Health sites get their own ad network with HealthSTAT On-Demand

June 9, 2008 | Anthony Ha | Comments | |

With the intensifying race between different ad networks, as well the growth of specialized networks like Glam, I guess it was time for health sites to get their own ad service. That’s what search engine Healthline Networks is betting, anyway — it’s launching an ad network called HealthSTAT On-Demand.

The idea behind HealthSTAT is to go beyond keyword targeting. Healthline has built a taxonomy of different “health concepts”, so that if a website mentions different bronchitis symptoms (scratchy throat, watery eyes) but not the keyword itself, the network can still serve bronchitis-related ads. The semantic engine also means HealthSTAT can be more carefully tailored to specific campaigns.

At launch, HealthSTAT’s customers include the AARP, Elder.com and Health.com.

The service has been described as “AdSense for health sites“, which is apt; like Google, Healthline is taking the search technology it’s known for and using it for advertising. Interestingly, Google itself finally launched its service Google Health last month, but is offering the service without ads.

San Francisco-based Healthline raised $21 million last July.

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About the Author, Anthony Ha

Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

  • Healthline, announced today its entry into the vertical ad network business with its healthcare-focused media network called HealthSTAT™ On-Demand. HealthSTAT is a welcome addition for medical and healthcare publishers that need new options for revenue generation beyond AdSense and the other general search engine ad networks. HealthSTAT joins other recent entries in the healthcare ad network space, including IAC/The Health Central Network and Glam Media. Healthline’s initial group of publishing partners includes some trusted traditional brand names and some new entrants (AARP, USNews.com, Time Inc.’s new Health.com, PracticeFusion, Elder.com, HealthPricer, and JustAnswer), as well as its own Healthline.com portal and a new consumer health portal to be launched by United Health later this year, MyOptumHealth.

    We’ve noted before that online health sites that rely primarily on pharma advertising revenue are showing slow and disappointing results. It’s time to think beyond the pharma companies as the only source of ad dollars for consumer health sites. What impresses me about Healthline (an InfoCommerce 2006 winner), is its understanding of sponsorship opportunities. Its recent deal with Aetna and the signing of United Health in this new ad network show that Healthline recognizes insurers are good publishing partners. It is important to note that these same insurers should be good prospects as advertisers on the HealthSTAT ad network, too.

    There will undoubtedly be more entrants in the healthcare vertical ad network market. Healthline, with its much-touted medical taxonomy, has built a good technical foundation on which to build its ad network. But it’s Healthline’s demonstrated ability to form partnerships with important stakeholders that puts it ahead of competitors.