An example: with a 170 percent gain between November and December, OfficeMax led the way.  Was a pack of pencils this year’s perfect gift?  Number two was JibJab Media, with their videos perhaps providing a distraction from whatever family squabbles made the season less pleasant.  Intuit, the maker of Quicken and TurboTax, placed third, and that seems likely to speak to financial issues.

So let’s move into safer territory – comScore‘s "Top 50 Properties."  Yahoo topped the charts with 136.6 million unique visitors, while Google’s 133.0 million weren’t too far behind.  Next up came Microsoft, with 120.0 million, and Time Warner, with 119.5 million.

Meanwhile, in more vague categories, some expected segments showed themselves.  comScore identified "Fragrances/Cosmetics," "Consumer Goods," and "Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories" as the three fastest-growing sectors in December.

So there was a little tradition, after all.  Also, who knows – maybe office supplies, amusing clips, and money management are becoming family affairs, as well.