Revolution Healthcare:Monitoring Health Online
By Azam on October 3, 2008 
Privately held online health sites Revolution Health Network and Waterfront Media agreed to merge in a deal estimated at $300M that could challenge WebMD dominance in the health care space. Recently, WebMD announced the acquisition of QualityHealth.com for $50M to expand the company efforts and reach on the online healthcare market. The interest in healthcare sites is increasing as more users feel more comfortable searching online for healthcare information. ComScore 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.
Revolution Health /Waterfornt Media
The new company will operate under the name Waterfront Media. Waterfront, based in Brooklyn, runs several sites called the Everyday Health Network. The Revolution Health Web sites will be absorbed into that network. Benjamin Wolin, the co-founder and chief executive of Waterfront, will remain as chief executive, and Mr. Case will join Waterfront’s board.
“We think we have the wind at our back, and can pass them,” said Steve Case, Revolution’s founder, referring to WebMD. He said the combined company could “really be the new leader in this category, which is a hot category.”
Steve Case will continue to run Revolution L.L.C., which was the parent company of the Revolution Health Network, which is based in Washington, and will continue to be involved with health companies apart from the network of Web sites.
Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL, left the company in 2003 after selling it to Time Warner. Afterwards, Steve founded Revolution L.L.C. in 2005 and the Revolution Health unit in 2007. Revolution L.L.C., investors include Carleton S. Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, and Colin Powell the former Secretary of State and illustrious military career as Head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff , invests in a mix of companies, including Zipcar and Exclusive Resorts. Revolution L.L.C. will be a major investor in the expanded Waterfront Media.
The new company will operate 24 sites, including RevolutionHealth.com, and HealthTalk.com. The Everyday Health Network already includes EverydayHealth.com, along with niche sites like SouthBeachDiet.com and the pregnancy site WhatToExpect.com.
The NYT reported, the combined companies Revolution Health/Waterfront would have more traffic than current market leader WebMD. Everyday Health was the second most popular health site in July 2008, with 14.7 million unique visitors, according to comScore Media Metrix. The Revolution Health sites came in third, with 11.3 million visitors. Though traffic varies month to month, the July figures would put the combined companies ahead of WebMD, which had 17.3 million visitors that month.
WebMD Health continues to lead the category with 17.3 million visitors in July (up 3 percent versus year ago), 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 percent), Revolution Health Network with 11.3 million visitors (up 182 percent), and AOL Health with 11.1 million (up 88 percent). 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.
Everyday Health and Revolution Health Network both achieved significant organic growth on their core Web sites, but recent partnerships with several smaller health sites and some strategic acquisitions have also contributed to their gains, comScore said.
“Improved site functionality, increased content personalization, and overall consumer acceptance of the Internet as a source for health information have helped to breathe new life into the health information category,” said John Mangano, senior director, comScore Pharmaceutical Marketing Solutions. “Most sites have become vibrant online communities rooted in sharing experiences and advice, rather than simply being one-way information resources for the consumer. As Google and Microsoft ramp up efforts with their respective health sites, Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault, it will be interesting to see how the category continues to evolve.”
From comScore
Tags : , AOL, comscore, EverydayHealth, QualityHealth, Revolution, Revolution Health, Steve Case, WebMD