Credibility is not something easily built overnight. Nor is it nurtured in an environment in which players must claw for every revenue stream possible in order to stay afloat. The site's recent failure did not originate directly in this problem, but neither did it ever capitalize on the Dr. Koop brand name as a result. The National Institute of Health, on the other hand, has benefited online from its well-known status as an authoritative center of medical information. And I think one important reason is brand recognition.
Brand recognition is complicated by the strange partnerships the category seems to engender.
Discovery Health features, prominently, content provided by an apparent rival, InteliHealth. One other thing the non-profit sites have going for them is ease of use. According to data from Web Criteria, the NIH and the Mayo Clinic are the two most accessible sites among all the Media Metrix top health information sites-meaning that these two sites take users the least amount of time to navigate through. This is especially important for an information-driven category like health. In general, health has become a major web category for three reasons.