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It wasn't all that long ago that most Americans' fingers took at least one weekly "walk" through the Yellow Pages (YP), those massive directories plunked on our doorsteps at the same time every year by the local phone company. Although many of us still receive printed books, they're mere shadows of their former selves as the search function has gone digital in a big way – and many are merely tossed into landfills, recycled, or stuck in the back of a drawer somewhere.

That's not to say that the former YP publishers have rolled over and gone away. They all boast some online presence and are now competing with online search companies for the dollars they previously enjoyed as a virtual monopoly in most markets.

Database and directory publishers generate the majority of their revenue from the sale of print advertising space. Due to changing consumer preferences, digital media has increasingly replaced print media as a source of news and entertainment. Businesses have reduced investment in print advertisements, shifting their focus to digital publication advertisements. This shift has impacted industry revenue and forced operators to increasingly publish online.

Most visited websites in the U.S., as of December 2025:

Google.com - 21.95B visits
YouTube.com - 11.89B visits
Facebook.com - 2.41B visits
Reddit.com - 2.26B visits
Amazon.com - 2.05B visits
Instagram.com - 1.21B visits
Yahoo.com - 1.17B visits
Chatgpt.com - 1.04B visits
Wikipedia.org - 1.01B visits
X.com - 871M visits

(Source: Semrush, December 2025)

In 2025, Google processed over 8.5 billion searches every day and controlled 90.83% of the global search engine market, making it the clear leader worldwide.

On mobile, Google dominates with nearly 95% of all queries, while desktop search share stands at around 85%, showing how consistent its influence is across devices.

(Source: AllOutSEO, January 2026)

Major market segmentation of search engines in the U.S.:

Retail and consumer packaged goods ($169.5bn), 53.5%
Telecom and media ($52.3bn), 16.5%
Leisure travel and entertainment ($27.9bn), 8.8%
Financial services ($27.6bn), 8.7%
Automotive ($23.4bn), 7.4%
Healthcare ($6.0bn), 1.9%
Other ($10.1bn), 3.2%

(Source: IBISWorld, Search Engines in the U.S., July 2025)

The product and services segmentation of search engines in the U.S.:

Paid search ($189.4bn), 59.8%
Paid placement: banner ads ($63.7bn), 20.1%
Paid placement: video ads ($34.5bn), 10.9%
Paid placement: other ads ($29.1bn), 9.2%

(Source: IBISWorld, Search Engines in the U.S., July 2025)

Google dominated U.S. desktop search, accounting for 93–95% of searches throughout the period, with only minor month-to-month variation.

Bing remained the no. 2 search engine, showing a largely stable share with a slight growth at the end of the period.

(Source: Datos, State of Search, Q4 2025)

While the Yellow Pages directories were at one time a regular source for consumers seeking information on businesses and local services.

In the past year, 10% of adults 18+ have referred to internet Yellow Pages.

4% have referred to paper Yellow Pages.

(Source: 2025 MRI-Simmons Spring Doublebase)

The digitally connected world has hugely expanded choices for accessing information and has taken search to mobile consumer. Consumers in cars and on the street can quickly access information through search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing -- and those are just starting points.

85% of A18+ visited a search engine on their mobile device/smartphone/tablet in the last 30 days
66% of A18+ search for information about a product
48% of A18+ visited a website for local information
4% of A18+ called directory assistance

(Source: 2025 MRI-Simmons Spring Doublebase)

Number of different sites or apps that consumers use to check before their decision to use a local business:

1 site - 27%
2 sites - 40%
3 sites - 22%
4 sites - 6%
5+ sites - 6%