The leader in measuring the digital world, ComScore on Friday (May 1, 2009) released a study of U. S. consumer search activity related to the recent swine flu outbreak based on data from the comScore Marketer search intelligence service. The ComScore study revealed that 501,000 people conducted 929,000 searches related to the swine flu during the week ending April 26, 2009, representing a nearly twenty-fold increase versus the previous week for both metrics.

The ComScore study found that many savvy search marketers capitalized on this opportunity to communicate with concerned consumers. For the week ending April 26, comScore observed 271 different advertisers with paid search inventory against these terms, up from just 73 the previous week and 33 the week before that. The number of clicks on paid search ads also increased considerably to 42,000 during the week ending April 26, up from fewer than 100 the previous week. With more confirmed cases of swine flu developing in the U. S. this week, consumer search and paid search activity related to the swine flu is likely to increase even more.

According to the ComScore study, paid search advertising related to the swine flu was done for both public and commercial benefit. The top paid search advertiser for the week ending April 26 was Facesofinflueza. com, a site of the American Lung Association that includes an array of information on the flu, including flu clinic locators. The site delivered nearly 200,000 paid search ads during the week. AARP. org also had a paid search strategy (36,000 paid search ads) to help promote public safety information to its constituents. Several advertisers promoted flu medical supplies and survival kits, including AreYouPrepared. com (89,000 paid search ads), BettyMills. com (55,000 paid search ads) and FluArmour. com (50,000 paid search ads). CVS Pharmacy, which sells many over-the-counter flu medications and anti-bacterial agents, also used paid search to place its brand front-and-center with consumers.

Eli Goodman, comScore search evangelist said, "This example illustrates an important opportunity for marketers to use paid search to move beyond the standard direct-response sales model. When an international issue on the level of the swine flu pandemic presents itself, a paid search strategy enables the timely delivery of important messages to the public. Whether for public safety or to drive product sales, paid search puts the relevant information into consumers' hands at their time of greatest need."

According to the ComScore study, notably absent from the list of advertisers were makers of prescription drugs, who may be sitting on the sidelines due to recent FDA guidance around paid search marketing practices.