Webfonts on the Prairie

As of May 2016, a majority of sites—60% of the Alexa Top 1 Million Sites—were using webfonts, up from only 2% in 2011.
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In “Efficient Web Type, Circa 1556”, designer Kenneth Ormandy notes that “we are building sites that request more fonts, from an 8kb average transfer size at the beginning of 2012 to a 59kb average two years later.”
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An exodus away from system fonts is clearly underway. Webfonts have reached critical mass and will soon be the new normal in web typography.
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Typography is a big deal. It’s branding. It’s identity. The desire to stand out visually is as powerful on the web as it is in any other medium—if not more powerful.
http://alistapart.com/article/webfonts-on-the-prairie