[KarlKemp]

This notion about cut-off y-axes is the data visualization equivalent of “correlation is not causation”: it’s a valid point that’s easily understood, so everyone latches on to it and then uses it to proof their smartitude, usually with the intonation of revealing grand wisdom.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of practitioners who aren’t obviously to the argument, but rather long past it: they know there are situations where it’s totally legitimate to cut the axis. Other times, they might resort to a logarithmic axis, which is yet another method of making the presentation more sensitive to small changes.

[vlmutolo]

There are plenty of instances where it's appropriate to use a y-axis that isn't "linear starting at zero." That's why I specified that I was only talking about ways to represent relative differences (i.e. relative to the magnitude of the measurements).

In this case, when we're measuring the latency of requests, without any other context, it's safe to say that relative differences are the important metric and the graph should start at zero.

So while it's true that this isn't universally the correct decision, and it's probably true that people regurgitate the "start at zero" criticism regardless of whether it's appropriate, it does apply to this case.