Regarding the idea that people would feel mislead, I agree IF I somehow said that Nexium was a home remedy or I didn’t mention the product and only said, “Click here for a home remedy for heartburn.” (say, for example, in a paid search ad). I’m not recommending that. Let’s say Nexium does optimize its site for “heartburn remedy.” When Google provides the search results, the title of the website (Discover NEXIUM (esomeprazole magnesium)— The Purple Pill™ that offers 24-hour heartburn relief) would appear and also a bit of the meta description. So before someone clicks, they know it’s Nexium. That’s not misleading. On the other hand if I did an unbranded page that was about home remedies and then when you click on it, you find it’s all about Nexium, that’s misleading.

Let’s also remember that “home remedy for heartburn” and “heartburn remedy” are completely different things. You’re assuming that when people say “remedy” they mean an at-home, non-pharma treatment. That might be true or might not. The definition of “remedy” in regards to health is this: “a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain.” That doesn’t say “at-home” or “natural.” But maybe it means “at-home” or “natural” to patients. If it does, to your point, then I would just get a click because they wouldn’t be interested in my Rx treatment. I’m also more interested in conversions, so if I knew this (and I don’t for sure) then I would ignore this term and look for something different.

Regarding the idea that people would feel mislead, I agree IF I somehow said that Nexium was a home remedy or I didn’t mention the product and only said, “Click here for a home remedy for heartburn.” (say, for example, in a paid search ad). I’m not recommending that. Let’s say Nexium does optimize its site for “heartburn remedy.” When Google provides the search results, the title of the website (Discover NEXIUM (esomeprazole magnesium)— The Purple Pill™ that offers 24-hour heartburn relief) would appear and also a bit of the meta description. So before someone clicks, they know it’s Nexium. That’s not misleading. On the other hand if I did an unbranded page that was about home remedies and then when you click on it, you find it’s all about Nexium, that’s misleading.

Let’s also remember that “home remedy for heartburn” and “heartburn remedy” are completely different things. You’re assuming that when people say “remedy” they mean an at-home, non-pharma treatment. That might be true or might not. The definition of “remedy” in regards to health is this: “a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain.” That doesn’t say “at-home” or “natural.” But maybe it means “at-home” or “natural” to patients. If it does, to your point, then I would just get a click because they wouldn’t be interested in my Rx treatment. I’m also more interested in conversions, so if I knew this (and I don’t for sure) then I would ignore this term and look for something different.

Regarding the idea that people would feel mislead, I agree IF I somehow said that Nexium was a home remedy or I didn’t mention the product and only said, “Click here for a home remedy for heartburn.” (say, for example, in a paid search ad). I’m not recommending that. Let’s say Nexium does optimize its site for “heartburn remedy.” When Google provides the search results, the title of the website (Discover NEXIUM (esomeprazole magnesium)— The Purple Pill™ that offers 24-hour heartburn relief) would appear and also a bit of the meta description. So before someone clicks, they know it’s Nexium. That’s not misleading. On the other hand if I did an unbranded page that was about home remedies and then when you click on it, you find it’s all about Nexium, that’s misleading.

Let’s also remember that “home remedy for heartburn” and “heartburn remedy” are completely different things. You’re assuming that when people say “remedy” they mean an at-home, non-pharma treatment. That might be true or might not. The definition of “remedy” in regards to health is this: “a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain.” That doesn’t say “at-home” or “natural.” But maybe it means “at-home” or “natural” to patients. If it does, to your point, then I would just get a click because they wouldn’t be interested in my Rx treatment. I’m also more interested in conversions, so if I knew this (and I don’t for sure) then I would ignore this term and look for something different.

Fair point. I happen to disagree that this would be “spoofing”, but I see what you’re getting at. First, I don’t think this is remotely like the example in your link. That’s clearly misleading baiting. That’s not what the intention is in my example. “Remedies” happens to be “natural language” for consumers. No one says “treatment” except for healthcare marketers. So, if we talk in our own language, we’re not relating to our customers really well. As marketers, we need to learn and use their language. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that for two reasons. First off, let’s be clear, we’re not going to show up in the search results as something like “Featuring a natural, at home remedy” and then redirect people to, say, the Nexium brand site. That’s spoofing. It’s clearly going to say in the title and description that shows up in the results that this is a pharma drug site. Choose to come and see or not. Second, we are only going to use the language that people use when they are looking for a drug treatment (or remedy). I don’t want to waste resources on someone who is never going to ever try a prescription or non-”natural” treatment. I can call it whatever I like and they won’t use it. I want people who are open to the option, in this case, of a prescription treatment. In order to do that, and this is the fair challenge of your argument, I need to find out whether people mean “treatment,” particularly a prescription “treatment” when they say “remedy” or if they really mean “at home remedy.”

So, to your point, if someone is really looking for an at home, “natural” remedy for their heartburn when they use the term “heartburn remedy” in search, I wouldn’t go after that term. They don’t want to hear from me and I don’t want to waste resources on them. Maybe remedy isn’t the right word. But I know that “treatment” isn’t the right word. This is the beauty of putting consumer product reviews on your website, consumers search optimize the site with their natural language for you. I don’t have to guess or pick the wrong terms and be accused of spoofing. I let them describe the condition and use their language for how they describe the treatment. Check out my post on this idea: http://www.doseofdigital.com/2009/07/reason-pharma-product-reviews/

“Remedy” was just an example. It could be a thousand other things, but I want to find the terms that are going to draw the right people to my site. That term may or may not be the right one. Point is that most companies don’t invest the time in figuring out what the potential options are.

Thanks for the comment.