In early 2008, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt announced the forthcoming launch of Google Health, a consumer health information portal. He said the ability to gather and find such information was “the most important type” of Internet search.[i]Another executive that year called the project “a large ongoing initiative.”[II]

The service, which actually launched in 2009, barely lasted two years. Its termination was officially announced in September 2011, and this New Year’s, January 1, 2012, was its last date of true operation. Users have been told they will be able to access and download their data for one more year, until January 1, 2013.[iii]

什么地方出了错？有很多因素，其中任何一个人都对项目的可行性产生了严重的危险。他们的意思是谷歌健康几乎保证失败。以下是未能克服的一些障碍。

误读人口统计学

One of the main categories benefitting from Google searches is health-related industries; in both 2009 and 2010, more than 32 percent of searches using Google were in this vertical market.[iv]But that doesn’t mean Google’s main demographic would be interested in maintaining health records online.

Both Yahoo and, more recently Bing, show a distinct penetration into the 50-plus age groups[v], a demographic fairly likely to be seeing doctors regularly and coping with at least one chronic health concern. By contrast, Google’s main market is younger; a report by Cowan & Co. notes 79 percent of 22 to 25-year-olds use it as their search engine.[vi]

因此，虽然后一种市场可能更加技术精明，但它们通常具有比利用雅虎和冰的受众更少的健康问题。此外，财务障碍可能意味着谷歌的市场中的许多人不寻求健康咨询 - 因此没有记录要维持。根据Kaiser家族基金会，这个国家的一定年龄在19和25岁之间，这一国家的绝佳数量（18％）。[vii]

Poor marketing

许多美国人根本不知道谷歌健康。从来没有任何真正的营销活动;如果他们想达到一个年轻的目标，那么电视台的广告在哪里，像MTV一样，或者是这样的程序Gossip Girl? How about in print and online publications that might be appealing to this audience? What were they doing to expand recognition among the 40-, 50-, and 60-plus targets thatmighthave used this service? Did Google explore any other marketing options to explore this service’s visibility, either online or traditional? These are just a few questions Google Health apparently failed to explore.

Imposing on the patient

Consumers don’t want to be medical secretaries. Of the 7 percent of consumers who even tried patient health record systems, one report found, less than half continued with them.[viii]

一个主要原因是这样的系统仍然需要“......坐在电脑前的人，从这里和那里的医疗记录中抓住一些纸张，并自己进入[这些]记录，”John Moore，MD告诉听众在“外带”无线电广播。[ix]Dr. Moore is a PhD candidate at MIT Media Lab’s New Medicine Group.

这假设患者拥有他/她需要进入的所有记录 - 一个大的假设。此外，在记录变化时，他/她的促进他/她是什么？Google Health无需鼓励消费者维护电子填料柜。

Privacy concerns

Concern over lack of privacy on Google Health seemed to be a critical issue. Google Health was not regulated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),[x]which Google Health acknowledged in a blog specific to the topic. What itdidn’t地址是一个答案，它确实提供了保证其用户无法访问他们的健康信息，或在其他地方使用。

终极障碍

Finally, Google Health seemed to fail in acquiring collaborative support. Among insurers (which might have encouraged its subscribers to utilize a service like Google Health), it never seemed to have more than three affiliations, all fairly limited in their reach: Harvard Pilgrim Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA and American Postal Workers Union Health Plan.[xi]Where were major insurers, like Aetna and Kaiser? What about support from big pharma, or hospitals? There didn’t seem to be any support from them, or much indication that Google Health was seeking to forge strong liaisons in such areas.

Google Health might have been able to overcome some, even all of these, obstacles. Ultimately, though, the bottom line is it seems the company really had no interest in doing so.

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[i]Mills，E。（2011年6月24日）谷歌安乐死了Google Health，拔掉了力量。cnet.com。从2012年1月6日获取http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20074134-247/google-euthanizes-google-health-unplugs-powermeter/

[II]Lohr, S. (June 24, 2011) Google to End Health Records Service After It Fails to Attract Users. NYTimes.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012 fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/technology/25health.html

[iii]Google Health和Google PowerMeters的更新（2011年6月24日）GoogleBlog。从2012年1月6日获取http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/update-on-google-health-and-google.html

[iv]Bing Searches Increase 5 Percent in January 2010 (February 10, 2010) Hitwise.com. Retrieved January 9, 2012 fromhttp://www.hitwise.com/index.php/us/about-us/press-center/press-releases/google-searches-jan-10/

[v]Everse, A. (February 1, 2010) Search Engine Demographics for 2010: Why Yahoo Appeals to the 50+ demographic. Evergreendirect.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012 from (http://evergreendirect.com/index.php/2010/02/search-engine-demographics-for-2010/

[vi]Everse, A. (February 1, 2010) Search Engine Demographics for 2010: Google: a dominant “search” engine and online toolbox. Evergreendirect.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012 fromhttp://evergreendirect.com/index.php/2010/02/search-engine-demographics-for-2010/

[vii]2011,The Uninsured: A Primer, P. 10 Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundationhttp://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451-07.pdf

[viii]Lohr, S. (June 24, 2011) Google to End Health Records Service After It Fails to Attract Users. NYTimes.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012 fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/technology/25health.html?_r=1

[ix]Hsi-Chang, Lin (producer). (2011, July 6).外带(Radio series) Retrieved January 6, 2012 from http://www.thetakeaway.org/2011/jul/06/future-medical-record-technology/

[x]Google Health和Google PowerMeters的更新（2011年6月24日）GoogleBlog。Retrieved January 10, 2012 from http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-health-privacy-and-hipaa.html

[xi]Fall Update on Health (October 6, 2009) Google Blog Retrieved on January 9, 2012 fromhttp://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-update-on-google-health.html