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January 10th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda (Reuters) – Popular health information website WebMD Health Corp took itself off the auction block and warned investors of lower 2012 profits as its advertisers in the drug industry pull back on spending.
Shares of WebMD, in which activist investor Carl Icahn owns a nearly 10 percent stake, tumbled 29 percent on the news.
WebMD, which had a market value of just over $2 billion as of Monday, also said on Tuesday that its chief executive, Wayne Gattinella, had resigned. Anthony Vuolo, currently chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will serve as interim CEO.
WebMD is one of the best-known websites for consumers seeking health information on everything from allergies to cancer to better eating habits.
The company relies on advertising from drugmakers, who are now trying to curb expenses as they face generic competition to many of their top-selling medicines. WebMD said large advertisers are also facing more competition on their portfolios of consumer products.
“They were growing 20 percent. Now they’re going through a rough patch where revenue is actually declining,” Cowen Co analyst Kevin Kopelman said. “This isn’t a going concern problem. This is a very strong company with an incredible brand in the U.S. and a huge user base, and they’re generating a lot of money.”
To some extent, WebMD’s status as a premium online brand, and the high advertising rates that it can charge, are forcing more cost-conscious advertisers to look twice at their spending on the site, he said.
A more difficult regulatory environment has also made it tougher for drugmakers to launch new ad programs, Kopelman said, compounding the problems for WebMD.
While a number of new medicines have received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for sale in the United States, WebMD said it does not expect advertising behind those drugs to pick up significantly this year.
WebMD is also grappling with competition from myriad other websites that offer health tips and information on illnesses.
INVESTMENT NEEDS UP AS REVENUE DECLINES
WebMD Chairman Martin Wygod said he expects drugmakers, who have been among the biggest advertisers on more expensive media like television, will eventually recognize the value of using outlets online.
“I believe that the pressures facing the pharmaceutical industry will ultimately prove to be the strong catalyst for a meaningful shift by them to digital marketing solutions,” Wygod, who holds a nearly 2 percent stake, said in a statement. “WebMD offers a cost-effective, efficient and highly measurable alternative to traditional detailing to physicians and mass media to consumers.”
For 2012, the company expects revenue to fall between 2 percent and 8 percent, and it expects increased competition in its consumer products market.
The company also expects expenses to rise by 5 percent to 8 percent in 2012 due to longer-term investments in mobile and international platforms, as well as new advertiser products. With the higher expenses and lower revenue, WebMD said it expects net income will be “significantly lower” compared with 2011.
The performance is a sharp turnaround for WebMD, Kopelman said, noting that the company has almost $300 million in net cash.
WebMD said it started a process to consider strategic alternatives late last year that resulted in talks with several potential suitors. But a special committee of the board has now ended those discussions and has halted the process of reviewing a potential sale, WebMD said on Tuesday.
Credit Suisse had been advising the company in its sale process, according to a source close to the matter.
Aside from Icahn, who was not immediately available for comment, Kensico Capital Management is the top WebMD shareholder, with an 11.6 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data. Mutual fund company Vanguard Group and Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, are among other big holders.
(Additional reporting by Nadia Damouni in New York and Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Michele Gershberg and John Wallace and Gerald E. McCormick)
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