Leipzig, Germany - Worldwide use of peer-to-peer applications has fallen as a percentage of overall Web traffic, as the total amount of Web traffic has grown, Ars Technica reported, citing preliminary results of a new study from deep-packet inspection firm Ipoque.

Still, in regions like Southern Europe, P2P still makes up 54% of all Internet traffic.

The key finding in the report, however, was the spike in worldwide usage of "direct download links" (DDL), generated by consumers downloading content -- including music, movies and other media -- from free file-hosting services like RapidShare and MegaUpload.

Ipoque found that DDL now accounts for up to 30% of all regular traffic, and further that RapidShare alone accounts for up to 5% of overall Web traffic in some regions.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/41v3s (Ars Technica)

http://www.ipoque.com/resources/internet-studies/internet-study-2007