Favorable government regulations promoting tightened web security has been identified as the major factor driving adoption of web content filtering solutions among end-users. In addition, growing desire to better manage the network bandwidth consumption and defy cyber threats have further fueled market momentum. These factors are expected to contribute towards a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% during the forecast period 2023 – 2030. However, implementing web content filtering solutions, sometimes, may limit the use of Internet for educational purpose. In addition, issues including high cost, installation complexities, and violation of rights have posed a significant challenge to the market growth. The web content filtering market is expected to cross US$ 10.8 Bn by 2030.
End-use Segmentation Analysis
A web content filter refers to a software program designed to control the content delivered over the internet through either web or e-mail, thereby offering access to only specific content on the internet. Growing corporate concerns over data privacy, employee productivity, and legal liabilities have collectively fueled adoption of web security solutions among business organizations. Their capability to offer network security by restricting access to virus prone or malicious content loaded websites have further ensured greater adoption of web content filtering solutions among enterprise users. As such, web content filtering solutions have become an integral component of business organizations. In 2021, business organization segment was the largest contributor to the web content filtering market, accounting for over 35% of the global market revenue. Although the segment is expected to remain the major end-use market, schools and institution segment is poised to witness maximum growth over the forecast period from 2023 to 2030. In order to confine students from getting access to non-curriculum related information and better manage the designated bandwidth consumption, schools and institutions across the globe are increasingly deploying web content filtering solutions on a wider scale.
Restricting complete access to a particular website may sometimes deprive students, employees, or other surfers from gaining the requisite information. For instance, a person surfing for the information on vaginal cancer may be restricted from accessing websites which includes words that are blacklisted by the network administrator. As such, to avoid such situations, different filtering techniques have been developed over the years.
In 2021, URL filtering was the major web content filtering technique employed by business organizations and federal agencies, accounting for around one third of the global web content filtering market. With large amount of content being added every day to the World Wide Web, the resulting increase in the number of URLs is making list based filtering (URL Filtering) unsustainable. Over the forecast period, keyword and file type filtering are expected to witness healthy adoption. The growth in file type filtering technique can be attributed to the growing demand from business organizations, schools, and federal agencies. Owing to technical complexities involved and less security offered, Internet Protocol (IP) filtering and DNS (Domain Name System) filtering techniques are expected to exhibit slower growth over the forecast period 2023 – 2030.
In terms of revenue, North America (comprising U.S., and Rest of North America) represented the largest web content filtering market, accounting for over one third of the global market revenue in 2021. The U.S. represents the largest and the most lucrative web content filter market worldwide. The dominance can be primarily attributed to the proactive government regulations in the country, promoting increased use of web content filtering solutions that ensure privacy of customer information held by business enterprises. Although North America is expected to remain the largest web content filtering market throughout the forecast period, Asia Pacific is expected to witness healthy growth, outpacing North America and Europe to grow at a CAGR of 15.1%. The anticipated growth in the region is expected to be spurred by the expansion of enterprise networking, improved investments for developing sophisticated IT infrastructure, and increasing adoption of web based technologies. India and China are collectively expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the market growth during the forecast period 2023 – 2030.
A web content filter is a software program that screens or restricts access to specific websites or dedicated sections of websites that are deemed offensive, inappropriate. Web content filters are increasingly deployed by business organization and federal agencies as Internet firewall systems. They are also by deployed by personal computer or mobile device owners, especially parents to restrict their children from getting access to the unwanted and objectionable content on the Internet.
The contracting end-user (business organizations, federal agencies, schools and institution, individual) constructs a database of keywords, IPs, and URLs, which if requested by any person denies the access to the same. End-users also create a set of rules to impose its Internet Access Policy (IAP) and deploy web content filtering solutions between the user browser and outside world.
When user requests a particular website, the web content filter installed retrieves the classification of the requested website from the constructed database. It also compares it with the set of rules created in the Internet Access Policy (IAP). These set of rules decide whether to allow or confine access to the requested website. If the keywords, IP, or URL requested matches with any from the set of blocked websites, an acknowledgement of access denial is sent back to the user. On the other hand, if set of rules in the Internet Access Policy (IAP) allows request, the connection is established and the address of the website requested is retrieved from the web server. The user gains access to the requested website and the activity is recorded in the activity log. Such reporting capabilities enable business organizations to keep track of the Internet traffic and individuals that are most active on the network.
Web content filters were first installed in libraries (late 1990s) in compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in the U.S. The libraries deploying web content filters soon realized benefits, enabling them to address some of the major challenges. Web content filters allowed libraries to provide access to only dedicated websites, thereby preventing children and readers from bumping into unwanted websites and advertisements. Web content filtering solutions were initially considered as only an add-on or complimentary security solutions. However, within few years of introduction, these solutions have become an integral component of businesses and organizations realizing web consumption policies.
With the advent of technology, web filtering solutions have advanced to become more flexible and scalable solutions capable of addressing sophisticated security issues of the networked business world. Today, web content filters provide finer grained classification and more secured architecture. In addition, web content filters have become superior at evaluating the content and offer easy installation. Security solution providers across the globe are focusing on developing multi-featured solutions that besides web content filtering function can also function as firewalls, intrusion prevention solutions, and antivirus solutions among others. In addition, functionalities including logging, auditing, proxy, and data loss protection are slowly finding their way into web-security solutions.
Historical & Forecast Period
This study report represents analysis of each segment from 2022 to 2032 considering 2023 as the base year. Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for each of the respective segments estimated for the forecast period of 2024 to 2032.
The current report comprises of quantitative market estimations for each micro market for every geographical region and qualitative market analysis such as micro and macro environment analysis, market trends, competitive intelligence, segment analysis, porters five force model, top winning strategies, top investment markets, emerging trends and technological analysis, case studies, strategic conclusions and recommendations and other key market insights.
Research Methodology
The complete research study was conducted in three phases, namely: secondary research, primary research, and expert panel review. key data point that enables the estimation of Web Content Filtering market are as follows:
Market forecast was performed through proprietary software that analyzes various qualitative and quantitative factors. Growth rate and CAGR were estimated through intensive secondary and primary research. Data triangulation across various data points provides accuracy across various analyzed market segments in the report. Application of both top down and bottom-up approach for validation of market estimation assures logical, methodical and mathematical consistency of the quantitative data.
| ATTRIBUTE | DETAILS |
|---|---|
| Research Period | 2022-2032 |
| Base Year | 2023 |
| Forecast Period | 2024-2032 |
| Historical Year | 2022 |
| Unit | USD Million |
| Segmentation | |
Filtering Technique
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End-use Application
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Region Segment (2022-2032; US$ Million)
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Key questions answered in this report
