With the arrival of Google+, we continue to evaluate some of the past Google creations and acquisitions and how they have performed. Which one was good business and which one went bad. Today, we are looking at Google MD vs Web MD. The Google MD is also Google Health.
Google launched health in 2008 to get into digital medical information, yes, after WebMD and Yahoo Health. But it was not to be. The service will be discontinued in 2012 because Google lost to WebMD.
Google Health is a personal health information centralization service (sometimes known as personal health record services) by Google. The service allows Google users to volunteer their health records – either manually or by logging into their accounts at partnered health services providers – into the Google Health system, thereby merging potentially separate health records into one centralized Google Health profile.
Volunteered information can include “health conditions, medications, allergies, and lab results”.Once entered, Google Health uses the information to provide the user with a merged health record, information on conditions, and possible interactions between drugs, conditions, and allergies.Google Health’s API is based on a subset of the Continuity of Care Record. (wikipedia)
On the other hand, WebMD s an American corporation which provides health information services. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark and Pavan Nigam as Healthscape, later Healtheon, and then acquired WebMD in 1999 to form Healtheon/WebMD. The name was later shortened to WebMD.
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Between WebMD and Google MD, WebMD has done far better. WebMD remains the top go place for health information online. They present realtime accurate and well curated information that Google could offer.