The volume of YouTube traffic on Google servers in Russia (Average Daily Traffic for YouTube index) has fallen to a record low. According to the Google Transparency Report, since July 12, when the official slowdown of YouTube began in the country, traffic has decreased sevenfold.
The American company calculates this indicator using its own index, based on the average number of user connections in different countries. In the first days after the slowdown began – from July 12 to July 23 – the traffic index in Russia reached 48.759. However, by December 23, this index had fallen to an all-time low of 7.78.
At the same time, YouTube traffic on Google servers in the Netherlands increased proportionally to the decrease in Russia. The Netherlands has become a popular access point for bypassing blockages. The traffic index in the Netherlands on July 12 was 6.228, and by December 23 it had increased by 50%, reaching 9.994.
As a reminder, users in Russia first encountered serious disruptions in YouTube's operation in August. Then the service began to work more slowly, and soon it became simply impossible to use it. State Duma deputy (now acting head of the Kursk region) Alexander Khinshtein mentioned a "forced step aimed against the administration of a foreign resource."
At the same time, Rostelecom referred to the deterioration of the GGC caching servers. And Google claimed that the slowdown of the service "is not the result of any technical problems or actions" on its part. The aggravated situation reached the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The politician noted at a press conference on December 19 that there were more questions on the YouTube side than on the Russian side.
Read more on the topic:
Google Denies Involvement in YouTube Slowdown in Russia
Roskomnadzor Intensified the Slowdown of YouTube: Impossible to Use
