In November 2024, Google.com was the most visited website in the United States, with over 25 billion total visits. YouTube.com came in second with 12 billion total visits. Reddit.com and Amazon.com counted approximately 3.12 billion and 2.89 monthly visits each from U.S. online audiences.

In March 2024, Google.com was the leading website in the United States. The search platform accounted for over 19 percent of desktop web traffic in the United States, ahead of second-ranked YouTube.com with 10.71 percent.

In November 2024, Google.com was the most popular website worldwide with 136 billion average monthly visits. The online platform has held the top spot as the most popular website since June 2010, when it pulled ahead of Yahoo into first place. Second-ranked YouTube generated more than 72.8 billion monthly visits in the measured period. The internet leaders: search, social, and e-commerce Social networks, search engines, and e-commerce websites shape the online experience as we know it. While Google leads the global online search market by far, YouTube and Facebook have become the world’s most popular websites for user generated content, solidifying Alphabet’s and Meta’s leadership over the online landscape. Meanwhile, websites such as Amazon and eBay generate millions in profits from the sale and distribution of goods, making the e-market sector an integral part of the global retail scene. What is next for online content? Powering social media and websites like Reddit and Wikipedia, user-generated content keeps moving the internet’s engines. However, the rise of generative artificial intelligence will bring significant changes to how online content is produced and handled. ChatGPT is already transforming how online search is performed, and news of Google's 2024 deal for licensing Reddit content to train large language models (LLMs) signal that the internet is likely to go through a new revolution. While AI's impact on the online market might bring both opportunities and challenges, effective content management will remain crucial for profitability on the web.

In November 2024, Google.com was the most popular website worldwide with approximately 6.25 billion unique monthly visitors. YouTube.com was ranked second with an estimated 3.64 billion unique monthly visitors. Both websites are among the most visited websites worldwide.

In August 2024, the domain tools.usps.com was the most popular U.S. government domain, receiving over 257 million visits in the preceding 30 days. Two domains of the National Center for Biotechnology Information followed, with the domain www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov registering 129.9 million visits, and pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov receiving 86.95 million.

In May 2024, Google Sites were ranked first among the most popular multiplatform web properties in the United States with over 278 million visitors from mobile and desktop connections – popular Google online properties include not only Google Search but also online video platform YouTube, communication services such as Gmail and Hangouts, as well as assorted online services such as Apps and Maps as well as digital app distribution platform Google Play.

As of March 2024, ulta.com registered around 30 million monthly visits in the United States. Qvc.com ranked second, with roughly 24.64 million visits that month. Sephora.com followed with approximately 24.57 million website visits. Sephora- the U.S. favorite Sephora is an omnichannel beauty retailer founded in Paris, France. The beauty retailer has achieved significant success in the United States, both on the high street and online. Sephora.com generates more than three billion U.S. dollars in e-commerce net sales through its online store, representing a six-fold increase in only six years. When comparing its app’s popularity worldwide, the U.S. leads the ranking, even surpassing its origin country in terms of downloads. Sephora's app downloads in the U.S. have exploded since September 2022, going from 215,000 to over 570,00 in November 2023. The latest generation of beauty shoppers Generation Z, or Gen Z, are young adults and the latest consumers of beauty online. In the United States, around two-fifths of Gen Z consumers purchased make-up-related goods online in 2023. Their peers and social media especially influence this age group when it comes to online purchases of cosmetics. Most Gen Z shoppers in the U.S. read reviews and look at pictures and videos of other shoppers before deciding to buy beauty products. Social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram are also important online sources for these beauty connoisseurs. Nearly six out of ten shoppers use TikTok to help with their beauty purchase decision, and around four out of ten use Instagram. To complete their orders, specialty beauty retailers are Gen Z's favorite online shopping channels. These sites are, for example, sephora.com and ulta.com.

In January 2025, Kroger's website was the most visited website in the grocery category in the country, accounting for 8.17 percent of desktop traffic. Instacart followed right behind with 6.83 percent of visits.

In December 2023, Amazon.com was the leading online shopping website in the United States. During the measured period, the sprawling platform accounted for over 45 percent of desktop traffic in the e-commerce and shopping subcategory. In second place on the list was eBay.com, with 9.22 percent of visitors. Walmart ranked third with a bit less than six percent of web traffic. Why customers browse on Amazon The main reason behind the outstanding online traffic to Amazon is user behavior throughout the customer journey. Amazon serves as a search engine for U.S. consumers, with 73 percent browsing it for inspiration and product discovery. Another 65 percent of U.S. shoppers landed on Amazon to look for products and compare products. In turn, Google is left third in the ranking of most used platforms. Generational differences In the beauty segment, the customer journey is more likely to start on Amazon among senior consumers. In the United States, 44 percent of Baby Boomers started their search of beauty products on the marketplace, while only 35 percent of Gen Z consumers reported doing the same.

