Technology & Innovation — March 5, 2011

Growing Online Health Market

While Internet health sites seek a larger audience for health and wellness-related content, the fact that each person’s medical situation is so different makes universal appeal difficult.

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Being small is not necessarily a bad quality when it comes to online health websites: “Ben Wolin, the chief executive at EverydayHealth.com, explained that while market fragmentation is always an issue online, it’s more pronounced for the health category because of the breadth of issues that send people looking for information. ‘You can’t always find one site that meets all of your needs,’ he said. John Mangano, of online market research firm comScore, noted that sites dedicated to particular illnesses, like Dlife.com, a site for diabetics, also have very strong followings.”

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