Choice Media, one of the largest healthcare information networks on the Internet, has launched a Pay-Per-Click service for advertisers called GoText, Inc.
The new subsidiary will be headed by Allen Baum, named Vice President of the group, who will report to the CEO and founder of Choice Media, Inc., Ash Nashed, MD.
Billed as a vehicle for self-service text advertising, GoText provides space for even the smallest advertisers on some of the world’s largest healthcare-only websites, such as the new drkoop.com or healthcentral.com, healthscout.com, healthsquare.com, heartinfo.org or mdchoice.com. The sites reach millions of health-focused consumers as they actively seek medical information.
Through the GoText marketplace, advertisers will pay only for the number of visits or “clicks” generated by each ad, making the text messages cost-effective and virtually guaranteed to produce a return on investment. The text ads offer advertisers a unique, health-focused alternative to search engine keyword buys on more general interest sites such as Google and Overture.
“We’ve removed any risk to the advertiser,” said Dr. Nashed, who added that by using the Choice Media network, advertisers can be seen in a variety of ways within the same objective environment. “In a sense, we are simply expanding our menu, offering a choice of different ways to reach the healthcare consumer.”
Pay-Per-Click, he added, is one of the fastest growing trends in Internet marketing today. GoText builds on the trend by allowing advertisers to bid on key words-such as medical conditions-with the highest bidders getting the top listings under specific contextual links.
“As a self-service, performance-based vehicle, GoText allows advertisers to set their own budgets, monitor clicks and even change the keywords or health zones, all with the click of a mouse,”
explained Baum, who is responsible for the new venture as well as business development for the parent company.
Before joining Choice Media, Baum was at Quigo Technologies as Vice President, where he launched and managed AdSonar Exchange, a contextual Pay-Per-Click marketplace for advertisers and publishers. For six years he held top posts at Lycos, where-as Director of Corporate Develop- ment and Strategic Partnerships-he helped build the company into one of the best-known search engines on the Web. A graduate of SUNY at Albany, he began his career in radio and television sales.
The launch of GoText comes on top of Choice Media’s recent acquisitions of drkoop.com, healthsquare.com and drdrew.com. The company also launched a new syndicated television newsmagazine called Medical Breakthroughs from HealthCentral, a year ago.
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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