• by February 13, 2002

The Internet ratings report for the month of January 2002 from Nielsen//NetRatings revealed that surfers turned to the Web during the beginning of the year to help them with various resolutions and lifestyle planning focused on health and fitness, finance, and taxes. These categories captured some of the fastest growing sites online during the month of January.

Health sites attracted Internet users with various medical tips and diet information.iVillagehealth.com drew more than two million unique visitors in January, soaring 282 percent since December 2001, while traffic to Cigna.com jumped 154 percent, attracting 884,000 unique visitors to the site.

Surfers trying to get fit in the New Year flocked to WeightWatchers.com, as traffic to the site spiked 152 percent to 1.7 million unique visitors. Ediets.com, drew 3.9 million Web surfers, jumping 91 percent. Rounding out the fastest growing health sites, Mayoclinic.com rose 80 percent to nearly 1.4 million unique visitors.

"The beginning of a new year signals resolutions to be made and accomplished," said Jarvis Mak, senior Internet media analyst, NetRatings. "For many, the Internet has become the starting ground for those wanting to organize their life, offering an abundance of content and information easily accessible with a click of a mouse."

Surfers looking to plan their finances and taxes for the year logged online to such sites as, Taxact.com, TurboTax.com, IRS.gov, Intuit.com and HRBlock.com. Taxact.com led the list, drawing more than one million visitors. Traffic to TurboTax.com nearly tripled as more than 1.9 million surfers visited the site last month, as compared to 509,000 visitors in December 2001.

Internet users visited IRS.gov, as the site attracted more than 6.2 million unique visitors in January 2002, increasing 273 percent. Traffic to Intuit.com surged 240 percent to nearly 3.5 million, while visitors to HRBlock.com spiked 221 percent to more than 1.5 million surfers.

"The popularity of these sites shows how American Internet users have come to rely on the Web as a planning and organization tool, helping to improve their overall quality of life," added Mak.