If only the U.S. government was an ad-supported business... That may be a dangerous - and somewhat ridiculous - thing to say, but Nielsen//NetRatings says that more than one-third of all Internet
users visited a government site last month. In total, traffic to federal government sites jumped 26% from December 2002 to February 2003 to nearly 44.9 million surfers. Garnering more than 9 million
additional unique visitors from home and work over this three-month period, government organizations are harnessing the power of the Internet to communicate with Americans.
"The U.S. federal
government has built a strong presence on the Internet, and in recent months national and world events such as homeland security, Middle East issues, the shuttle tragedy and tax season have
significantly increased the traffic to many of the its departmental websites," said Greg Bloom, senior Internet analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings.
According to NetRatings, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury experienced 147% growth in traffic from December 2002 to February 2003, claiming the fastest growing U.S. government brand during this period and drawing nearly 11.8 million unique visitors.
NASA garnered the second biggest increase in traffic, jumping 124% to more than 5.2 million surfers. Traffic to the U.S. Department of Education surged 93%, while both the Executive Branch and the
Department of State attracted 80% more individuals from December to February.
Beyond the top ten fastest growing sites, several departmental brands experienced significant levels of traffic last
month. In particular, the U.S. Department of Defense attracted 50% more visitors in February and was the second most visited government site after the Treasury Department, with nearly 8.3 million
surfers. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, which oversees the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), was the third most visited brand last month with nearly 7.3 million
visitors. Other notables include the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, garnering 984,000 and 837,000 unique visitors, respectively.