A performance audit of PC Gamer's March 2026 article reveals severe web bloat, with over 82% of network traffic coming from ad-tech and tracking scripts. Despite minimal core content (10-15KB text + ~150KB images), the page triggers 431+ network requests and 5.5MB transfer, ballooning to 200+ MB in Firefox due to autoplay video ads. The analysis highlights the extreme inefficiency of modern web publishing where advertising infrastructure dwarfs actual content delivery.
Background
Modern websites increasingly suffer from performance issues due to excessive third-party scripts, tracking, and advertising technologies. Web performance audits have become essential tools for analyzing and quantifying these inefficiencies in content delivery.
- Source
- Simon Willison
- Published
- Mar 23, 2026 at 06:49 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10