Search Engine Advertising Meets the Pharmaceutical Regulatory World
Pharmaceutical advertising has always been a sticky wicket for traditional media, whether print, television or radio. Large advertising budgets are involved, but each media has established guidelines on acceptable ads. Though the limits on acceptable content have expanded in recent years, still the boundaries of good taste and credibility are maintained by all the mainstream media. In addition, the FDA strictly regulates claims by pharmaceutical manufacturers, and traditional pharmacies follow the same guidelines. Now the web search engines are confronting the same issues, as evidenced by Google's announcement that it would join Yahoo and MSN in rejecting ads for illicit pharmacies. Much like adult content, advertising for pharmaceutical products has become pervasive, so policing this activity is challenging. Effective enforcement is another signal that the web is becoming established as a mainstream advertising avenue, and will be more attractive to all those advertising dollars controlled by the pharmaceutical industry.