Tech Is GZIP Compression Always Desirable? - GoFuckYourself.com

Vendot · 10-02-2016, 10:21 PM

I'm wondering if there is any unintended downside to GZIP Compression? Some people seem to think that there is almost ZERO downside to using this as a method for speeding up your website loading time.

The reason I ask is because our sign ups from our site averaged 30/day.

When we enabled GZIP (through mod_deflate on Apache server) they averaged 22/day, even though our website is loading perceptibly faster.

My suspicion is that this may have affected mobile users although I am unable to confirm this. Is there anything that could have happened or was unintended?

Any views appreciated......

rowan · 10-02-2016, 10:35 PM

gzip/deflate support is signalled via a header that the browser sends, so it should be backward compatible - your server will send plain text if it doesn't see an Accept-Encoding header.

Is there any way to record the user agent of new signups? That may help you show whether there's an issue with a particular buggy browser, or something wrong with your server. Could also just be natural random variance.

wankawonk · 10-03-2016, 12:00 AM

Totally random but I have disabled it on my sites after finding that the CPU time it takes to gzip everything is more expensive (and slower) than the extra bandwidth if I don't gzip

Programmer Simon · 10-03-2016, 12:58 AM

As rowan says, enabling gzip compression shouldn't have affected any of your users. If a browser doesn't support compression it will simply not request it from the server, in which case the site loads just as it did before.

Lower page-load times can boost a site's ranking in Google search results, so if you're concerned about SEO at all I'd leave compression enabled.

I bet what you're seeing is just a natural fluctuation in traffic.

Vendot · 10-03-2016, 03:35 AM

Thanks for the well considered feedback guys..... I will leave GZIP enabled.

sirkonstantine · 10-03-2016, 03:48 AM

If your worries are just about the signup page, I'm pretty sure you can exclude gzip compression for just the signup page.

10-02-2016, 10:21 PM	#1
Vendot Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2002 Location: Malaysia Posts: 3,376	Is GZIP Compression Always Desirable? I'm wondering if there is any unintended downside to GZIP Compression? Some people seem to think that there is almost ZERO downside to using this as a method for speeding up your website loading time. The reason I ask is because our sign ups from our site averaged 30/day. When we enabled GZIP (through mod_deflate on Apache server) they averaged 22/day, even though our website is loading perceptibly faster. My suspicion is that this may have affected mobile users although I am unable to confirm this. Is there anything that could have happened or was unintended? Any views appreciated...... __________________ "In a Time of Universal Deceit, Telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act." - George Orwell

10-03-2016, 03:35 AM	#5
Vendot Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2002 Location: Malaysia Posts: 3,376	Thanks for the well considered feedback guys..... I will leave GZIP enabled. __________________ "In a Time of Universal Deceit, Telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act." - George Orwell

10-02-2016, 10:35 PM	#2
rowan Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 17,393	gzip/deflate support is signalled via a header that the browser sends, so it should be backward compatible - your server will send plain text if it doesn't see an Accept-Encoding header. Is there any way to record the user agent of new signups? That may help you show whether there's an issue with a particular buggy browser, or something wrong with your server. Could also just be natural random variance.

10-03-2016, 12:00 AM	#3
wankawonk Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 1,017	Totally random but I have disabled it on my sites after finding that the CPU time it takes to gzip everything is more expensive (and slower) than the extra bandwidth if I don't gzip

10-03-2016, 12:58 AM	#4
Programmer Simon Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 24	As rowan says, enabling gzip compression shouldn't have affected any of your users. If a browser doesn't support compression it will simply not request it from the server, in which case the site loads just as it did before. Lower page-load times can boost a site's ranking in Google search results, so if you're concerned about SEO at all I'd leave compression enabled. I bet what you're seeing is just a natural fluctuation in traffic.

10-03-2016, 03:48 AM	#6
sirkonstantine Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 281	If your worries are just about the signup page, I'm pretty sure you can exclude gzip compression for just the signup page.