• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, October 10, 2007

Health is the new black!

By making this statement, I am referring to the fact that the health category is generating lots of buzz again as the new category "du jour," and is fast becoming the next big area for funding. The buzz started a few weeks ago when rumors started circulating that Google was making a play for WebMD while building its own health information storage system. That deal hasn't materialized as of yet, but ever since I've been hearing from VCs and angels alike as they all recognize that the health category is one of the most highly utilized portions of the Web, while remaining one of the most under-serviced.

Health is obviously of interest to one of the biggest spending categories in U.S. advertising - pharmaceutical -- but it should also be of interest to other advertisers. What I find intriguing is that health-related Web sites are a great opportunity to reach an attentive, highly targeted audience for non-endemic advertisers, and the landscape for these sites has been increasing over the last few months.

Though the landscape has been dominated for a number of years by WebMD, earlier this year there was a bunch of press surrounding the launch of Revolution Health by Steve Case. Revolution Health targets women with health-related topics and appears to be doing very well. The San Francisco Chronicle recently ran a story that featured a number of health related start-ups such as RateMDs.com, PatientsLikeMe.com, and ICYou.com. Each of these sites is taking a slightly different tack by focusing on the social media elements of people searching for support and information about health-related topics rather than purely diagnostic information. There are also services like ZocDoc.com, which offer you online appointment booking for your doctors and dentists (something that has always been a problem for busy people like me).

These sites have garnered a lot of attention because they provide a value to consumers and therefore to advertisers as well. As the market is heating up and more of these opportunities are being funded, advertisers will continue to take note, since budgets are increasing and they need to find new outlets for interacting with an audience.

Many people use online to perform self-diagnosis and find out what is ailing them. How many of you have gone online and typed in your symptoms only to find out what you already knew: that you have the flu? These sites are more advanced, providing a true value to consumers and so create very valuable inventory.

The users of these sites are highly engaged; probably more engaged than on any other site except gaming sites. The issue that planners try to avoid by staying away from these sites is relevancy and brand association. The content is obviously not relevant, and no brand wants to be associated with a disease or some common ailment. Also, few brands want to be seen as inappropriate by inserting themselves within a "closed" discussion among patients, doctors and their peers.

That being said, there are certainly ways to use this inventory for a successful association with your brand. If the topic is the common cold, why not have a video rental offer for someone who is staying home sick? If the page is related to a broken ankle or a sprained knee, why not remind them of a movie coming out?

You may read this and find my comments to be strange, but health-related categories do present a strong targeting opportunity, and they shouldn't be overlooked.

The landscape is changing and these types of content publishers also present an opportunity going forward for mobile and other forms of access. Why haven't there been any rumors about a text search tool for health-related topics? I'm sure someone is reading this and is already working on it!

Health is the new black, and probably won't be going out of style anytime soon. So pay attention and broaden your horizons to keep thinking about it.