Shopping for Funeral 

Services Online

An FTC Staff Review of Funeral Provider 

Websites

October 2022

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Lina M. Khan, Chair

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Commissioner

Christine S. Wilson, Commissioner

Alvaro M. Bedoya, Commissioner
Contents

Introduction........................................................................................................................1

I. The Funeral Rule’s Price Information Requirements ...........................................2

II. Funeral Provider Website Review............................................................................3

III. Findings from the Website Review ..........................................................................3

A. Common Core Information ...................................................................................................... 4

B. Goods and Services Offered..................................................................................................... 4

Caskets, alternative containers, and outer burial containers ............................................................. 5

Other goods and services................................................................................................................... 6

C. Price Information...................................................................................................................... 6

D. Other Findings.......................................................................................................................... 7

Size of the provider ..........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Third-party support ........................................................................................................................... 7

Preplanning and financing................................................................................................................. 8

Social media ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Conclusion...........................................................................................................................9

Appendix ...........................................................................................................................10
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION • FTC.GOV 1

Introduction

When a loved one dies, grieving family members and friends often must make difficult decisions about 

funeral arrangements in a very short time frame and under great emotional stress. To complicate things, 

many people find themselves searching for funeral providers and making arrangements from a distance, 

without visiting the funeral home. With the median cost of the average funeral reaching almost $8,000,1

 

making funeral arrangements is a significant financial decision.

Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) staff has endeavored to learn what information is available to 

consumers looking for funeral services online. As part of this effort, between June and September 2021, 

staff visited nearly 200 websites of funeral providers from all over the country. This review occurred 

during the COVID-19 pandemic when many funeral providers were very busy and many people did not 

or could not visit a funeral provider in person to make arrangements. While not based on a statistical 

sample, the review looked at a varied group of funeral providers that are employing websites in their 

businesses. The results offer broad insights into the information providers of differing sizes and in areas 

with different population densities make available online.

Staff found that funeral providers generally displayed a range of information about their goods and 

services on their websites, but a majority of the reviewed websites provided little to no information 

about their prices. Thus, consumers would need to call or visit in person or otherwise contact the funeral 

providers to gather such key information. 

This report first provides some background into the FTC’s role in helping consumers access accurate 

funeral price information. It then describes staff’s review of the information available on funeral 

provider websites and its findings.

1 2021 NFDA General Price List Study Shows Funeral Costs Not Rising as Fast as Rate of Inflation, Press Release, National 

Funeral Directors Association (Nov. 4, 2021) (listing the national median cost of an adult funeral with a viewing and burial;

the median cost adding a burial vault is $9,420) available at https://nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-newsreleases/id/6182/2021-nfda-general-price-list-study-shows-funeral-costs-not-rising-as-fast-as-rate-of-inflation. Staff 

understands that the NFDA calculated the median price in this study by reviewing prices for a set bundle of funeral goods 

and services that were submitted by surveyed NFDA members, and that the median cost may not reflect typical prices 

consumers are actually charged.
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I. The Funeral Rule’s Price Information 

Requirements

The FTC enacted the Trade Regulation Rule Concerning Funeral Industry Practices (“Funeral Rule”) 40 

years ago with stated goals to lower barriers to price competition in the funeral goods and services 

market and to facilitate informed consumer choice.2 The Rule helps to ensure that: (1) consumers have 

access to sufficient information to permit them to make informed decisions; (2) consumers are not 

required to purchase goods and services that they do not want (e.g., funeral providers cannot sell only 

bundled packages) and are not required by law to purchase; and (3) misrepresentations are not used to 

influence consumers’ decisions.3

One of the Rule’s key provisions requires funeral providers to give accurate, itemized price information 

and other disclosures about funeral goods and services. The Rule requires that a funeral provider give a

person who visits the provider’s funeral home a General Price List (GPL) when they begin to discuss the 

types of funeral goods or services offered or their prices. A funeral provider must also show a Casket 

Price List (CPL) and Outer Burial Container Price List when someone asks in-person about those items 

or their prices, and before showing the items or pictures of them.4 The Rule also requires a funeral 

provider to give information from the itemized price lists, and other readily available information that 

reasonably answers questions about the providers’ offerings and prices, to anyone who inquires about 

the funeral provider’s offerings on the telephone.

Because it was enacted nearly 40 years ago, the Rule does not mention the internet or electronic 

communication (such as email or text), and includes no explicit requirements with respect to such 

media.5 In February 2020, the FTC announced a routine regulatory review of the Funeral Rule and 

solicited comment on a range of issues, including whether funeral providers should be required to 

provide price information online or share it electronically.6 The announcement also asked for comment 

on any changes in the marketplace, including changes in technology. The comment period ended in June 

2 Original Funeral Rule Statement of Basis and Purpose, 47 FR 42260 (Sept. 24, 1982). The Rule became effective on April 

30, 1984 and was amended effective July 19, 1994.

3 Amended Funeral Rule Statement of Basis and Purpose, 59 FR 1592 (Jan. 11, 1994).

4 The Rule also prohibits providers from misrepresenting legal, crematory, and cemetery requirements; embalming for a fee 

without permission; requiring the purchase of a casket when a consumer selects direct cremation; requiring consumers to buy 

certain funeral goods or services as a condition for furnishing other funeral goods or services; and engaging in other 

deceptive or unfair practices.

5 At least two states, California and Oregon, have some requirements for funeral providers with websites. Cal. Bus. & Prof. 

Code § 7685(b)(1) (“Each licensed funeral establishment that maintains an Internet Web site shall post on its Internet Web 

site the list of funeral goods and services that are required to be included in the establishment’s general price list, pursuant to 

federal rule, and a statement that the general price list is available upon request.”); Or. Admin. R. 830-040-0050(6) (if a 

funeral establishment lists a price on its website, it must link to its General Price List).

6 Press Release, FTC, FTC Seeks Public Comment as Part of its Review of the Funeral Rule (Feb. 4, 2020) available at 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/02/ftc-seeks-public-comment-part-its-review-funeral-rule. FTC Request for 

Comment, 85 FR 8491, at 8492 (Feb. 14, 2020) available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/02/14/2020-

02803/funeral-industry-practices-rule.
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2020, and the FTC received over 750 comments, the majority of which supported amending the Rule to 

require providers to post their prices online.

II. Funeral Provider Website Review

To learn what information is available to people seeking information online from funeral providers, FTC 

staff reviewed websites of providers serving a variety of locations of differing populations in the United 

States. Staff used an online search engine to identify funeral provider websites in sixty U.S. 

geographical locations of varying population densities based on U.S. Census Bureau information.

7 Staff 

identified 187 websites from 58 of the areas (including 34 states and Puerto Rico) to review, visiting 

each website to see what information a potential customer could learn about the funeral providers, 

including their offerings and prices, without visiting or calling the funeral home. Staff also looked to see 

if the provider operated a Facebook page for its establishment.8 This report summarizes staff’s findings. 

III. Findings from the Website Review

FTC staff’s review of the funeral provider websites found that those providers were using their sites to 

promote their businesses and share information with the public.9 Overall, staff noticed several trends in 

the websites reviewed:

• Most of the websites provided core information such as the establishment’s location and 

contact information, online obituaries, and information about upcoming funeral, memorial, 

and graveside services. Many shared resources on handling grief, veteran burial information, 

and pre-need planning. 

• Some websites contained descriptions of the goods and services offered by the funeral 

providers, but the amount of information provided varied widely. Some had minimal details 

7 A detailed description of the review methodology is available in Appendix A. 

8 Facebook is the leading social media platform used by small businesses. “During a survey of small business in the U.S. who 

were utilizing social media for advertising purposes, 66 percent of respondents said they used Facebook, while 42 percent 

indicated using YouTube. All in all some 55 percent of small businesses in the country were advertising on social media at 

that time.” Statista Research Dept, Leading social media used by small businesses for advertising in the U.S. 2021, Statista 

(Nov. 18, 2021) available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/208971/effective-social-media-marketing-tools-for-small-usbusinesses/. See also Statista Research Dept., Social media platforms used by marketers worldwide 2021, Statista (Aug. 3, 

2021) available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/259379/social-media-platforms-used-by-marketers-worldwide/ (“As of 

January 2021, Facebook was the most commonly used social media platform among marketers worldwide.”).

9

 As noted in Appendix A, the review methodology leaned towards finding those providers who advertised or made their 

websites discoverable. Note that two of the funeral providers in Puerto Rico did not operate their own websites, but rather 

used a third-party business page as their webpage. Because of the very limited information on these types of websites, staff 

excluded these websites from the results. Note also that two of the funeral providers appeared to be not-for-profit providers –

one affiliated with the Catholic church and a second with a .org domain name. These two websites were included in the 

review because their websites did not vary greatly from the for-profit operations.
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about their services. Others provided details about packages available for purchase, and some 

included pictures and detailed descriptions of their goods and services.

• Most of the reviewed websites contained little or no information about the prices charged. 

Less than half (40%) provided any information about the price of the goods or services 

offered. Approximately 11% of the websites provided only starting prices or package offers, 

about 24% of the websites contained an itemized price list or GPL, and about 4% of the 

websites contained information only about prices for caskets or alternative containers.

A.Common Core Information

All of the reviewed websites provided information about how to contact the establishments. All but one 

of the websites readily displayed physical addresses and all included a telephone number. Two-thirds 

(124) of the websites listed an email address to contact the provider and almost all, approximately 95%

(178), of the websites offered online forms that web visitors could complete and submit to contact the 

funeral providers. At least eight of the websites appeared to offer visitors the ability to chat online with 

the funeral provider. Many of the providers encouraged web visitors to contact them any time, often 

stating “we are available 24/7,” “we will respond in 15 minutes,” or something similar.

Almost all (180) websites posted obituary information about the deceased persons in their care, as well 

as information about any related funeral, graveside, or memorial services for the deceased. These 

websites provided dedicated pages for each of the deceased persons in their care, many of which could 

be shared electronically with others. This service appears to offer families a more affordable alternative 

to newspaper obituaries.10 The webpages also offer visitors the opportunity to post condolences for the 

family and others to see on the website11 and many offered ways to send flowers to the families of the 

deceased. The obituaries and tributes appear to be a prominent feature of most of the funeral provider 

websites.

B.Goods and Services Offered

The providers’ websites varied in the type and amount of detail shared about the funeral goods and 

services offered. Some of the websites offered very little information about the types of services they 

provide while others offered detailed descriptions of their facilities, burial and cremation options, 

funeral, memorial or graveside services, hearse and limousine services, casket, alternative container, and 

outer burial container offerings, and other products and services. Some providers gave detailed package 

information or pages with descriptions of the services offered, some provided a list of services in the 

form of an itemized price list, and some provided what appeared to be a means to make funeral 

10 Online Obituary Service is Booming, Ad Age, (July 6, 2016) available at https://adage.com/article/digital/online-obituarybusiness-booming/304843.

11 All but ten of the websites offered the ability to post condolences.
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arrangements on the website. All of the providers appeared to offer cremation services, with six 

appearing to only offer such services.12

In at least 17 instances (9%), it appeared that customers could select their funeral arrangements 

completely (or almost completely) on the providers’ websites, without ever visiting the physical 

location.13 On these websites, users would typically see details about the goods and services offered 

(often with pictures), along with the prices for the individual goods or services, or prices for packages of 

funeral goods and services. For example, several of these websites included pop-up boxes or links to the 

funeral providers’ GPLs at the start of the process.14 Some of the websites that offered online 

arrangements permitted consumers to purchase only packages online. Consumers wanting something 

other than the packages would need to contact the funeral provider directly. A few websites offered 

discounts to those making arrangements online.

Caskets, alternative containers, and outer burial containers

Some of the websites displayed pictures and details about the funeral goods the provider offered, such as 

the caskets, alternative containers, or outer burial containers. Approximately 37% of the websites (69) 

included pictures of the caskets, alternative containers, and/or outer burial containers the providers

offered for sale.15 Many of these websites included detailed information about the caskets and containers 

offered, including the dimensions, types of materials used, the fabric linings available, and the 

embellishments and engravings offered to personalize the caskets. Some of the websites included 

pictures of caskets and containers in downloadable brochures. Others displayed pictures as part of an 

online CPL that included prices. Seventeen of the websites with pictures incorporated casket company 

catalogs allowing visitors to browse a selection of caskets and see the details about the offerings. Fifteen

of these websites linked to and integrated the Batesville, Inc. casket company’s website directly to 

provide an online catalog with details about the caskets, and often cremation caskets and alternative 

containers available from Batesville. Some of the websites with pictures (23) included pictures and 

12 One additional site suggested it only offered cremation services, but the website mentioned burial caskets and vaults. Staff 

noted that seven of the websites mentioned that the provider offered alkaline hydrolysis or “flameless cremation,” which is a 

type disposition of human remains that uses chemicals and often heat. See Alkaline Hydrolysis, Cremation Association of 

North America, available at https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis (last visited Feb. 10, 2022).

13 Most of these funeral providers (12) were providers with multiple locations. There may have been additional websites that 

would have permitted a visitor to make online arrangements. However, because staff did not create any accounts on the 

websites or submit any information, staff could not determine if those sites would have offered online arrangements once a 

consumer creates an account or provides personal information. In addition, several sites represented that customers could 

make arrangements remotely via the telephone or other means without visiting the establishment.

14 Staff did not enter any information on these websites, and did not complete any purchase, but it appeared from the face of 

the websites that online payment was possible. Note that some of these websites used third-party providers, such as 

efuneral.com and partingpro.com which offer platforms to facilitate the online selection of funeral goods and services with 

checkout capabilities.

15 An additional nine websites included a video produced by Batesville about selecting caskets that showed a variety of 

caskets offered.
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details about the outer burial containers or vaults offered. Yet, as discussed below, many of the websites 

did not include the casket or container price information.

Other goods and services

Some of the websites provided information about the transportation options the providers offered, 

cemetery information, and other services as well as other merchandise such as urns, memorial cards, and 

grave markers. Some websites included pictures of the providers’ facilities including chapels, banquet 

halls, and meeting areas, while others included pictures of reception options and catering information. A 

little over a third of the websites offered memorial jewelry or other memorial merchandise.

C.Price Information 

FTC staff looked to see if a website visitor could find price information on the funeral providers’

websites. Staff found at least some price information for 

funeral good and services on 73 (39%) of the websites,

16

leaving 114 (61%) of the websites that did not appear to 

provide any price information.

17 Forty-five of the websites

(24% overall) provided price lists that were either labeled 

“General Price List” or appeared to include most of the 

itemized price information found on a GPL.18 Twenty-one

websites (11% overall) provided starting price or package price information only. The other seven 

websites (4% overall) contained information only about prices for caskets or alternative containers.

Overall, the prices varied considerably, with the lowest price for direct cremation starting at $595 and 

the highest at $4,760, excluding the cost of an alternative container. Some of the websites listed fees and 

items included in package prices such as the cost for transportation, crematory fees, and death 

certificates, but others did not.

Some of the 73 funeral provider websites that included price information provided price information for 

caskets, alternative containers, and/or outer burial containers or vaults. Some included starting prices or 

price ranges for these items, often in the GPL. Seven of the 73 websites only offered casket or 

alternative container prices and no prices for the services they offer. Approximately 17% (31) of the 

16 This number includes those sites that displayed price information for funeral goods and services, such as cremation and 

burial costs, transportation of remains, embalming or other preparation of remains, caskets, alternative containers, and vaults. 

Websites that displayed only reception or catering costs or prices for other merchandise such as memorial jewelry are not 

included.

17 18 of the websites found to have any price information were located in California, which requires funeral providers with 

websites to “post on [their] Internet Web site the list of funeral goods and services that are required to be included in the 

establishment’s general price list, pursuant to federal rule, and a statement that the general price list is available upon 

request.” See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7685(b)(1). 

18 Four of the 45 were not labeled as a “General Price List” but appeared to include all or most of the information found on a 

GPL. Staff did not evaluate to determine whether the information in any of the documents labeled GPL met the requirements 

of the FTC’s Funeral Rule, 16 C.F.R § 453.2(b)(4). Staff noticed that at least two websites included GPLs with effective 

dates from 2019 and notes that itemized price information that is no longer current would be of little assistance to consumers.

Most of the websites in this review did not 

include any price information.
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reviewed sites displayed a CPL or appeared to contain all or most of the price information that would be 

contained in a CPL. Approximately 10% (18) of the websites displayed an Outer Burial Container Price 

List or included price information that appeared to contain all or most of the information and prices for 

outer burial containers and vaults they offered.

Some of the websites that contained price information prominently linked the GPLs or other price 

information on home pages or menus, but others were harder to find. On a few websites, such 

information became available when clicking on options to preplan a funeral. The websites that allowed 

visitors to make online arrangements often included a pop-up box with a link to the GPL when starting 

the process. Other websites had tabs on the landing pages labeled “services,” “resources,” or “pricing,” 

and website visitors that selected these links were taken to webpages that either contained the GPL or 

linked to the GPL. Thus, a visitor to those websites would not see the price information without clicking 

through to those options.

In sum, most of the websites in this review did not include any price information.

19 Among those 

websites that did display some price information, most included only partial information, and only a 

handful appeared to display all the price information funeral providers are required to provide 

consumers who inquire about their services in person.

D.Other Findings 

Corporate structure and size of the providerStaff found that funeral providers of varying structures and 

sizes use their websites to market their goods and services. About 55% (102) of the funeral providers in 

the review appeared to be firms operating only one funeral home.20 About 35% (65) appeared to be 

funeral provider chains operating two to ten homes. Staff found at least 11% (20) of the funeral 

providers indicated association with larger corporate entities. The most common, Service Corporation 

International, Inc. (“SCI”), hosted the websites for 18 of the funeral providers at its consolidated website 

under the brand name Dignity Memorial.21

Third-party support

Almost 80% (146) of the websites listed a third-party entity as having designed, built, or hosted the 

providers’ websites. Another 18 websites associated with SCI each offered a standardized home page on 

SCI’s branded website with links to various corporate resources and information. The most common

entities providing website services to funeral providers were as follows: Consolidated Funeral Service & 

19 Several free and paid third-party services exist that offer online services to help consumers find funeral providers and 

compare prices. Those third parties obtain pricing information through telephone calls and in-person visits to funeral homes. 

See, e.g., Funeralocity 2020 Funeral Rule Review Comment at 1 (submitted June 15, 2020). However, the third-party 

providers do not always provide the same information as is required to be listed on a GPL. They are also likely not able to 

provide pricing information that is updated in real time. See id. at 2.

20 It is possible that these firms owned other locations, but staff did not find mention of other locations on their websites.

21 The other two corporate affiliations noted, one with Newcomer, Inc. and another with Lifestory, LLC, appeared to be 

smaller operations. 
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TA (44); Batesville, Inc. (35); FuneralOne (18); Frazier Consultants (17); Frontrunner Professional (10); 

and FuneralTech (7). With the exception of Batesville, which is a national casket company, these 

companies all appear to specialize in providing technical services to funeral providers. They each appear 

to offer a template website that enables funeral providers to include customized details about their own 

establishments and services along with links to standardized general information created by the third 

party.

Other information on websites

A large percentage, 85% (159), of the websites shared resources for survivors on grieving the loss of 

their loved ones. Many of these offered extensive specialized grief resources, grief libraries, and 

ongoing email support for families and friends of the deceased. A large percentage, 75% (141), of the 

funeral provider websites offered information related to veteran funeral arrangements. A few offered 

special prices for veteran burial or cremation costs. Most provided or linked to information about federal 

government benefits for veteran burials.22

Preplanning and financing

Nearly all websites promoted the preplanning of funeral services. 183 (98%) mentioned pre-need 

planning, and most of those, 154 (82%), mentioned that pre-planning would fix the cost or provide a 

discount. Some websites merely mentioned the option of pre-planning and included an intake form to 

submit online to start the process or to complete and bring to the funeral home for an in-person meeting. 

Other websites had a more detailed online selection process. 

Over half of the websites included mention of pre-payment plans, financing, or offered a means to 

collect donations to pay for funeral expenses.23 Several websites linked to third-party companies that 

provide pre-paid insurance plans. Several websites included advertisements for a company that offers 

loans to pay for funeral expenses. Some of the funeral provider websites included a notice regarding the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency’s program to reimburse funeral expenses for COVID-related 

deaths.24

Social media

Staff also noted that some funeral provider websites displayed social media icons or linked to social 

media networks. Staff searched for each of the funeral providers on the Facebook platform and found 

22 For information about veterans’ benefits, see https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-special-burial.asp. 

23 Providers in Texas linked to a government website about prepaid plans. Title 3 of the Texas Finance Code §154.133 

requires those who offer or promote the sale of prepaid funeral benefits contracts to include a reference or link to the 

government’s website about prepaid programs. See https://www.prepaidfunerals.texas.gov/.

24 “Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act 

of 2021, FEMA is providing financial assistance for COVID-19 related funeral expenses incurred on or after January 20, 

2020.” https://www.fema.gov/disaster/coronavirus/economic/funeral-assistance. 
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90% (168) of the providers from this website review also had a presence on Facebook. Staff noted that 

many included links to the providers’ websites and included contact information. Several of the 

providers used the Facebook platform to live stream funeral services. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, many of the funeral providers reviewed operated websites that offer prospective 

purchasers a wide range of information, including the providers’ location and how to contact them. In 

most instances, the websites provided at least some information about some of the goods and services 

offered. However, in most instances people viewing these websites would have a difficult time 

determining what prices were charged by a provider or comparing prices between providers. Most of the 

providers did not include any price information and those that did offer such information typically 

provided only partial information. Consumers planning funerals would, in almost all instances, need to 

contact the businesses directly or visit the providers in person to get enough information to make 

informed price decisions or to compare prices.
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Appendix

FTC staff designed the funeral provider website review to look at the websites of providers serving a 

variety of locations of differing populations in the United States. Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 

statistical information from Metropolitan and Micropolitan areas in the United States, staff selected ten 

statistical areas from the top (most populous), middle, and bottom (least populous) of the Metropolitan 

and Micropolitan area lists, for a total of 60 areas. 25

Staff varied the number of funeral provider websites selected from each of the population areas to reach 

200 websites: identifying six providers from each of the top ten Metropolitan areas (60 websites); four 

providers from each of the middle (40 websites) and bottom (40 websites) ten Metropolitan areas; three 

providers from each of the top ten Micropolitan areas (30 websites); two providers from each of the 

middle ten Micropolitan areas (20 websites); and one provider from each of the bottom ten Micropolitan 

areas (10).

Staff searched in the Google search engine to find funeral providers in each location, entering the 

location name and the term “funeral.”26 This resulted in a review of the websites of funeral providers 

who advertised through the search engine or those with an online presence wishing to be surfaced by 

Google, and presumably hoping to be discovered by the public. Staff only included a small sample of 

websites that appeared in the search results as paid advertisements, taking at most two of those websites 

for any given statistical area, resulting in 18 websites derived from paid results in the review. Staff took 

the remaining non-duplicative websites in rank order of the search results as long as the providers were 

within 60 miles of the locale.

This process identified 196 websites rather than 200 because staff found only two websites rather than 

four in two locations, Guayama, Puerto Rico and Casper, Wyoming. Staff removed nine of the 196 

websites initially identified for various reasons. Upon closer inspection these websites appeared 

associated with providers that did not provide funeral services, ceased operations, or no longer operated 

the websites; or the websites appeared to be second websites for funeral providers already included in 

the review; or were websites operated by an information service, not the funeral providers. In total, staff

included 187 websites in the review from 58 locales.

In conducting this review, staff attempted to replicate the experience of a reasonable consumer who 

likely would not have unlimited time to search for or review websites. The websites varied and not all

information was easy to locate. Thus, the staff used only information that was readily available on the 

websites.

Staff then searched for the same funeral providers on Facebook to see if the provider had a presence on 

that network. 

25 This information can be found at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-total-metro-andmicro-statistical-areas.html. 26 Staff included funeral providers within 60 miles of the areas.
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In December 2020 and January 2021, staff beganpreparing the website list and preliminarily visiting the 

websites to design the review. Some websites changed during this review as providers updated 

information. All of the websites were visited between June and September 2021, and revisited as needed 

to recheck and finalize the review. 

The chart below lists the geographical areas surveyed, the number 

of surveyed websites from each area, and the number of those 

websites identified from paid results.Figure 1: Geographic Areas 

and Websites Identified

Geographical Area Total 

websites 

included

Number 

from paid 

results

Top 10 Metro Areas (Populations of 19 to 4.9 million)

1 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area 6 2

2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area 5 0

3 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area 6 2

4 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area 6 0

5 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area 5 0

6 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area 6 2

7 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area 6 0

8 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area 6 2

9 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area 6 1

10 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area 6 1

Middle 10 Metro Areas (Populations of 288,732 to 273,032)

1 Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area 4 2

2 Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metro Area 4 0

3 Longview, TX Metro Area 4 1

4 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL Metro Area 3 0

5 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area 4 0

6 Merced, CA Metro Area 4 0

7 Laredo, TX Metro Area 4 0

8 Waco, TX Metro Area 4 0

9 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area 4 1

10 Cedar Rapids, IA Metro Area 4 1

Bottom 10 Metro Areas (Populations of 81,366 to 55,916)

1 Great Falls, MT Metro Area 4 0

2 Hinesville, GA Metro Area 4 0

3 Casper, WY Metro Area 2 0

4 Danville, IL Metro Area 4 0

5 Grand Island, NE Metro Area 4 0

6 Guayama, PR Metro Area 0 0

7 Lewiston, ID-WA Metro Area 3 0

8 Enid, OK Metro Area 4 0

9 Walla Walla, WA Metro Area 4 0

10 Carson City, NV Metro Area 3 1

Top 10 Micropolitan Areas (Populations of 216,986 to 135,558) 

1 Lebanon, NH-VT Micro Area 3 0
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2 Hilo, HI Micro Area 3 0

3 Torrington, CT Micro Area 3 1

4 Tupelo, MS Micro Area 3 1

5 Concord, NH Micro Area 3 0

6 Traverse City, MI Micro Area 2 0

7 London, KY Micro Area 3 0

8 Ottawa, IL Micro Area 3 0

9 Pottsville, PA Micro Area 3 0

10 Eureka-Arcata, CA Micro Area 3 0

Middle Micropolitan Areas (Populations of 44,231 to 43,143)

1 Seymour, IN Micro Area 2 0

2 Lawrenceburg, TN Micro Area 2 0

3 Greenville, MS Micro Area 2 0

4 McAlester, OK Micro Area 2 0

5 Ponca City, OK Micro Area 2 0

6 Coldwater, MI Micro Area 2 0

7 Auburn, IN Micro Area 2 0

8 Big Rapids, MI Micro Area 2 0

9 Willmar, MN Micro Area 2 0

10 Duncan, OK Micro Area 2 0

Bottom 10 Micropolitan Areas (Populations of 16,073 to 12,728)

1 Atchison, KS Micro Area 1 0

2 Spencer, IA Micro Area 1 0

3 Sweetwater, TX Micro Area 1 0

4 Zapata, TX Micro Area 1 0

5 Vermillion, SD Micro Area 1 0

6 Ketchikan, AK Micro Area 0 0

7 Jayuya, PR Micro Area 1 0

8 Craig, CO Micro Area 1 0

9 Vernon, TX Micro Area 1 0

10 Lamesa, TX Micro Area 1 0

Totals 187 18