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.

Why? The Wikipedia listing is usually on the first page of the SERPs (search engine result page).

However, like anything a little knowledge can be dangerous. Perhaps that is what happened to Abbott and Astra Zeneca this summer.

Abbott: In a “Patients not Patents” press release it is stated Abbott Labs is a serial Wikipedia tamperer. “From one Abbott computer over 1,000 edits were made to Wikipedia.” Of course if it was simply updating the information, this would not be newsworthy.

Astra Zeneca: The original Wikipedia entry said: “Despite a general National Institutes of Health recommendation against its use in children or those under 18, as well as a known risk that teenagers taking the drug may be more likely to think about harming or killing themselves or to plan or try to do so, Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide.”

An Astra Zeneca employee changed it, deleting the first sentence and simply letting it read: Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide. The article goes on to say, “Not only is this edit questionable because it reduces the accuracy of the Wikipedia entry, but it violates the FDA’s fair balance regulations.”

The events that occurred this summer clearly indicates that we should be thinking about how we can minimize the risk employees will expose pharma company to potential FDA citations and product liability lawsuits due to their use of social media technologies.

Wiki Scanner is a tool that allows the user to see who has made an update to a Wikipedia entry. See what is going on with your brand at www.wikiscanner.virgil.gr

“19% of all US online consumers with a medical condition use Social Computing for health information.” (source)

Well there you have it. Let’s get prepared, because Gen X (proudly my generation - just made it at 39!) and Gen Y (who use it more frequently, 27%) are quickly taking up social computing because of its instant gratification and interactivity. However, as we get older, our parents (Baby Boomers) get older, I believe this number will dramatically increase. Again, it all comes back to search as the road map the road map for all (well, at least for information). In fact Forrester reports that consumers who are using social computing like blogs, wikis, forums, chat rooms [insert next big thing here], etc, for health are much more likely to start their online health research with a search engine. In the years ahead that search engine will ost likely be on a cell phone or mobile device; but that’s a blog for another day.

1. Leverage existing assets/services: “To find appropriate resources to put toward managing a blog, companies should extrapolate from their current structure”, according to Patricia Pesanello, chief knowledge officer, BusinessEdge. “The same areas of business that address 1-800 calls could moderate and manage a company’s blog.” Pharma has this service in place!.
2. Come up with standards/ best practices that your organization is comfortable and present it to the FDA. I know it’s a big job so hire an agency to help you develop these best practices.
3. Baby steps - “ research firms are predicting video will represent 50% of the content on the Internet in ten years. We have plenty of video assets, patient testimonials, MOA videos, TV commercials and even very humorous videos.

I hear you, what is the ROI? Unfortunately, TBD. However, other industries are ahead of us and are beginning to measure the impact.

As I have mentioned in a previous blog entry, we are experiencing a User Revolution. We need to experiment a bit. When you see “The Finance Guy” coming with his excel spreadsheets, hit the button and play one of my favorite Jefferson Airplane songs, “Got a revolution, got to revolution”. I have to relive my college days once in a while.

Seriously, as the world becomes more personable, hold your company and your communication to a higher standard of relevance, value and transparency.

40 years ago – newspapers, Broadcast TV, Broadcast radio, magazines

20 years ago – add cable TV, Computers

Now – Internet – add email, blogs, online video, cell phones, mobile internet, mobile video, text messaging, podcasting, IM, blogs, social networks, I could keep going and going.

Most notable and popular at this year’s conference (with over 6,000 attendees) was the emergence of what some are calling the “User Revolution”

Communitainment (Communication and Entertainment) sites – Yahoo Answers (social search), My Space (social networking), Wikepidia (online encyclopedia), You Tube (online video), Blogger (blogging) and Facebook (social networking) all over 15 million UNIQUE visitors a month! According to Piper Jaffray over the next 10 years more than half of the internet usage will be Communitainment.

As a marketer how do you communicate with the consumer? The answer to this question will be the challenge for the foreseeable future. However, where there is challenge there is excitement and opportunity. The consumer decision making process is becoming more sophisticated.

My two cents…no matter what your marketing strategy may be in the next few years, search will remain the navigation tool for the consumer, and will assume an even more central role. Today there are 600 million searches daily and the world is just starting to get confusing! What does that mean to today’s marketer? Create a comprehensive, cohesive search strategy today! What does this mean to the pharma industry? Consumers are turning to search for health info & finding information from peers. Social media represents a new way for consumers to instantly discuss products and treatments, representing a huge fundamental shift in healthcare.