Super Bowl commercials cost millions, but the payoff is hard for companies to resist. Here's which companies were the biggest winners last year.
- Super Bowl ads drove mobile and desktop traffic last year for various companies.
- Data from SimilarWeb showed a spike in traffic from January to February for TurboTax and others.
- Commercials during the highly watched game can cost millions.
Companies that advertised in last year's Super Bowl saw an increase in web traffic in the month after the game, new data shows.
TurboTax, which aired its catchy music video ad called "all people are tax people," had a 47.7% increase in mobile and desktop traffic in February 2020 from January 2020, according to SimilarWeb data provided to Insider. The data evaluated web traffic each day in January and February for seven companies that advertised during the 2020 Super Bowl.
TurboTax wasn't the only beneficiary. Advertisers across the board saw varying levels of increased web traffic, the data show. New York Life's heartwarming ad which compared the four different Greek words for "love" helped boost the insurer's web traffic 15.5%. And for Discover, which aired its short no-fee commercial, had an 8.5% traffic boost following the game.
Rocket Mortgage, Walmart, and T-Mobile also saw modest web traffic gains.
| Average Daily US TrafficDesktop & Mobile Web DataSuperbowl & Post-Superbowl | January Average | Super Bowl & Post-Super Bowl Average | % Change |
| turbotax.intuit.com | 1,159,567 | 1,712,751 | 47.7% |
| newyorklife.com | 48,038 | 55,501 | 15.5% |
| discover.com | 1,227,559 | 1,331,523 | 8.5% |
| dashlane.com | 36,481 | 37,640 | 3.2% |
| rocketmortgage.com | 118,882 | 122,630 | 3.2% |
| walmart.com | 9,445,109 | 9,712,833 | 2.8% |
| t-mobile.com | 4,402,121 | 4,460,824 | 1.3% |
Super Bowl ads cost companies millions to air, with prices increasing nearly every year since 1967. SUch cost comes with a perk, of course, as the game is one of the most watched annual events in the US. The game has become the "championship of advertising" as people gather around their TVs to discuss the best and the worst commercials and to watch the game.
But some iconic brands won't be airing their ads during the game this year. Budweiser is putting its advertising money toward COVID-19 vaccine awareness instead, and Coca-Cola, Audi, and Avocados from Mexico won't be advertising at all.