Life and health insurance searches in the U.S. reached recordnumbers in 2009. According to comScore, a company which gauges Internet activity, searches for lifeinsurance information grew to a record 16.6 million in 2009, a 15percent increase over 2008.

What's more, nearly 24 million Americans visited a healthinsurance site in the fourth quarter alone. That translates to 10percent of the total U.S. online population.

Aetna sites led as the most visited destination with4.8 million visitors (20 percent industry penetration), followed byBlue Cross Blue Shieldsites with 4.1 million visitors (17.4 percent penetration) andUSInsuranceOnline.com at 4 million visitors (16.8percent penetration).

Nine different health insurance sites each attracted at least 2million visitors during the quarter.

Consumers also requested 2 million online quotes for lifeinsurance. MetLife.com was the most frequented insurance sitevisited as a result of the search, with 5.8 percent of total searchclicks (paid and organic) landing on the company's Web site.NewYorkLife.com was the second most referred site with2.8 percent of search clicks, followed by StateFarm.com with 2.5 percent.