• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 13, 2004

W-2's and Tax Sites Go Hand In Hand

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that surfers from home flocked to tax sites as employers returned W-2 forms. During the week ending January 18, the five fastest growing tax sites combined drew more than 2.8 million unique visitors.

"The Web has made it easier for millions of Americans to file their own taxes," said Greg Bloom, senior analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Offering step-by-step instructions, automated calculations and often quicker returns, filing online is an attractive option for the often daunting task of filing taxes."

Hrblock.com surged 221 percent week-over-week, taxACT.com jumped 45 percent, Turbotax.com increased 44 percent, Quicken.com grew 37 percent, followed by IRS.gov.

Nielsen//NetRatings Fastest Growing Tax Sites, Week Ending January 18 (U.S., Home)

	1/11 Unique Audience (000)	1/18 Unique Audience (000)	% Growth
1. hrblock.com	113*	363	221%
2. taxACT.com	164*	237	45%
3. turbotax.com	401	577	44%
4. quicken.com	709	968	37%
5. U.S. Internal Revenue Service	944	1,275	35%

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, January 2004
* Site did not meet Nielsen//NetRatings' minimum sample size requirements.

And, oh, by the way: Traffic to Babycenter.com grew 37 percent, at work, for the week ending January 18. Of the site's 538,000 unique work users, 23 percent visited the Baby Name Finder page where they can search for names based on gender, beginning and ending letters, number of syllables, and origin of name.