Your Job Depends On It: How are Four of the Top Career Sites Competing for Users Across Mobile App and Web?

Apply Here: Measuring Web Traffic Across Career Sites

Career sites are polishing up their resumes and ad spend in the hopes of retaining users across mobile and web, as the US market suffers through mass layoffs and long runways for job-seekers trying to find their next gig. Let’s start by following web users. Between June 1, 2025 and May 15th, 2026, Linkedin was the king of total website visits, with 84% share between the four career sites, second to Indeed with 11.6%. However, ZipRecruiter was the only site to record growth over the period, up 7.2%.

Digging deeper into Sensor Tower’s enhanced Web Insights with our web Traffic Flow report, we can see where users traveled inbound into each site, and where they went after visiting. Not surprisingly, while the majority of users for all four websites flowed inbound from google.com, google mail was the second most traveled inbound path for LinkedIn and Indeed, making up 11.2% and 7.3% of inbound traffic, suggesting both sites implement well organized email marketing campaigns. However, both ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor gained their second highest inbound traffic from Indeed (12.2% and 8%), and third most inbound traffic from LinkedIn, with both sites seeing similar outbound traffic. This suggests a measurable overlap of users hopping into both websites as a secondary option.

One interesting traffic outbound channel of note - ChatGPT saw 2.2% of outbound users from Indeed, a 72.7% increase in the time period. One possible explanation could be users jumping into the LLM for help with cover letters and resumes after viewing jobs they want to apply for. As GenAI becomes even more interlaced with job searches and seekers, we can expect AI sites like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and others to see increased user traffic to and from career sites.

Combining Web and App to Measure True Audience

The true user journey sees behind the curtain of multiple datasets. Or, more appropriately, if you only listed half your experience on your career profile, recruiters aren’t getting the full picture. The same is true for career site advertisers.

Between May, 2025 and April 2026, the large majority of LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor’s users came from their website, while Indeed was the only brand whose users primarily engaged on their app with 47.8%. This seems to suggest Indeed’s ease of use, features, or smooth process in applying to jobs on their app make it more appealing to their users. 

LinkedIn was the only career site that broke into double digit percentages for users of both web and mobile app, while Glassdoor’s users clearly favored their website with 87.5% of user traffic.

Competitive Compensation: How Digital Ad Spend Fits Into The Picture

Analyzing how users are engaging with you and your competitor’s app and website is only half the battle. How to get them there, that’s the key. Though Linkedin is the largest advertiser in terms of users, they aren’t the biggest digital spender. Between May 2025, and April 2026, Indeed outspent the other three combined by 160%, allocating 29% to Linear TV and 18% to OTT. 

Glassdoor, while spending the least of the group, chose a different channel strategy, opting for 79% into Meta channels, Facebook and Instagram. Linkedin and Glassdoor were the only brands to spend on YouTube with 16% and 12% respectively. 

But, how effective were their advertising strategies? With Indeed’s largest spend spike in October of 2025, there was a negligible correlation in true audience increase, however, with moderate ad spend spikes in both January and March of 2026, there was a 12% and 2.3% increase, respectively, in users MoM, with a notable increase in unique web visitors in January.

Conversely, Linkedin’s largest spend spikes in June 0f 2025 and March of 2026 produced very little user growth MoM with a 1.5% True Audience increase in July, and 2.6% increase in April.

So, who got the best ROAS? Glassdoor saw the largest growth in January of 2026 with their biggest ad spend increase, leading to an 18.1% MoM spike in user traffic. Focusing their spend strategy on Facebook and Instagram paid off. The data suggests that budget matters less than channel. While both Indeed and ZipRecruiter had a massive gap between their allocated budget, both spent heaviest on Linear TV, with 29% and 38%, respectively, and both earned very little increase in audience across web or app, with Indeed’s unique visitors actually decreasing during their October spend spike. 

Hired: The Key Takeaways

Your True Audience is exactly that, a true representation of your users for both web and mobile app. Unlocking where users are allows brands to shift marketing efforts, drive growth to one platform over another, and uncover where your competitors are having success. 

For career-site advertisers, there is a revolving door of users looking to put their best foot forward. Combining Sensor Tower’s mobile app, digital advertising, and new enhanced web insights unlocks exactly how those users are accessing and interacting with your brand, and how to reach, retain, and grow, by analyzing competitor messaging, channel mix, and market share. 

Our job is done here. For now. Want to learn more about how our enhanced Web, Mobile App, GenAI, and Digital Advertising insights can help your business track the complete customer journey? Click below for a demo.