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As France prepares for an influx of Olympic athletes and tourists, the country’s communications networks are also gearing up for an uptick in traffic.
According to a report from digital services firm Cloudflare, which has monitored visits to Olympics-related websites since January, there have been “multiple spikes associated with specific Olympic events or ticket sales” as the extravaganza draws closer.
The most online interest, perhaps unsurprisingly, is coming from the games’ host country: 24% of Domain Name System (DNS) requests have originated in the republic. The other countries showing the keenest interest in Olympics content are the United Kingdom and the United States, which have respectively generated 20% and 17% of DNS requests, Cloudflare found.
The games, which begin this week, are slated to run through August 11, showcasing some 32 sports in more than 300 events that range from breakdancing (a newcomer this year) to track and field foot races (a staple hailing from the ancient Greeks).
According to Cloudflare, online activity spiked last month as key event venues began operations and as IMAX theaters began selling tickets for live event viewing in the US.
Intense consumer interest surrounding the games means that marketers (and scammers) are taking notice, too. In mid-July, Cloudflare recorded a 694% spike since January in emails mentioning the keywords “Olympics” or “Paris 2024” in the subject lines.
For every 1,000 of those emails, Cloudflare found that “roughly 15 would be spam and about two would be malicious.”