• June 11, 2008

The HealthCentral Network has acquired consumer health information company MedTrackAlert which more than doubling the size of HealthCentral's email newsletter reach. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MedTrackAlert's e-mail newsletters are delivered to opt-in audiences that have expressed a strong concern for a specific health issue. For marketers, the collaboration means expanded reach to more than 2.4 million permission-based subscriptions and patient education programs.

Marketers currently reach health consumers across the company's more than 35 condition-specific and general health properties, and largest targeted online health ad network. With the MedTrackAlert acquisition, advertisers with HealthCentral can now reach audiences across a spectrum of online engagements, including condition-specific sites and newsletters; highly-targeted, permission-based e-mail education programs; and CareCentral.com, HealthCentral's private communities for those organizing caregiving activities.

MedTrackAlert co-founders Ted Smith and David Silver will join HealthCentral, leading development of ad products, analysis and marketing and HealthCentral's offering of advertiser services and audience research. Smith becomes VP of patient engagement and marketing. Silver becomes a VP of business development.

--Tanya Irwin