Speedtest.net Sold for $1.2 Billion: Who Owns It Now?

If you have ever clicked the big "GO" button on Speedtest.net, you just watched your casual internet habit become a billion-dollar business. On March 3, 2026, consulting giant Accenture announced it is acquiring Ookla, the company behind Speedtest by Ookla, Downdetector, and several other network intelligence tools, from Ziff Davis for $1.2 billion in cash.

That is not a typo. The internet speed test you use to check your Wi-Fi is now worth more than most professional sports franchises. Let's break down who owns Speedtest.net now, why the deal happened, and what it means for the future of the internet speed testing industry.

Who Owns Speedtest.net Now?

As of March 2026, Accenture is the new owner of Speedtest.net. Accenture is a massive global technology consulting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with over $64 billion in annual revenue. They bought Ookla, the Seattle-based company that operates Speedtest.net, from Ziff Davis (the media company that also owns IGN, Mashable, and Everyday Health). The price tag: $1.2 billion, all in cash.

The acquisition includes all of Ookla's products and speed test tools:

• Speedtest by Ookla, the most widely recognized internet speed test in the world
• Downdetector, the go-to site for checking if a service is down
• Ekahau, a Wi-Fi network design and troubleshooting platform used by enterprise IT teams
• RootMetrics, a competitive benchmarking tool used by telecom carriers to compare network performance

What Is Speedtest by Ookla?

Speedtest by Ookla is the world's most popular internet speed test tool. Founded in 2006 by Doug Suttles, Ookla built Speedtest.net as a simple way for people to check their internet speed, measuring download speed, upload speed, and ping (latency). Over the past two decades, it has grown into the default speed test for hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Today, Ookla employs approximately 430 people, including specialists in software engineering, radio frequency engineering, and data science. Their platform processes over 250 million consumer-initiated internet speed tests every month, generating one of the largest datasets on global internet performance in existence.

But Speedtest.net is only the consumer-facing side of the business. Behind the scenes, Ookla packages its network performance data into intelligence products that telecom carriers, governments, regulators, and enterprises pay significant fees to access. This data helps ISPs benchmark their networks, guides government broadband policy, and informs billions of dollars in infrastructure investment decisions.

The History of Speedtest.net Ownership

Speedtest.net has had three owners since its founding. Understanding this history explains how a simple internet speed test became a billion-dollar asset:

The most remarkable number in that timeline: Ziff Davis paid just $15 million for Ookla in 2014 and sold it for $1.2 billion twelve years later. That is an 80x return on investment.

To put that in perspective: if you had invested $1,000 alongside Ziff Davis in 2014, your share would be worth $80,000 today. According to Reuters, the sale allows Ziff Davis to refocus on its core media brands while Accenture gains a strategic foothold in the enterprise network intelligence market.

Why Speedtest Was Worth Over $1 Billion

This is the question everyone is asking. Why would a consulting company pay $1.2 billion for a speed test tool that most people use for free?

The answer is data. While you and I use Speedtest by Ookla to check if our Wi-Fi is working, the real value is in the massive dataset Ookla has been building for nearly two decades. With 250 million internet speed tests per month across virtually every country on Earth, Ookla has the most comprehensive picture of global internet performance that exists anywhere.

Why ISPs and Governments Rely on Speedtest Data

Telecom companies use Ookla's data to benchmark their networks against competitors. Governments use it to map broadband coverage gaps and allocate infrastructure funding. The FCC's Broadband Data Collection effort, for example, relies partly on crowdsourced speed test data to identify underserved areas. When billions of dollars in government broadband subsidies are at stake, the company controlling the measurement data has enormous influence.

Julie Sweet, Accenture's Chair and CEO, put it bluntly in the press release: "Without the ability to measure performance, organizations cannot optimize" their experience, revenue, or security. Accenture wants to sell network intelligence as a service to its massive enterprise client base.

Stephen Bye, Ookla's CEO, added that the acquisition will allow them to "scale our premiere network data business across the world's largest enterprises." Translation: the free internet speed test is the data collection engine, but the enterprise analytics built on top of it is where the real money lives.

The Revenue Numbers

Ookla's Connectivity division generated $231 million in revenue during 2025, fueled by 5G network rollouts and the pandemic-era surge in demand for bandwidth monitoring. That revenue comes primarily from enterprise clients, not from the free consumer speed test. At a $1.2 billion purchase price, Accenture is paying roughly 5x annual revenue, which is a reasonable multiple for a data business with a deep moat and recurring enterprise contracts.

