Clicks, Controversies, and Ko Samui: March’s Digital Pulse
Do you know that feeling when you think you’ve hit a peak… but then just keep picking up speed?
Holy moly, that's EXACTLY how 2025 is shaping up. And as Q1 wraps up, one thing's crystal clear: this month, it's ALL about AI.
Here’s the data you need to know from Similarweb — your go-to source for measuring the digital world.
ChatGPT takes a whiff of the top 5
ChatGPT just broke its own traffic record — again.
Nope, this isn't Groundhog Day. Yep, you've read this headline before (like, a million times). But we're just here to share the cold, hard facts, and THE fact is: OpenAI's megatool is only getting started.
A new voice assistant, souped-up image generator, and that crazy-viral Ghibli-style trend? They rocketed ChatGPT to a mind-blowing 4.548 billion visits in March.
ChatGPT vs. X: A weekday showdown
Surpassing X (formerly Twitter) — a platform hanging around for OVER a decade — less than three years after launch? That would be a jaw-dropping milestone, even by ChatGPT's crazy standards.
But when you dig into the weekly numbers, you'll see ChatGPT absolutely OWNS weekdays, while weekends still belong to social media doomscrolling. It looks like everyone needs a little downtime at the end of the week.
Grok joins the big kids club
As we mentioned last month, it's crazy hard to compare Grok's usage to other GenAI tools since so much happens right inside the X platform. But check this out — its standalone site, Grok.com, has officially CRASHED the GenAI top 5 — blowing past Claude and Perplexity, and even playing chicken with Gemini for a day.
What does this tell us? Users are TOTALLY open to test-driving multiple GenAI tools. There's definitely room for more than one heavyweight in this ring — but holy smokes, the race is getting SPICY.
The Ghiblify craze that exploded across GenAI platforms
This viral trend hit HARD. And it makes sense. Now literally anyone can generate animated visuals in that magical Studio Ghibli style we all adore with just a computer.
For die-hard fans? This opened up a WHOLE can of worms. Critics are fuming that these AI-generated images water down an art form that normally demands YEARS of meticulous craftsmanship. Let's be real — a quick prompt can now mimic what master animators once created painstakingly from illustrations.
But flip the coin, and you'll see the trend introduced Studio Ghibli to completely fresh audiences. Some folks who'd never even HEARD of Ghibli are now diving into its legendary films. Will they stick around for the real deal? Tough call — but the Ghibli fan club has definitely expanded.
Do the positives crush the negatives? That's for you to decide.
Signal sees a surge (but not a win!)
The Signal app suddenly found itself smack in the middle of a media firestorm — totally by accident.
On March 26, news broke that the US administration had been using Signal group chats to hash out super-sensitive Yemen plans with a journalist from The Atlantic.
While the scandal zeroed in on the politicians (not the app itself), Signal still got a PR spotlight moment they NEVER asked for. Downloads JUMPED a massive 33% on Android the very next day... but talk about short-lived! By March's end, Signal's global downloads had actually DROPPED 9% compared to February.
White Lotus S03: HBO wins some eyeballs and Ko Samui tourism EXPLODES
The White Lotus is considered one of the HOTTEST TV series in recent years, and the drop of its third season had everyone buzzing. The numbers don't lie: Season 3 pulled in a whopping 20.5 million viewers per episode—5 million MORE than the previous season.
Now, let's dig into what the Digital Data REALLY reveals about a flagship show's impact.
Expectations were through the roof for all this hype to translate into mind-blowing performance—and the results are... well, kinda mixed.
Let's start with the good news: In March 2025, HBO Max's website had 241.3 million visits, a 33.73% jump year over year (YoY) and a 13.66% boost month over month (MoM).
But hang on—from a 12-month view, March only ranks 6th overall. It's a decent middle-of-the-pack showing, but nowhere near what you'd expect from a month featuring such a massively anticipated release.
The app performance? Same story: March saw upticks in both app store downloads and monthly active users compared to February. But it still trailed behind most months since June 2024.
Here's where it gets REALLY interesting though...
The White Lotus doesn't just change our streaming habits—it also fuels our travel obsessions.
According to Similarweb's Segment Analysis, traffic to Booking.com pages with the term "koh-samui" SKYROCKETED by 49% YoY.
And talk about winners—the resort where they filmed the season—The Four Seasons, Koh Samui—absolutely CRUSHED IT. In March 2025, it ranked 3rd and 4th among Booking.com's most popular pages, compared to a modest 8th during the prior 12 months.