Seventeen dot-coms, ranging from three online job sites to a pet supply retailer were among about three dozen advertisers who paid a record average of $2.2 million for a 30-second commercial on the telecast on ABC.

Only three dot-com advertisers were involved in last year's Super Bowl telecast, and this year's participation by many more of them helped push the ad price up nearly 38 percent from last year's $1.6 million average.

This year's teams did their best to keep the audience watching throughout the nearly 3 1/2-hour contest by leaving the outcome in doubt until the last play, as the St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, 23-16.

Even though they spent big bucks, two Internet companies poked fun at themselves in their ads.

The online broker E-Trade showed two men and a monkey in a garage, clapping in time to cha-cha music in one of its three ads. "Well, we've just wasted $2 million. What are you doing with your money?" it said.

Lifeminders.com, a Web site that delivers personalized e-mail to its members, ran an ad that consisted of a typewritten message that started by saying "This is the worst commercial on the Super Bowl." But the ad explained that while the company wasn't good at advertising, it was good at alerting its subscribers to items they may be interested in seeing and avoiding junk mail.

Three online job sites tangled in the telecast.

Monster.com, a Super Bowl repeater, ran a black-and-white ad that showed a woman listening to passersby recite from poet Robert Frost about how taking the road less traveled had made all the difference.

Hotjobs.com, another repeat Super Bowl advertiser, was back with an ad that makes a computer hand its icon, driving a hard bargain with a prospective employer.

A third job site, Kforce.com, made its Super Bowl debut, offering itself as the alternative to "Internet job sites that lead you nowhere."

Among the other dot-coms, the pet supplier Pets.com featured its sock puppet singing Chicago's "Don't Go" in a plea for pet owners to stay home with their pets and use the Web site to get what the animals need.

Healtheon/WebMD, which runs an Internet health care site, showed film taken earlier this year of revered former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali shadow boxing at his home. Ali, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, doesn't speak in the ad but the text indicates he hopes the Internet can help make medical advances.

Autotrader.com ran an ad that showed how it helped a man find a red convertible and financing for it.

Internet companies didn't provide the only new ripple in this Super Bowl telecast. Some companies appeared to recognize that women watch the game too.

Oxygen Media, which operates a Web site for women and is starting a cable channel for women as well on Wednesday, urged viewers to "log on and see what's next" in an ad that showed newborn girls tossing their pink knit hats to the floor from their maternity ward cribs.

Women also appeared to be the main targets in two ads for Visa that showcased a female pole vaulter and the women's synchronized swimmers training for the Olympics. Even a Bud Light ad showed a woman clearly in charge as her cat — a full-grown tiger — cornered her new boyfriend after he took a beer from her refrigerator.

Anheuser-Busch was the single biggest advertiser in the game with five minutes of commercials. In one, it creates a parody of dog-food ads by having the dog describe how it keeps its owner happy and healthy. In another ad, a dog on a movie set produces the required yowl for a scene by recalling its worst moment — when it ran into the side of a van as it chased a Budweiser truck. Former hockey star Wayne Gretzky drives a tipsy friend home on a Zamboni in another ad for the brewer.

A Federal Express courier delivered the helium that gave the lollypop gang distinctive voices in welcoming Dorothy to Muchkin-land in an ad that used clips from the classic "Wizard of Oz" movie.

Paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve appeared to rise from his chair in an ad for the mutual fund company Nuveen Investments which advised viewers to "invest well" and possibly bring about the day when Reeve and others could be recognized for overcoming spinal cord injuries.

Philip Morris USA, the maker of Marlboro, ran an ad from its campaign to discourage teen smoking.