• June 9, 2008

Healthline Networks has launched the Healthline Media Network, a semantically targeted ad network. The beta was announced in Online Media Daily in March.

Initial sites within the network include San Francisco-based Healthline's flagship site Healthline.com, Time Inc.'s Health.com, as well as sites from the AARP and U.S. News. MyOptumHealth, consumer health portal from United Health will be added upon its launch in the latter half of this year.

The network will reach some 10 million unique users each month, but what separates it from other health-focused ad networks is the semantic targeted platform, dubbed HealthSTAT On-Demand. HealthSTAT (which stands for semantic taxonomy ad targeting), pairs ads with content based on concepts as opposed to keywords. So a pharmaceutical firm could specify that a particular drug ad only run on pages that feature depression-based content, while an ad for allergy medication could show up on pages that feature symptoms like scratchy throat and watery eyes--not just the term "allergy."

--Tameka Kee