• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 9, 2005

Traffic to GoDaddy's Web site proliferated on Sunday and Monday--thanks to its Super Bowl ad and the ensuing hullabaloo, comScore Networks reported Tuesday. The business-to-business drew 140,000 curious visitors on Sunday--representing a 357 percent increase from its average traffic for the four prior Sundays--and an astounding 590,000 on Monday.

"It's the result of GoDaddy's controversy coupled with the workplace phenomenon," explained Graham Mudd, a comScore representative, referring to the notion that the PC has replaced the water cooler as the center of gravity for banter in most U.S. offices.

GoDaddy.com bought two spots in the Super Bowl, but after Fox aired it once, the network refused to show it again during the second half of the game. The ad featured a buxom spokeswoman in a tank top, who nearly suffers a wardrobe malfunction while testifying before a Congressional panel about what she would do in her proposed ad.

The Internet clearly benefited this year from the spectacle of TV Super Bowl ads, confirmed comScore's survey research division, which studied 1,530 U.S. participants on Jan. 28 through Jan. 31. The survey found that 28 percent of those planning to watch the Super Bowl said that "watching the ads" would be their favorite aspect of the game, while 77 percent said they expected to use the Internet on game day.

Apple iTunes saw a 170 percent increase in traffic due to the second annual Pepsi promotion offering the chance to win free songs through the pay-per-download music service. Napster, which for the first time couched itself as an iTunes rival, posted a greater than 30 percent increase on Sunday. Traffic to the iTunes site peaked just after the advertisement featuring the Pepsi-iTunes promotion, unlike last year, when more visitors waited until half time to explore the iTunes site.

"We continue to see advertisers growing more sophisticated in developing integrated campaigns that span different media," Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix, said in a statement.

General Motors, Ameriquest Mortgage, Subway, and Pizza Hut also drew strong online traffic numbers. Predictably, traffic to the champ's site, Patriots.com, surged 230 percent above average, while the Philadelphia Eagles site experienced 89 percent more traffic than normal. There's always next year.