comScore Media Metrix analyzes the movement and key changes in online behavior during March 2005.

Top Gaining Categories

Discovering family heritage, as well as researching information about relatives, is easier than ever thanks to online genealogy sites. Genealogy was the top gaining category in March 2005 with an increase of 31 percent, due in part to specific properties’ efforts to lure new customers. Driving this category’s growth, Ancestry Sites experienced remarkable growth of 38 percent by offering free trials and utilizing effective banner advertising.

Posting gains of 22 percent over February, the Religion category was the third-largest gaining category in March. The combination of a favorable comparison to last year (when Easter occurred in April instead of March) and the intense coverage surrounding Pope John Paul II also resulted in an increase of 53 percent compared to March 2004.

Travel subcategories comprised four of the top 10 spots in the top gaining category ranking. As Americans made plans to visit family for Easter, begin planning summer travel or finalize plans for Spring Break, they turned to the web for travel research and booking capabilities. More than 6.2 million Americans visited Car Rental sites in March 2005, an increase of nearly 30 percent over February. The Travel/Information category also experienced notable gains, with visitation to such sites increasing by 14 percent in March to reach 38.8 million unique visitors.

The approach of the summer concert season and increased interest in movies, likely driven by the Oscars, helped push a number of online ticket merchants up in March. Ticketmaster, Moviefone and MovieTickets.com all drew double-digit increases, leading to an increase of 12 percent for the category as a whole.

Top 10 Gaining Categories

With events such as the NCAA Basketball Tournament, coupled with the start of the Major League Baseball season, sports sites comprised half of the top 10 gaining properties. Sites such as NCAA, Sportsline.com sites and ESPN.com all posted double-digit growth, with NCAA posting a dramatic increase of nearly 500 percent over February 2005, and an impressive 11 percent increase over March 2004. Student Advantage, which owns the Official College Sports Network, also benefited from March Madness with an increase of 42 percent.

Nearly 3.5 million consumers visited GUS (the British holding company of Experian) in March 2005, most likely in response to the recent amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The amendment, which permits consumers to receive one free credit report every 12 months from each of the credit reporting companies, is being implemented region-by-region. GUS has seen a traffic increase of 32 percent from March 2004 to March 2005, and this property may see future increases as the Act continues to go into effect in new regions of the United States.

Sierra Mist’s Next Great Comic contest helped Pepsi Co. boost traffic by 45 percent to 5.2 million visitors, which in turned landed it in the number four position among the top 10 gaining properties.

Top 50 Properties

The top 10 properties remained the same in March as in February, except for CNET Networks, which attracted 19 percent more visitors and moved one spot to number 10. The NCAA Tournament and the beginning of the Major League Baseball season helped ESPN attract 4.2 million more visitors in March than in February and soar 18 spots to number 33.

Among sites in both the February and March Top 50 Properties, News Corp. Online had the largest jump, as 16.7 million Americans turned to the site, primarily to view "American Idol" and news content. News content, specifically relating to the Terri Schiavo and Michael Jackson cases, drove a 13 percent increase in traffic to Gannett Sites, which jumped six spots to number 26. Classmates.com sites gained 10 spots to finish at number 37, while Target Corporation and Overstock.com each gained six spots to finish at number 28 and 32, respectively. Finally, the rush to get U2 tickets, combined with the start of the baseball season, drove a 10 percent increase in traffic at Ticketmaster, the final property in March’s Top 50 Properties.