similar number of users to VPNs,” says Vowden.
Both are often released or streamed exclusively in specific regions, which leads to fans of both facing the same problem. But #CompadoInsights analysis found the number of Anime fans continues to grow, and access to newly released shows and episodes is driving more and more VPN traffic.
“Who knows where this rising popularity will end?” continues Vowden, “Perhaps in the future Anime will cause as many VPN users as top sports such as Basketball and F1.”
The Future of VPNs
Another notable shift, though perhaps more easily predicted, is the shift from PC-based VPN solutions to mobile-based. However, perhaps not so easy to predict is the speed at which the change is occurring. As identified by #CompadoInsights the rising popularity and demand for VPN applications made for mobile devices means that a quarter of the demand for VPNs is already specifically targeted at mobile devices – and this figure is growing.
“The world and its people continue to connect, causing niches, fandoms and subcultures to spread across the globe. Regional content is now finding global popularity, so for as long as content continues to be restricted by region, the VPN industry is along for the ride, even if it needs to adjust to fit new devices. At #CompadoInsights, we’re ready to see it all unfold” says Vowden.
About Compado
Compado is a B2B tech platform for contextual advertising and content monetization. Founded in 2016, the platform provides cookie-free contextual advertising to consumer brands and cookie-free content monetization to publishers. The platform’s proprietary contextual advertising puts brands in front of shoppers – and helps publishers to monetize their content through contextually targeted brand recommendations.
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