pharma search engine marketing - bounce rates: did the fda warning letters on paid search have an...
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Pharma Search Engine Marketing: In April of 2009, the FDA's DDMAC issued 48 Warning Letters to 14 pharmaceutical companies regarding their use of paid search (SEM) advertising. The three issues that were cited as reasons for identifying certain pharma paid search text ads as non-compliant were: 1) Omission of Risk Information (the End of the “One-Click” rule) 2) Failure to Use Required Established Name 3) Inadequate Communication of Indication Almost all major pharma SEM advertisers paused their campaigns and revamped their text ads to comply with the FDA guidance, resulting in two main types of ads: 1) Branded Reminder Ads 2) Unbranded Claim Ads How Did The FDA Warning Letters And Pharma Advertisers' Shifting Campaign Strategies Impact Website Bounce Rates?TRANSCRIPT
Ian Orekondy twitter.com/iano1000 1
December 31, 2009
How Did The FDA DDMAC’s April 2009 Paid Search Warning Letters Impact Pharma Brand Website Bounce Rates?
Plus, 2008 and 2009 pharma benchmarks for bounce rate, time on site and average pageviews.
Ian Orekondy twitter.com/iano1000 2
Januvia.com• Bounce Rate: 58%• Time on Site: 130 seconds• Search as % of Traffic: 35%
Following initial increase, bounce rate returned to pre-FDA
Warning Letter levels
2008 – 2009 Overall Site Bounce RateSource: Alexa.com
FDA Warning Letters on Paid Search Text Ads – April, 2009
3
Lexapro.com
Ian Orekondy twitter.com/iano1000
• Bounce Rate: 53%• Time on Site: 166 seconds• Search as % of Traffic: 48%
Bounce Rate similar to pre-FDA Warning Letter levels
2008 – 2009 Overall Site Bounce RateSource: Alexa.com
FDA Warning Letters on Paid Search Text Ads – April, 2009
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Crestor.com• Bounce Rate: 56%• Time on Site: 160 seconds• Search as % of Traffic: 36%
Bounce Rate similar to pre-FDA Warning Letter levels
2008 – 2009 Overall Site Bounce RateSource: Alexa.com
FDA Warning Letters on Paid Search Text Ads – April, 2009
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Cialis.com• Bounce Rate: 54%• Time on Site: 136 seconds• Search as % of Traffic: 40%
Bounce Rate similar to pre-FDA Warning Letter levels
2008 – 2009 Overall Site Bounce RateSource: Alexa.com
FDA Warning Letters on Paid Search Text Ads – April, 2009
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PurplePill.com• Bounce Rate: 58%• Time on Site: 119 seconds• Search as % of Traffic: 46%
Bounce Rate lower than pre-FDA Warning Letter levels
2008 – 2009 Overall Site Bounce RateSource: Alexa.com
FDA Warning Letters on Paid Search Text Ads – April, 2009
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Conclusion:The April, 2009 FDA DDMAC Warning Letters on Paid Search have not significantly
impacted bounce rates for pharma brand websites that have substantial search engine marketing campaigns (at least 35% of traffic from search engines).
Do you agree? Disagree?Want to learn more about Pharma SEM benchmarks?
Join the discussion at our Posterous Blog:Pharma Search Social Mobile
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December 31, 2009