The online health space is hotter than high school love right now. The people at WebMD must be looking over their shoulder.
Yahoo! Health and MSN Health are already attracting large audiences of health seekers and their early entry into the online health space has allowed them to establish themselves as a valuable resource for health information.
The HealthCentral Network recently expanded and now publishes 25 targeted media channels under the guidance of president & CEO Chris Schroeder.
HealthFinder, MedlinePlus and Womenshealth.gov now offer an array of info in English as well as Spanish.
NBC Universal, parent company of iVillage, Healthology, and HealthCentersOnline, launched iVillage Total Health, a site that leverages all of NBC Universal’s online and offline media assets which include regular segments on Today Show as well as iVillage live.
Waterfront Media launched Everydayhealth.com a site that offers advice from experts, health news, online check ups and other unique features.
Former AOL founder Steve Case has put together an impressive team to create Revolution Health. The preview site promises smarter health tools, more relevant information and expert support from live professionals.
WebMD certainly isn’t standing pat while all this activity swirls around them. Their acquisitions of Summex, a provider of health and wellness programs, and Subimo, a company that specializes in healthcare decision support, suggests their strategy includes the emerging corporate wellness market.
Healthcare marketers are the likely benefactors of the health information portal expansion as targeted health ad inventory increases keeping prices at a reasonable level. There are likely to be some sponsorship opportunities as these portals find new ways to engage health info seekers.
Dan McKillen is president of the HealthDay news service
From the February 01, 2007 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