What This Means for Internet Speed Testing

This acquisition reshapes the internet speed testing industry. Here is what you should know if you use Speedtest.net or any other speed test tool:

The Consumer Tool Likely Stays Free

Speedtest.net will almost certainly remain free. The consumer internet speed test is the data collection engine that makes the enterprise analytics valuable. Removing the free tool would cut off the data supply that justifies the $1.2 billion price tag. However, you may see more ads, more upsells to premium features, and more data collection as Accenture looks to maximize the return on their investment.

Enterprise Focus Will Increase

When a consumer product gets acquired by an enterprise-focused company, priorities shift. Accenture is not buying Ookla because they love helping you troubleshoot your home Wi-Fi. They are buying it for the data and the enterprise relationships. The consumer speed test will still exist, but innovation and attention will likely tilt toward enterprise features and analytics products.

Independence Questions Are Fair

One of the biggest concerns with any acquisition like this is independence. Accenture counts major telecom carriers among its consulting clients. When your internet speed test is owned by a company that also consults for the ISPs being tested, questions about neutrality are fair game. Will Speedtest results still be fully independent? Accenture says yes. But the structural incentive has changed.

Your Data Becomes More Valuable

Every time you run an internet speed test on Speedtest.net, you are contributing to a dataset that is now worth $1.2 billion. Ookla has always collected and monetized aggregated network data. Under Accenture, with its focus on enterprise AI and analytics, the value extraction from that data is almost certain to intensify. Your speed test results help Accenture's consulting clients make billion-dollar infrastructure decisions.

The Future of Internet Speed Testing

This acquisition is part of a broader trend in the internet speed testing industry. Network performance data has become incredibly valuable as networks grow more complex with 5G, Wi-Fi 7, edge computing, and AI-driven applications. The companies that control the measurement tools control the narrative about network quality.

Several trends are shaping where speed testing goes from here:

• Consolidation: Major speed test tools are increasingly owned by large corporations with telecom industry ties, reducing the number of truly independent options
• Beyond speed: Modern internet speed tests now measure more than just download and upload. Metrics like jitter, bufferbloat, and packet loss give a much fuller picture of connection quality
• AI and analytics: Companies like Accenture will use speed test data to train AI models that predict network issues, optimize routing, and inform infrastructure planning
• Regulatory importance: As governments worldwide invest trillions in broadband infrastructure, accurate, independent speed testing data becomes critical for accountability

That is exactly why independent speed testing matters more than ever. When the biggest internet speed test in the world is owned by a consulting firm that works with ISPs, having alternatives that are truly independent becomes critical for consumers who want unbiased results.

Speedtest Alternatives: Independent Speed Test Tools

With Speedtest.net now under Accenture's ownership, many users are looking for alternative speed test tools. Here are the key options for testing your internet speed independently:

• Pong.com: An independent internet speed test that measures download, upload, ping, jitter, and bufferbloat. Not owned by an ISP or consulting firm. No data sold to telecom companies
• Fast.com: Run by Netflix, primarily measures download speed. Useful for a quick check but limited in the metrics it provides
• Cloudflare Speed Test: Run by Cloudflare, measures speed along with latency. Tests against Cloudflare's own CDN network
• M-Lab / Google Speed Test: Open-source, research-focused. Powers the Google search speed test widget

The key difference between these tools is who owns them and what they do with your data. A speed test run by a company that consults for ISPs faces different incentives than one built solely to give you accurate results. For a detailed breakdown, see our complete comparison of internet speed test tools.

Try a Free Internet Speed Test

At pong.com, we built our internet speed test from the ground up to be independent, transparent, and focused entirely on giving you accurate results. We do not sell your data to telecom companies. We do not consult for ISPs. We just measure your internet speed and tell you the truth.

Our speed test measures everything that matters: download speed, upload speed, ping, jitter, and bufferbloat. You also get a connection health grade that summarizes your overall internet quality in a single score. No account required, no app download needed. Just test your internet speed right from your browser.

In a world where the biggest speed test tool is now owned by a $64 billion consulting company, having an independent alternative matters. Check your internet speed on pong.com and see the difference for yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions