In the month leading up to Valentines Day, sales on websites related to gifts for the holiday increased 22 percent compared with the year-ago period, writes InternetRetailer, citing comScore. Sales in the Flowers, Greetings & Gifts; Health & Beauty; and Jewelry & Watches categories reached $907 million, up from $743 million a year ago. Among Valentine's Day-related sites, in January, American Greetings led in visitors with 8.7 million, followed by Hallmark at 6.7 million.

Visits to flowers-and-gifts sites monitored by Hitwise for the week ended Feb. 11 rose 39 percent over the prior week's traffic; the greatest gains were at VermonTeddyBear.com, up 322 percent; FTD.com, up 179 percent; and 1-800-Flowers.com, up 106 percent.

According to Hitwise, the term "love poems" receives a larger share of search traffic throughout the year than "flowers," "e-cards" or "lingerie." In the week before Valentines Day, the term outperformed both "flowers" and "gifts."