Pharmaceutical marketers are spending money heavily on the web, but they don’t seem to be spending it the best spots, a report from eMarketer concludes. The problem is in how drug companies view the web, which differs widely from the way the consumers they want to reach use the internet. Pharma advertisers have a “rigid” concept of the internet as an “information-delivery vehicle,” while consumers see the web as a place to interact and have a “dialogue” with a brand - or as report’s title expresses it: Pharmaceutical Marketing Online: Stuck in Web 1.5.

In terms of the actual numbers, eMarketer is forecasting online ad spending by the drug and healthcare industry to hit $975 million in 2007, a 19 percent gain over last year. By 2011, the category will account for of US online ad spending, or $2.2 billion. Lisa Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report, advises employing “something as simple as offering mobile or internet alerts” would be a sound way to enhance a brand.

In any case, a number of companies have recognized the rise of online health care spending and have spurred initiatives such as Google’s and Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) race to build their own health information portals, as well as efforts like the Steve Case-backed health and lifestyle site RevolutionHealth.

• As Ad Spending Declines For First Six Months Of ‘07, Online Ad Growth Slows Slightly: Report