Concentration of Credit Risk (Details)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012 customers	Dec. 31, 2011 customers
Number of customers related to greater than 10% of accounts receivable	0	1

Number of Customers Accounting for More than 10% of Accounts Receivable

No definition available.

Name:	akam_NumberOfCustomersAccountingForMoreThanTenPercentOfAccountsReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	akam_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration