Do content products structure home feed-first or search-first?
- By Ali Abouelatta
- n = 11,753
- Published
- Updated
- 2 min read
- ux-patterns · web · design · retention
Short answer
Content and consumer verticals are feed-first, not search-first. In News (224 screens/7 companies), feed dominates with 71 screens; in Music (113/6), feed leads with 50.source[1] Search-led home is the exception — Travel is the clearest browse/search-first vertical (browse_search 42, ahead of landing 35).source[1] Default to a feed for consumer content unless discovery is the core job.
In News, feed is the dominant home surface — 71 of 224 labeled screens — vs a search-first pattern only in Travel — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.
Bar chart · Screens / cos
Screens / cos — The finding: feed dominates content verticals
One block is about 114%
- News
- 224 / 7
- Photo & Video
- 248 / 8
- Music
- 113 / 6
- Social Networking
- 187 / 6
- Entertainment
- 117 / 5
- Travel
- 181 / 7
The finding: feed dominates content verticals
The screen-type mix by content vertical shows feed as the lead surface in most.source[1]
| Vertical | Screens / cos | Lead surface(s) |
|---|---|---|
| News | 224 / 7 | feed 71 |
| Photo & Video | 248 / 8 | editor 91, feed 67 |
| Music | 113 / 6 | feed 50 |
| Social Networking | 187 / 6 | inbox 88 |
| Entertainment | 117 / 5 | feed 29, browse_search 25 |
| Travel | 181 / 7 | browse_search 42, landing 35 |
Feed leads News, Music, and Entertainment. Photo & Video is editor-first (creation tool). Social Networking is inbox-first (messaging). Travel is the one clearly search-first vertical.
How to apply it
Match the home surface to the core job: consumption verticals (news, music, entertainment) open a feed; creation tools (photo/video) open an editor; communication products (social) open an inbox; and discovery-driven products (travel) open browse/search.source[1] If you're building a content product and debating feed vs search as the landing surface, the census says feed is the safe default — search-first is reserved for products where the user arrives with intent to find a specific thing (a trip, a listing).
Caveats
These verticals are small (5-8 companies each), so counts are absolute, not percentages — one large company can shift a vertical's mix.source[1]source[2] The vertical join covers 562 of 671 companies; 109 don't join to a category.source[2] Companies.category is noisy and required lower() normalization to merge casing duplicates. Single June 2026 capture wave.
The numbers
| # | Stat | Computed from |
|---|---|---|
| [1] | News feed 71 (of 224/7 cos); Photo & Video editor 91 + feed 67 (248/8); Music feed 50 (113/6); Social Networking inbox 88 (187/6); Entertainment feed 29 + browse_search 25 (117/5); Travel browse_search 42 + landing 35 (181/7) | vertical_screen_mix_content |
| [2] | 562 of 671 web companies join to a category | universe note: 562 of 671 join to companies.category |
Methodology
Universe: 11,753 labeled desktop product screens across 671 web companies (sites_screen_labels), 562 joined to a vertical, captured June 2026. Method: screen-type counts per content vertical, retaining cells with COUNT>=8; published as absolute counts. Caveat: 5-8 companies per vertical; single capture wave.
Sources
- [1]
Lazyweb Research analysis of 11,753 labeled desktop product screens (671 web companies), July 2026
Screen-type mix by content vertical, cells with COUNT>=8; absolute counts (small n).
- [2]
Lazyweb Research analysis of 11,753 labeled desktop product screens (671 web companies), July 2026
Category join coverage: 562 of 671 companies; category field noisy, lower()-normalized.
Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.