In December 2024, the news website with the most monthly visits in the United States was nytimes.com, with a total of 463.07 million monthly visits in that month. In second place was cnn.com with close to 357 million visits, followed by foxnews.com with just over a quater of a million. Online news consumption in the U.S. Americans get their news in a variety of ways, but social media is an increasingly popular option. A survey on social media news consumption revealed that 55 percent of Twitter users regularly used the site for news, and Facebook and Reddit were also popular for news among their users. Interestingly though, social media is the least trusted news sources in the United States. News and trust Trust in news sources has become increasingly important to the American news consumer amidst the spread of fake news, and the public are more vocal about whether or not they have faith in a source to report news correctly. Ongoing discussions about the credibility, accuracy and bias of news networks, anchors, TV show hosts, and news media professionals mean that those looking to keep up to date tend to be more cautious than ever before. In general, news audiences are skeptical. In 2020, just nine percent of respondents to a survey investigating the perceived objectivity of the mass media reported having a great deal of trust in the media to report news fully, accurately, and fairly.

In December 2023, capitaloneshopping.com was the most visited website offering coupons, promotional codes, and rebates in the United States, accounting for 17 percent of all desktop visits. The website slickdeals.net followed with 15.75 percent of desktop traffic for this category of websites.

In May 2020, babycenter.com was the most popular mother's lifestyle website in the United States. The platform had generated 18.78 million page views during that month. Sheknows.com was ranked second with 15.56 million monthly visits.

In September 2023, Fox News ranked first among the most popular multiplatform conservative and right-wing websites in the United States with over 78.6 million unique visitors from mobile and desktop connections. Far-right website and printed magazine Epoch Times ranked second with approximately 5.9 million unique monthly visitors.

In March 2023, Facebook accounted for 45 percent of all social media site visits in the United States, confirming its position as the leading social media website by far. Other social media platforms, despite their popularity, had to make do with smaller shares of visits across desktop, mobile, and tablet devices combined. Pinterest ranked second with 21 percent of all U.S. social media site visits, while Instagram accounted for 14 percent of the total visits in the country. Additionally, the U.S. is home to the third largest social media audience worldwide.

Facebook: mobile vs desktop usage

At the beginning of 2022, around 81 percent of Facebook users across the globe were using the platform’s social networking services exclusively via mobile phone, while only 1.5 percent reported using their desktop or laptop devices. In October 2021, three Facebook Inc. products occupied the leading positions as most downloaded social networking apps on the Apple App Store in the United States. Facebook’s social media platform ranked first with nearly 2.5 million downloads, while Facebook-owned instant-messaging services Messenger and WhatsApp followed with 2.1 million and 1.4 million downloads respectively.

Social media evolution

Between 2012 and 2020, the daily time spent on social networks worldwide experienced a constant increase, with users reaching an average of 145 minutes per day in 2019 and maintaining the same engagement levels throughout 2020. However, users’ favorite platforms have changed since 2019, and the power balance appears to be shifting further from Facebook’s market dominance. Not only Facebook’s user growth rate is estimated to slow down in the next years, but users belonging to Generation Z appear to prefer video-first social platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

Despite registering a decline in the last months, slickdeals.com has maintained its position as the most visited coupon website in the United States, with 67 million monthly visits on average in April 2022. Meanwhile, Rakuten gained relevance in this period, although facing a traffic slowdown from nearly 72 million to about 16.8 million monthly visits from March to April.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Google Maps was the most popular travel app and website among Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers in the United States, with 80 percent, 81 percent, and 85 percent, respectively liking the service. Comparatively, Airbnb was liked by 61 percent of Millennials, but only 32 percent of Baby Boomers.

As of May 2020, it was found that Google had a 61.6 percent reach among Hispanic online audiences in the United States. Facebook reached 59.7 percent of Hispanic online users in the United States in the preceding 30 days.

As of June 2021, Amazon was the most visited e-commerce site in the United States, recording approximately 2.45 billion monthly visits to Amazon.com. eBay ranked second, with more than 885 million visits per month, while Walmart came in third, surpassing 410 million.

Online retail in a nutshell Online retail in the United States is a multi-billion dollar sector of business-to-consumer transactions where goods and services are sold via the internet. There are several business models at play here with the likes of Walmart, Home Depot, or Target based on brick-and-mortar stores whereas others such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy are designated online marketplaces. It also includes eBay which allows third-party or private sellers to market their goods.

Online retail sites enable customers to browse through a range of products before placing them into an electronic shopping cart. Unlike their retail counterparts, online retail sites are not bound to a physical location or limited by store opening hours, and as such, have proven themselves immensely convenient for consumers. Apparel & accessories and computers & consumer electronics are some of the most popular e-commerce categories in the United States.

Fast-growing retailers In addition to being the most visited retail site in the United States, Amazon also accounts for the vast majority of e-commerce sales. Over the past few years, Amazon’s retail sales in the United States have grown steadily, however, competition in this space is growing strong. Etsy, followed closely by Walmart and Target, are among the companies that recorded the fastest online retail sales growth in 2021.

According to data gathered in the second quarter of 2024, the most popular news wesbite in the United States was Yahoo!, with 60 percent of respondents reporting that they had a positive opinion of the publication. Ranked second was CBS.com, followed by NBC.com.

As of September 2024, 75 percent of the 100 most visited websites in the United States shared personal data with advertising 3rd parties, even when users opted out. Moreover, 70 percent of them drop advertising 3rd party cookies even when users opt out.