Cloudflare thinks it has a way to speed up millions of web pages for free
Cloudflare has introduced a new feature designed to dramatically reduce web page load times by anticipating user behavior and retrieving content before navigation even occurs.
The new Speed Brain feature, which is expected to be able to load pages almost instantaneously, uses the emerging Speculation Rules API, which allows browsers to download the next likely page in advance based on user actions.
This involves tracking where a user hovers or clicks the cursor to anticipate the next step and pre-download static content.
Cloudflare predicts how you navigate the web
Initial testing has already shown promising results, with up to a 75% reduction in Largest Contentful Pain (LCP) – a key metric used to measure how quickly the largest visible elements of a web page load.
Speed Brain draws its power from Cloudflare’s network, which spans 330 cities around the world. This widespread and fast infrastructure allows content to be delivered quickly.
The functionality is now available for all Cloudflare subscription types, including free plans, where it is enabled by default. Corporate and business customers also have access, but must activate it manually.
From launch, Speed Brain will be supported on Chromium-based browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, but the company promises to work with partners to extend support to other browsers as well.
To coincide with the launch of Speed Brain, the California-based company also recommends enabling Real User Measurements (RUM) to track performance improvements and optimize pre-fetching rules.
While the feature is mainly focused on static content for now, it additionally provides insight into how Cloudflare and other companies are working to speed up other areas of browsing in the future.