Health A Hot Topic On The Internet

by Jack Loechner, Sep 24, 2008, 8:15 AM

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Health A Hot Topic On The Internet

comScore, Inc. recently released results of a study showing that the health information site category has grown 21 percent during the past year, more than four times the growth rate of the total U.S. Internet population. In June, more than 1.5 billion display ad views were seen by nearly 54 million people via sites in the health information category.

WebMD Health topped the list of display ad publishers, delivering 290 million display ad views and reaching nearly 15 million people at an average frequency of 19.3 times per visitor during the month.

Three other health networks boosted the overall growth of the category, each attracting more than ten million visitors:

• Everyday Health with 14.7 million (up 63%)
• Revolution Health Network with 11.3 million visitors (up 182%)
• AOL Health with 11.1 million (up 88%)

John Mangano, senior director, comScore Pharmaceutical Marketing Solutions, said. "... sites have become vibrant online communities... sharing experiences and advice, rather than simply being one-way information resources... Improved site functionality, increased content personalization, and consumer acceptance of the Internet... for health information... breathe new life into the health information category,"

While Everyday Health and Revolution Health Network both achieved significant organic growth on their core Web sites, their recent partnerships with several smaller health sites, as well as some strategic acquisitions, have also contributed to their respective gains.

Top 10 Health Information Sites (Unique Visitors July 2008 vs. July 2007 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations)
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Jul-2007	Jul-2008	% Change
Total Internet: Total Audience	180,078	189,134	5
Health - Information	56,865	69,008	21
WebMD Health	16,829	17,277	3
Everyday Health	9,009	14,703	63
Revolution Health Network	4,014	11,329	182
AOL Health*	5,913	11,095	88
About.com Health	6,947	8,682	25
Yahoo! Health	7,445	8,496	14
MSN Health	8,833	7,813	-12
NIH.Gov	8,545	7,315	-14
Righthealth.Com	2,424	6,160	154
Quality Health Network	N/A	5,822	N/A
Source: comScore Media Metrix

* July 2007 AOL figures reported in the above chart are for AOL Body while the July 2008 figures are for AOL Health

 Though the number of unique visitors exposed to advertising at both Revolution Health Network and AOL Health were significantly lower than for WebMD Health, they were reached with a higher frequency. Also noteworthy is that despite Weight Watchers International delivering ads to just 2 million unique visitors, each ad-exposed visitor saw an average of 31 display ads during the month, the highest frequency among the top ten publisher sites in the category.

Top 10 Health Information Publishers (June 2008 Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations)
?  Publisher	Total Display Ad Views*(MM)	Share of Display Ad Views	Advertising Exposed Unique Visitors (000)	Average Frequency
Health - Information	1,556	100.0%	53,556	29.0
WebMD Health	290	18.6%	14,992	19.3
Revolution Health Network	201	12.9%	8,320	24.1
AOL Health	186	12.0%	8,780	21.2
Everyday Health	154	9.9%	10,355	14.8
MSN Health	109	7.0%	7,751	14.1
About.com Health	98	6.3%	7,242	13.5
Lifescript.Com	92	5.9%	3,406	27.0
Weight Watchers International	61	3.9%	1,962	31.0
Yahoo! Health	59	3.8%	7,902	7.5
AARP Sites	34	2.2%	1,696	20.3
Source: comScore Ad Metrix, September 2008   * Excludes house ads and very small ads

For more information on comScore Pharmaceutical solutions and this Study, please visit here.

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