Google Health, Microsoft’s HealthVault and Revolution Health (backed by former AOL Chairman Steve Case) are the three big players, the big boys. I do not think this concept or these companies are going away. Therefore, as a pharma marketers let’s think about this new communication channel? distribution channel? and how to message our product’s key benefits.

As we know Google earns almost all its revenue in Web advertising. Google has no plan to sell ads on Google Health. It aims to make money indirectly when users search for other medical information. Today MSN places HealthVault results at the top of their organic search results. Where do you think this is going? Lipitor.com is not going to rank above HealthVault. Try it, “Hypertension treatment” on MSN Live Search.

We need to leverage our assets, what can we offer these companies to improve their service. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google stated, “We don’t know how to suck it(information) out of the brains of doctors, but we know how to suck it out of the computer systems of doctors.” What will Google want to “suck out” of the pharma industry? We could provide a Google Health PDF with information on the benefits of our product, better yet a Google Health MOA video or even better, access to the medical research faculty that are working hard to discover a cure for MS or Parkinson’s. If we improve their service, we gain access to their customers. What is your plan? It is time to have a brainstorming session!

So now back to reality. Wikia Search launched. We instantly had clients calling about their rankings on Wikia Search. That is 2008 search marketing energy. I love it! The Search Strategists at Catalyst are busy analyzing the new engine. The reviews about Wikia Search have mostly been negative…”not much of a search engine, the technology stinks, there is nothing human about it”, etc.

Jimmy Wales and the folks at Wikia Search are fully aware of their search engine short comings stating, “It’s a project to *build* a search engine, not a search engine.” They even go as far as providing a Wikia Search disclaimer on their site with pleas for mercy like, “So the results are pretty bad. But we expect them to improve rapidly in coming weeks, so please bookmark the site and return often.”

And in all fairness (I do have to represent both sides - I was a girl scout) Jimmy Wales reminds us, “When I launched Wikipedia, I wrote at the top of the first page “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”. On that day, anyone reviewing it would have laughed. What’s this? There’s nothing here! This is not an encyclopedia, it is an empty website with some funny editing syntax!”

Wikia Search is trying to build something different and hoping we will come. They use a social networking model and rely heavily on user participation.

So, like so many other overly hyped launches in our search world, time will tell if Wikia Search will be a contender or is simply this month’s flash in the pan. I personally do not believe Wikia Search has the chops to be a meaningful player in 2008 and I’d love to hear what you have to say about it.

I am not sure where this is going but we absolutely need to monitor and report on user interaction with these evolving communication models. Happy Friday!

“to help our health industry advertisers better understand how people are searching for health information, and how you as advertisers can better leverage the power of search and the Internet.” (source)

Lauren Turner, Account Planner, Health has caused some eyebrow raising in the healthcare space. She wrote about Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko” and suggested healthcare industry advertises on Google to respond to “Sicko”. “Whether the healthcare industry wants to rebut charges in Mr. Moore’s movie, or whether Mr. Moore wants to challenge the healthcare industry, advertising is a very democratic and effective way to participate in a public dialogue”, she wrote.

I am not going to say much more. I learned early on not to talk politics with clients and in-laws. I guess Lauren does not agree. However, Google may agree as they pulled down all her comments on this topic over the weekend. Lauren Turner did write a follow up to the article that explained that her opinion was hers and not necessarily Google’s etc, you can see that here.

A quick look at this report for many of our clients reveals that they have indeed received many impressions and clicks on keywords that they should not be, including

• keyphrases they are not indicated for, not on the keyphrase list
• competing drug, not in the keyphrase list
• keyphrases we have listed as negative keyphrase, for example “X problems in cats; “cats” was on our negative list but it just came up
• words not at all related to “condition X”, they’re just spelled similarly
• and keyphrases that our paid search analyst states, ‘I don’t know how the heck this qualified as a match to the keyword “X”"

We at Catalyst and you folks in pharma marketing should think about the implications of this from a number of perspectives:

1. As a reality check about our use of broad match.
2. As a potential tool giving us insight into user behavior. (Lots of people seem to use those refine results for disease “x” links).
3. As a potential regulatory violation if inappropriate queries trigger your ads

The IAB and PriceWaterhouse Coopers released their 2006 Internet Advertising Revenue Report on Wednesday. Internet advertising revenue for the full year of 2006 increased 35% over 2005. The total was $16.9 billion. That is 5.9% of total US ad spending, up from 4.7% in 2005. We are expanding and when compared to broadcast television (1949 - 1960) and cable television (1980 – 1991) we are expanding quickly.

Internet advertising revenue surpassed cable in its third year of growth and broadcast television in its fifth year of growth. What does this mean? It means as marketers we need to quickly understand how to apply our marketing efforts to Internet advertising. Not an easy task, there is way too much going on. However, as I have mentioned before I do believe Search will continue to be a road-map for consumers. Make sure you are testing search. There is a lot to learn including:

• How do people talk about my condition?
• What messages and keyphrases do they respond to?
• Should I buy broad keyphrases with low conversions but more branding opportunities or more targeted keyphrases?
• What is the impact to my query volumes and conversions when running a national DTC or DTP campaign or sponsoring the health section of Yahoo?
• How do I integrate search into my current marketing strategies? How do I integrate organic and paid search?
• What is the consumers experience when they search for my brand?
• I could keep going, but it is a holiday weekend.

Although not pharma related per se, here is some public information: Searches on Yahoo! for Cadillac Escalade jumped over 75% after the Superbowl. Cadillac was listed at the top of the sponsored search results and organic results. Search volume was up 105%, traffic volume was up 177%. Superbowl keyphrases generated 1.3 million impressions. Closing the loop is key. Am I beating a dead horse? Any of you planning a Superbowl ad? Any of you launching a DTC campaign soon?

By the way Search revenue accounted for 40% on Internet advertising revenue in 2006.

Here are some results:

“ear anatomy”
http://www.google.com/search?q=ear+anatomy - images integrated into results

“high blood pressure”
http://www.google.com/search?q=high+blood+pressure - Coop results… and a news item! (halfway down)

It means every asset owned by your company and brand should be maximized [read:optimized], or I guess I mean digitized! Just like other industries we need to increase the breadth of our readily accessible digital content. As I have mentioned before, pharma has some great videos, MOA, patient testimonials, lots of press releases, make sure your search shop is optimizing every available asset. Search is evolving, the digital space is evolving and the mobile consumer is coming (according to MMetrics 35+ million consumers are using mobile browsers). Additionally, the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are going to become more interesting with display and video ads. Make certain that when you achieve great Search results you also engage your potential consumer or existing patient. Finally, a shameless self promotion, make sure you are working with an agency that specializes in Search Engine Marketing.

Take for instance Google’s broad match. Google’s paid search broad match allows marketers to buy a keyphrase like “osteoporosis.” Basically, any time that keyword is searched your ad appears. If not well thought out, broad match is a dangerous buy for the pharma industry. For example, both Actonel and Reclast (not yet approved) are indicated for post-menopausal osteoporosis. However with Google’s broad match option, these drug ads would appear for “men’s osteoporosis”, “children’s osteoporosis”, results, etc. and this is not the approved indication (not too mention a waste of marketing dollars).

Expanded broad match takes this concept one step further. As defined by the GoogleAdWordsHelpCenter, “With expanded matching, the Google AdWords system automatically runs your ads on highly relevant keywords, including synonyms, related phrases, and plurals, even if they aren’t in your keyword lists.” The bottom line is: There is a benefit to testing terms with broad match, just make sure you or your agency has created an expansive “negative keyphrase list” in order to ensure litigation avoidance.