What Fastly saw on election night

Referred to as ‘the most important election ever’, it was reasonable to expect unprecedented levels of online traffic from traditional broadcasters, online streaming services, and digital publishers. The same could be said for online attacks. No one could be blamed for suggesting that it would be a hectic 24 hours for DDoS engines worldwide.

In actuality, things happened quite differently…

On November 6th, Nielsen reported a staggering 25% drop in television viewership on election night compared to 2020. Typically, election night draws intense public attention, with many people tuning in to watch live coverage of the results. However, this recent decline in TV viewership suggests a shift in public attitudes. Several factors may contribute to this change, including voter fatigue, disillusionment with the political process, and a shift towards alternative media for election coverage.

Let’s take a closer look at what we saw on election night.

Security

For months, Fastly customers have been hardening their attack posture with the help of our security experts in preparation for what many thought would be a contentious day ripe with attacker activity trying to disrupt or disinform the American people. Similarly to the viewership decline noted above, while attacks were still launched, they didn’t come with the hypothesized velocity. When examining the application DDoS requests flagged by Fastly DDoS Protection across our entire customer base, we saw nearly the same number of attack requests as the 24 hours prior.

While the total attacks were nearly identical, visually, we can see that attacks were sustained throughout election day as opposed to the 24 hours prior where they were grouped into a few key spikes. Diving deeper into the application DDoS data on election day, we find that 72% occurred within what we can call the “election period” from 12:00 PM PST on November 5th through 12:00 AM PST on November 6th.

Almost three-quarters of application DDoS attacks occurring during the election may appear to indicate a concerted effort from attackers to disrupt the news coverage, but in actuality, less than a quarter of attacks targeted media companies covering the election. In fact, more DDoS attacks that occurred during the election period targeted technology & gaming companies than those in the media & entertainment space.

Digital Publishing and website traffic

Digital publishers on the Fastly platform experienced a significant spike in traffic, some breaking records. This surge indicates that, while traditional television viewership may be declining, many individuals are turning to online platforms for election updates. The shift towards digital media could be driven by factors such as the convenience of real-time updates, access to diverse sources, and the interactive nature of online platforms.

However, it's important to note that the spike we saw in the aggregated traffic numbers was short-lived and did not translate into sustained engagement. After the spike, the number of visitors returned to regular levels at a rather fast pace indicating that people either turned to live coverage or had a lower level of interest once the results trended towards Trump.

Digital publishing has a clear advantage over broadcasting, particularly when it comes to the immediacy of news delivery. This becomes especially pronounced during significant events, such as election nights, when the public eagerly awaits immediate results. Digital publishers are uniquely equipped to fulfill this demand, providing continuous coverage and instant updates as elections unfold. Consequently, there is a noticeable trend of individuals turning to news websites (vs broadcast) on election nights in search of breaking news.

Changes in traffic levels measured November 4 vs. November 5 from 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM or 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM PST -- whichever hour saw the highest change
Source: Aggregated Fastly traffic data for five major digital publishers

The map above illustrates the increase in online traffic for digital publishers, highlighting significant variations across the country compared to the previous day. States won by Trump generally experienced larger spikes in traffic, especially in areas where his support was strongest. These states showed notable engagement, indicating a heightened interest and enthusiasm for election results and updates among his supporters. States that decisively voted for Trump consistently recorded a sharper surge in online activity, reflecting a strong online response aligned with their voting patterns.

In contrast, states won by Harris experienced more moderate increases in traffic, suggesting a more subdued level of engagement during peak hours. Swing states exhibited mixed results, with traffic spikes that did not show a distinct or uniform pattern. This variability in swing states may reflect their more balanced political landscapes, where neither side attracted online interest as intensely as in solidly partisan states.

Overall, the map highlights the correlation between regional voting tendencies and online election-related traffic, with areas leaning toward Trump leading the surge.

Streaming Media

Specifically for streaming media, online traffic climbed gradually and as expected, beginning to rise notably once the first polls closed and results started to trickle in. The volume of traffic reflected strong public interest. Still, it remained within the anticipated levels, demonstrating the reliability and readiness of digital infrastructures to handle the influx but maybe also what could be election fatigue. The peak period of traffic for certain streaming media occurred between 6 and 7 PM PST, when the release of key results and projections drew significant user engagement, before tapering off rather rapidly once the result became predictable.

Preparing for Election Night

When it comes to massive events like the U.S. Presidential Election, our customers can rely on Fastly’s resilient architecture to prevent outages, mitigate severity, and deliver on our availability promises without compromising performance. The Fastly team worked hard for months preparing our customers for whatever would get thrown at them on the day (and week) of the election. We’re thrilled to support them and provide instant breaking news to viewers around the country.

If you want to learn more about how we work, and the performance and security benefits that Fastly customers receive as a result of the efficiencies that come with these same innovations, try out our free tier or get in touch today.