AmbienCR and Lunesta Duke It Out on Web

AmbienCR and Lunesta are battling for the leader position in the sleep aid market and are currently "duking it out" on the Internet via search engine ad campaigns.

I've shown the following chart before (see "Rozerem Ads Innovatively Ineffectual") that implies that these two products are the major contenders in this market while Rozerem is a distant third.

You may have seen AmbienCR banners served by Google Adwords appearing on various Web sites. The following are a couple of examples:


and..


These are "nonbranded" text ads that at first glance appear to be bogus ads put up by sleazy companies to get you to their Web sites where there are dozens of other ads. These sorts of sites make money by serving Google Adword ads.

Do a Google search on "Sleep Medication." What do you find? This:

Sleep Medication
SleepMedication.Info Find Medication to Get You to Sleep Fast & Stay Asleep - Free Trial

Sleep Medication
www.lunesta.com Try our sleep aid free for 7 nights with the Lunesta 7-Night Challenge.

That's at the top of the page in the "Sponsored Links" area. The first listing in the natural results section is this:

Shuteye.com: Consider Medications
When you first start taking any sleep medication, use extreme care while doing anything that requires complete alertness, such as driving a car or operating ...

Sleepmedication.info is merely an AmbienCR free trial offer page. Too bad Sanofi-Aventis couldn't get SleepMedication.com. That's one of the "sleazy" sites I was talking about. I guess ".info" is a notch less sleazy.

The AmbienCR folks are being very aggressive in collecting personal information from you when you apply for the 7-day free trial (why 7 days?). You have to opt-out rather than opt-in to receive further communications from "sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC, its affiliates, and the business service companies working with the company". By not unchecking this box, you give S-A permission to use the data to:

• Provide information about insomnia, related conditions and products; and
• Develop products and services concerning insomnia which may include market research.

If you are not careful and forget to uncheck another box, you will also receive an Email "Newsletter," which we all know is more advertising.

Of course, I left every box checked just to see what would happen. I did get a printable coupon, but forgot to print it. I haven't received any email newsletter. Oh, well! At least there is a way to "unsubscribe" online and by phone. I'll let you know how that works later.