Since Lauren Turner from the Google Health Advertising Blog brought an opinion about the Sicko movie, the whole blogosphere has been up and talking about corporate blogs and personal opinions. Corporate bloggers (the less bloggers of them all) repeatedly spit and threw rocks at Lauren like big bullies do.
Despite everything that is being said over the Web, I believe this online over-reaction is good for Google. As Lauren Turner puts it herself:"Well, I've learned a few things since I posted on Friday. For one thing, even though this is a new blog, we have readers! That's a good thing." And actually, Google doesn't need to know more than this. Why?
Follow my thought: March 28 2007, Adam Bosworth, Google's VP, posts an article on the official Google blog, named "how do you know you're getting the best care possible?" Basically, Mr Bosworth talks about personal medical information ignorance. The traditional healthcare system is short on being flexible enough to provide such specific information. Medical complications are not fully scrutinized, therefore the solutions offered are not fully adapted... Sometimes unfit.
This is the problem of a humanity-time: Economically speaking, it is not feasible, despite the deep intrication with life and death issues: Patients lack saavy medical knowledge about themselves - doctors lack time for in depth examinations.
Mr Bosworth drops those few words to conclude: "I’d like to say that we have all the answers. But we don’t". Great speech... Useless. Or was it?
Actually, this is not the first time David Bosworth expressed his views about health. November 30 2006, Adam Bosworth, posts an article on the same blog titled "health care information matters". He states there that "as the Internet increasingly helps link communities of people, we also think there is an opportunity to connect people with similar health interests, concerns and problems". Think "connect patients and medical labs".
Genentech's mission is to be the leading biotechnology company, using human genetic information to develop novel medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Genentech specializes in designing personal medication based on patients' DNA.
Genentech and Google are very close: They both invested in Anne Wojcicki's 23and Me startup. Genentech CEO Art Levinson sits on Google’s board. Both are exemplary companies part of the 1OO best companies to work for (and best hi-techs in the Bay Area). They both share a world-changing vision.
Despite a lack of information on the business happening between the two companies, it doesn't take a smart monkey to see that Google is strongly involved in the biotech industry. And that they are plotting to develop personal solutions... for their patients?
Yeah, we all know, she's Sergey Brin's fiancée (or wife, I don't remember), I'll leave this topic to E!. Now 23and Me mostly is the effort of Google and Genentech on a jointventure: "to help you make sense of your own genetic information".
So if we get this clear, here's how it works: You spit in a tube (that's how it's going to be done), UPS it to 23andMe, get your full DNA info back, save it on your iGoogle health profile (or 23andMe profile) and...
... And computer orders you the perfectly dosed pill you need, taking your genome and the doctor's prescription into consideration. Your choice of online drug provider will be strongly influenced by: Adwords. Now let me tell you one thing: Those adwords on the side of your iGoolgle health profile are going to be worth a lot of money. Lots and lots.
The US pharmaceutical and healthcare online advertising spending was $780 million in 2006, 5% of total online advertising spending (and taking 25% every year). When all Americans will directly turn to the Internet to order drugs, the same online advertising market will be hotter than lava.
And this is no mystery: Google is not a search engine, Google is a search and buy engine, powered by the forces of advertising. This is what Google do.
Now this is the reason why I think Lauren Turner didn't blow it when she expressed her critic towards Sicko: It made everybody aware of Google's new Health Advertising blog (the blog was launched Jnue 18). That was probably the underlying strategy from Google: have people talk about it. And probably help advertise Sicko a little bit too: since the company invited about 1000 of their employees to watch it, it most certainly means that the movie fits with the corporate environment.
Google Health Advertising-advertised
Sicko-advertised
Cost-0$
Now that's some online comunications skills. I want in!
