Which Growth Tactics Do Companies Actually A/B Test the Most?
Across 4,814 before/after UI experiments Lazyweb Research detected (362 companies, 1,358 canonical screens), discount badges lead at 1,133 mentions, followed by CTA copy (561), trials (517), and urgency/countdowns (317) [1][2]. Price anchoring (279), social proof (120), pricing-tier removal (117), and free-plan removal (10) round out the tail [3]. These are experiments that *mention* each tactic, not a curated pure-tactic set.
Discount badges are the single most-touched tactic at 1,133 of 4,814 detected experiments (222 companies) — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.
The tactic leaderboard
| Tactic | Experiments | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| Discount badges | 1,133 | 222 [1] |
| CTA copy changes | 561 | 201 [4] |
| Trials | 517 | 140 [5] |
| Urgency / countdowns | 317 | 97 [6] |
| Price anchoring | 279 | 136 [3] |
| Social proof | 120 | 62 [7] |
| Pricing-tier removal | 117 | 83 [8] |
| Free-plan removal | 10 | 8 [9] |
Discounts dominate both by experiment count and company reach [1].
Where the tests land on the page
By annotated change area, the hero is the most-tested surface (405 experiments), followed by offer (281), pricing (229), CTA (225), and value props (178) [10]. So even though discount and CTA copy lead by keyword, the hero is where the largest share of annotated experiments concentrate [10].
How to apply it
Use this as a prior on how mainstream a tactic is before you spend a test slot. Heavily-tested levers (discounts, CTA copy, trials) have deep precedent and named examples; thinly-tested ones (free-plan removal, n=10) mean you're closer to the frontier with less benchmark to lean on [9]. Pair the frequency read with retention: social proof and anchoring are almost never reversed once added, while trials churn most [11].
Caveats
Counts are experiments that *mention* a tactic via keyword tagging, which has precision limits ('%anchor%' overcounts, '%save %' inflates discounts) — read them as theme prevalence, not exact test counts [12]. Free-plan removal (n=10) is publishable as absolute counts only [9]. Learnings are LLM-inferred, not measured A/B lift.
The numbers
| Stat | Computed from |
|---|---|
| discount badges 1,133 experiments, 222 companies (most-touched) | tactic_mentions__discount_badges |
| 4,814 detected experiments, 362 companies, 1,358 canonical screens | total_detected_experiments; distinct_companies_in_experiment_corpus |
| price anchoring 279 experiments, 136 companies | tactic_mentions__price_anchoring |
| CTA copy 561 experiments, 201 companies | tactic_mentions__cta_copy |
| trials 517 experiments, 140 companies | tactic_mentions__trial_length |
| urgency/countdown 317 experiments, 97 companies | tactic_mentions__urgency_countdown |
| social proof 120 experiments, 62 companies | tactic_mentions__social_proof |
| pricing-tier removal 117 experiments, 83 companies | tactic_mentions__pricing_tier_removal |
| free-plan removal 10 experiments, 8 companies (absolute counts only) | tactic_mentions__free_plan_removal; smallSampleWarnings |
| hero 405, offer 281, pricing 229, CTA 225, value props 178 (annotated areas) | annotation_area_breakdown |
| social proof 100% and anchoring 98% retained; trial 85% (lowest) | retention__social_proof; retention__price_anchoring; retention__trial |
| keyword tags have precision limits ('%anchor%', '%save %' overcount) | smallSampleWarnings |
Sources & citations
- [1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 4,814 detected experiments (362 companies, 1,358 canonical screens), July 2026. Tactic counts are keyword mentions on what_changed+learning; distinct companies via control screenshot join. ↩
- [2] Lazyweb Research analysis of experiment annotation areas (2,160+ annotated experiments), July 2026. Area counts are distinct experiments per annotated change area; LLM-derived, not measured outcomes. ↩
Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.