Exploring the digital grey zone of online medicinal markets emerging from search
Söderström, Kristofer Rolf LU
and Sundin, Olof
LU
(2024)
In Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
- Abstract
- This explorative study investigates the emergence of gray zone markets from search engines amidst the global expansion of online markets. With the analytical approach of infrastructural inversion, we examine how the search infrastructure constructs access to a gray zone market including both authorized online pharmacies and unauthorized vendors. Using Sweden and Google Search as a case, we explore the online presence of three products (vitamin D, paracetamol, and Viagra), through search engine result page analysis, web crawling, and network analysis. Infrastructural inversion unveils the typically invisible mechanisms of search engines, considering user queries, algorithmic priorities, SEO practices, and pharmacy regulations. We find gray... (More)
- This explorative study investigates the emergence of gray zone markets from search engines amidst the global expansion of online markets. With the analytical approach of infrastructural inversion, we examine how the search infrastructure constructs access to a gray zone market including both authorized online pharmacies and unauthorized vendors. Using Sweden and Google Search as a case, we explore the online presence of three products (vitamin D, paracetamol, and Viagra), through search engine result page analysis, web crawling, and network analysis. Infrastructural inversion unveils the typically invisible mechanisms of search engines, considering user queries, algorithmic priorities, SEO practices, and pharmacy regulations. We find gray zones only emerge in searches for erectile disfunction medicinal products and information, where unauthorized vendors successfully competed for visibility in search engine rankings. A complex web of conditions can steer consumers toward gray zone markets, complicating the access to safe and regulated medicinal products. This can expose individuals to risks associated with unverified medicinal products, but also challenges the integrity of the online health information infrastructure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/012be8b5-8ac4-4ec1-903c-fa7f1a08ada7
- author
- Söderström, Kristofer Rolf
LU
and Sundin, Olof
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85205944959
- ISSN
- 2330-1635
- DOI
- 10.1002/asi.24956
- project
- Why do we choose the Internet instead of the doctor next door? The Internet as a site for medicines in grey zones.
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 012be8b5-8ac4-4ec1-903c-fa7f1a08ada7
- date added to LUP
- 2024-10-07 08:33:18
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:10:00
@article{012be8b5-8ac4-4ec1-903c-fa7f1a08ada7,
abstract = {{This explorative study investigates the emergence of gray zone markets from search engines amidst the global expansion of online markets. With the analytical approach of infrastructural inversion, we examine how the search infrastructure constructs access to a gray zone market including both authorized online pharmacies and unauthorized vendors. Using Sweden and Google Search as a case, we explore the online presence of three products (vitamin D, paracetamol, and Viagra), through search engine result page analysis, web crawling, and network analysis. Infrastructural inversion unveils the typically invisible mechanisms of search engines, considering user queries, algorithmic priorities, SEO practices, and pharmacy regulations. We find gray zones only emerge in searches for erectile disfunction medicinal products and information, where unauthorized vendors successfully competed for visibility in search engine rankings. A complex web of conditions can steer consumers toward gray zone markets, complicating the access to safe and regulated medicinal products. This can expose individuals to risks associated with unverified medicinal products, but also challenges the integrity of the online health information infrastructure.}},
author = {{Söderström, Kristofer Rolf and Sundin, Olof}},
issn = {{2330-1635}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology}},
title = {{Exploring the digital grey zone of online medicinal markets emerging from search}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.24956}},
doi = {{10.1002/asi.24956}},
year = {{2024}},
}