IRS.gov Goes "Dot Com" for Tax Season, Reports AdRelevance Division of Media Metrix; IRS Partnership Program Fuels Online Advertising Campaigns and Drives Traffic to Tax Websites.

Business/High-Tech Editors, Advertising/Marketing Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000

In an effort to mainstream e-filing as a popular alternative to paper and postal tax filing, the IRS turned to web advertising and a more user-friendly web site this tax season -- corresponding to site traffic almost tripling.

A new report released today by AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix (Nasdaq:MMXI) and an innovator in Internet advertising measurement technology, examines new online advertising initiatives of the IRS and other tax-related websites and provides an in-depth look at the growing popularity of e-filing.

Although overall unique visitor traffic to tax-related websites is growing at a rate of 20 percent, IRS.gov has seen phenomenal increase in unique visitors, with an estimated growth of 182 percent this year compared to last. On the other hand, the Department of Treasury site, IRS.gov parent site, has seen a 46 percent decrease in unique visitor traffic for the same time period.

"This data seems to suggest that people are beginning to access the IRS.gov site directly, instead of going through the Department of Treasury website," said Charlie Buchwalter, vice president of media research for the AdRelevance division of Media Metrix.

In addition to providing taxpayers with a more intuitive web address, some of this increase in traffic was driven by a strategic IRS online advertising program to generate awareness of the relatively simple e-filing process. The IRS campaign peaked in weekly impressions at roughly the same time -- early to mid-February -- as traffic to the IRS.gov website did. IRS.gov advertising impressions appeared primarily on Yahoo sites (58 percent), followed by Talk City (30 percent) and Bloomberg (12 percent).

"The decision to advertise on the web suggests that the IRS is committed to building and marketing a better infrastructure to expedite the tax filing process," Buchwalter said. "Not only have they made it easier for people to find the site, but now they are proactively driving traffic to it."

"This report is the latest example of how Media Metrix and AdRelevance powerful data sets can help agencies, advertisers and marketers gain the most reliable, accurate and comprehensive intelligence they need from a single source," said Will Hodgman, president of the AdRelevance division of Media Metrix. "The Media Metrix and AdRelevance combo empowers decision makers across the board with insight into where, when, how and how much competitors are advertising on the Internet."

Other key findings in this month's AdRelevance Intelligence Report include:

-- TurboTax has seen vigorous traffic growth over the past year,

with a 122 percent increase in traffic to the website, making

it the largest for-profit tax preparation site.

-- Other tax websites experiencing growth in unique visitors this

year compared to last include Taxcut.com (32 percent) and

Fedworld.gov (18 percent).

-- Although some companies advertised since the beginning of the

year, most online advertisers waited until early February to

ramp up their campaigns. The majority of these impressions

appeared on site genres such as portals (44 percent),

communities (15 percent), business and finance (11 percent),

and society, politics and science (8 percent).

    Table A: Unique Visitors to Tax-Related Sites (in Millions)
    Source:  Media Metrix

Site            Unique Visitors     Unique Visitors     % Change
                Dec 98 - Feb. 99    Dec 99 - Feb. 00
------          ----------------    ----------------    ---------
IRS.gov             2,661               7,513               182%
TurboTax            1,888               4,193               122%
Taxcut.com          1,570               2,077                32%
Fedworld.gov        5,914               6,971                18%
Ustreas.gov        10,894               5,859               -46%
Hrblock.com           ---                 975                ---
Total              22,927              27,588                20%


    Table B: Tax Sites Advertising (Impressions)
    Source:  AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix

Site            Intuit (TurboTax)       TaxCut          H&R Block
------          -----------------       -------         ----------
1/17/00             1,760,000                0              97,500
1/24/00             2,200,000            25,000            122,500
1/31/00             2,675,000           107,500            227,500
2/7/00              2,850,000           682,500            315,000
2/14/00             2,850,000         1,557,500            577,500
2/21/00             3,025,000         2,432,500          1,027,500
2/28/00             3,025,000         2,750,000          1,422,500
3/6/00              3,575,000         2,175,000          2,000,000
3/13/00             3,825,000         2,025,000          2,325,000

To encourage e-filing and make the tax process easier, the IRS also launched a partnership program to refer web visitors to sites authorized to e-file and assist with online tax preparation. These sites included such top tax-preparation brands as Intuit (TurboTax parent company), Tax Cut and H&R Block. Intuit also seized the opportunity to turn product by offering deep discounts on TurboTax to financial services companies, who in turn offered the product as an incentive to new customers. Companies such as Wingspan Bank, NextCard, Fidelity and TD Waterhouse gave away free TurboTax software to new customers just for signing up for their services.

"The apparent success of the IRS Internet marketing effort may serve as a positive precedent for other government agencies in the months to come," said Buchwalter.

A complete version of this AdRelevance Intelligence Report, titled "The Taxman Web'th," can be viewed at www.adrelevance.com and includes compelling ad metric graphs as well as a look at many of the actual ad banners cited within.

AdRelevance Intelligence Reports

AdRelevance Intelligence Reports are released monthly and are designed to provide customers, news media, and industry watchers with a timely perspective on the rapidly changing landscape of online advertising. AdRelevance Intelligence reports are compiled by the company's Media Research Group, who analyze data collected from AdRelevance's proprietary ad tracking service. Each member of the team brings industry-specific expertise to their analyses as well as an understanding of marketing strategies and Internet technology.

About AdRelevance, a Division of Media Metrix

Media Metrix, Inc., with over 600 clients, is the leader and pioneer in Internet and Digital Media measurement and the industry's source for the most comprehensive, reliable and timely services. Through its acquisition of AdRelevance, the innovator in Internet advertising measurement technology, the company offers intelligence data on where, when, how and how much web marketers and their competition are advertising online. Reporting actual audience usage behavior for more than 21,000 websites and online properties with its state-of-the-art real-time meter, and using AdRelevance intelligent agent technology to comb thousands of unique URLs for Internet advertisements, Media Metrix helps online and traditional businesses, web marketers, web publishers, ad agencies and financial analysts gain a better understanding of the digital marketplace. Media Metrix has worldwide operations in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Latin America, Sweden and the U.K. For more information on AdRelevance and a free trial of the service, please visit www.adrelevance.com or call 888/649-6540. Additional information about Media Metrix can be found at www.mediametrix.com.

Editors Note: Please source all AdRelevance data as the following: AdRelevance, a division of Media Metrix.