The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters on March 26, 2009, to many of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the nation. The companies were warned that their online ads were misleading and didn’t contain the required disclosure information mandated by US federal regulations.
According to comScore, this had a huge impact on paid search ads, as the companies shelved their SEM campaigns trying to figure out how to comply:
An analysis of exposure to branded URLs within comScore’s data revealed that substantial declines occurred immediately following the letters being sent on March 26. Sponsored link exposures dropped 59 percent from 10.5 million during the week ending March 29 to 4.3 million during the week ending April 5. Declines in sponsored link exposures not only occurred in the weeks immediately following the letters, butcontinued over the next several months, plummeting 84 percent overall from March to June.
Also during this time, even organic sites showed a decline:
Vanity and unbranded link exposures also experienced a decline, on average, across brands during the same period, although these methods were not under scrutiny in the FDA letters. Unbranded sites, which give additional information on the condition and treatment but do not directly promote the brand drug, declined 35-percent March to June to slightly more than one million exposures. Vanity URLs, which make no mention of a specific brand while generically describing a health condition but then redirect to the brand or drug’s website, declined 11 percent in June to 3.2 million average exposures versus March.
It’s difficult for companies to write ad copy that fits in the limited space available and still follow all regulations – however, this may indeed help in the long run as people will be forced to move to a larger article to find the hyped information that send many to the pharmacy requesting this or that drug. John Mangano, vice president of marketing solutions for comScore, commented:
“The FDA letters changed not only how pharmaceutical manufacturers are marketing online, but what consumers are being exposed to when they search for health information. Independent of what is happening on the regulatory front, we see continued increases in consumers turning to the Internet to research health conditions, treatments and drugs. It is important that marketers and the FDA find a middle ground that meets the spirit of the FDA guidelines and is supportable in the various emerging online media.”
Tags: comScore, paid ads, paid search, pharmaceuticals, SEM