According to the Yellow Pages Association (YPA), the “pizza” heading—the fifth most used out of more than 4,000 total Yellow Pages headings—reaches its highest usage in January. It had some 60 million searches in the month last year.
For the entire year, the “pizza” heading generated more than 318 million searches on its own and was responsible for 22 percent—or another 280 million searches—under the “restaurant” heading.
In other words, pizza accounts for more than half a billion Yellow Pages searches every year.
When referencing the “pizza” Yellow Pages heading, 52 percent of consumers are looking for a local pizza restaurant.
Of the 76,355 pizzerias in the U.S., 65 percent are independently owned, according to PMQ’s Pizza Magazine’s 2008 report.
“The big chains are the most accessible,” says Liz Barrett, editor-in-chief of PMQ’s Pizza Magazine. “They often send out flyers and purchase TV spots. There is less information on independently owned pizzerias, which is probably why so many consumers turn to the Yellow Pages for local pizza restaurants.”
Those most likely to reference the “pizza” heading are 18- to 24-year-old males with a college degree, according to YPA. They also tend to be single, renters, and live in the Northeast.
“The Northeast is saturated with pizzerias,” Barrett says. “There is a high pizzeria-to-person ratio. In fact, the highest saturation is in Maine, where there are about four pizzerias for every 10,000 people.”
The census region with the second highest frequency of references is the Midwest, followed by the West and South regions1.
