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"Healthcare and medicines": why Google rejected our telehealth or med spa ads

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Healthcare and medicines
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Google rejected the ad because the ad, its keywords or its landing page falls under Healthcare and medicines, Google's umbrella policy for health advertising, and something that rule requires is missing. For telehealth, the missing piece is often certification: in the US, Google allows telemedicine providers accredited by LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program who are also certified with Google. For a med spa, a common cause is a prescription drug name used as a keyword, which Google allows only for certified advertisers. Find the sub-policy Google named, fix that specific thing, then resubmit or appeal.

Curve Compliance helps with what your site sends to Google Ads after a patient converts. Curve's team reviews that data with you, then rebuilds your conversion tracking so it is HIPAA-compliant and keeps your campaigns optimizing, with PHI-like patterns such as a drug or condition name detected before data reaches Google. A BAA is signed on every plan. Book a call with Curve.

Find the sub-policy first

In Google Ads, open Ads in the Campaigns menu, hover over the Disapproved status and select Read the policy. The sub-policy decides the fix:

  • Prescription drug services: online prescribing, dispensing or sale of prescription drugs. Google names "online pharmacies and telemedicine providers" and requires certification.
  • Restricted drug terms: prescription drug names in ads, landing pages and keywords. In the US you may use them in ads and landing pages, but "you must be certified in order to keyword-target these terms."
  • Unapproved substances: for example, hCG promoted for weight loss, or products that "imply they're as effective as prescription drugs". See our weight loss ad disapprovals triage checklist.
  • Unauthorized pharmacies: offering prescription drugs without a prescription, or targeting locations where you aren't licensed. Google treats this as egregious and suspends the account without warning instead of disapproving one ad.

Telehealth: certification comes before the ad

Google says it "errs on the side of caution in applying this policy, especially for landing pages that link or refer to content that in any way appears to be or to facilitate the online prescription, dispensation, or sale of medicines." A telehealth page with a start-your-visit flow can read that way even when the ad never names a drug.

In the US, Google allows telemedicine providers accredited through LegitScript, and "Advertisers must also be certified with Google." The Google application has rules that trip up clinics and agencies:

  • Apply at the child account level, not the MCC (manager account) level.
  • Include your Google Ads customer ID and the certified domain.
  • An agency applying for a client must send documentation of its relationship with the advertiser.
  • Submit a separate application for each location or group of locations you target.
  • Don't apply for a category that doesn't match your business model.

Med spas: keywords, landing pages and the limited label

Many med spas don't fit any certification type. Google's examples are online pharmacy, addiction services, telemedicine, health insurance and pharmaceutical manufacturer. If none describes your business, take prescription drug brand and ingredient names out of your keywords instead of applying under a category that doesn't fit. For GLP-1 offers, see what Google and Meta allow for GLP-1 advertising.

Not every health label is a rejection. "Eligible (limited)" means the ad runs, with limits on where it serves. Google says this can apply "if your website content contains terms associated with regulated industries, even if your products or services themselves are compliant." If the label is wrong, you can appeal it from Policy manager.

Injectables also count as Health for audience targeting, which is a separate policy with its own notice: the personalized advertising notice for sensitive health information.

Resubmit or appeal

Appeal when you have fixed the ad and its destination, or when you believe Google made a mistake. Since July 21, 2026, decisions made more than 6 months ago can't be appealed from inside the account. For those, Google says to contact Google Ads support.

  1. Fix the ad text, keywords and landing page for the sub-policy Google named, then select Save.
  2. To appeal, go to Tools, then Troubleshooting, then Policy manager, and select Appeal on the ad in the Policy issues tab. Choose Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy.
  3. Wait at least 24 hours before appealing the same ads again. "Each ad is limited to 3 appeals"; after 3 unsuccessful appeals you need Google Ads support.
  4. If you fixed the issue and the appeal still fails or is marked as a duplicate, Google says not to keep appealing but to "make a minor edit to your ad's text or final URL and save it to force the system to perform a new crawl."

What not to do

Don't split offers you aren't certified for across several accounts. Google's Circumventing systems policy names "Using several accounts, either gradually or all at once, to promote products or services for which you lack the necessary Google Ads certifications", and that policy leads to suspension without warning. Don't show Google one landing page and patients another either. That is cloaking, and it falls under the same policy.

Unfixed disapprovals can build toward a suspension. Google warns at least 7 days before suspending for Prescription drug services, while Unauthorized pharmacies suspends straight away. If you are already there, read Google Ads suspended our healthcare account. To have the data your site sends to Google Ads checked while you fix the ads, book a call with Curve.

Talk to Curve

Fixing the ad is half the job, and the tracking behind it needs to be HIPAA-compliant too. Curve's team will review what your site sends to Google Ads with you and set up server-side conversion tracking that keeps your campaigns optimizing, with a BAA signed on every plan. Setup is done for you, so book a call with Curve.

How Curve helps

  • Curve's team reviews what your website sends to Meta, Google and TikTok with you.
  • Curve rebuilds your conversion tracking so it is HIPAA-compliant and keeps your campaigns optimizing, sending conversions server-side to Meta Conversions API, Google Ads, TikTok, Microsoft and LinkedIn.
  • Curve detects PHI-like patterns before data reaches an ad platform.
  • Curve signs a BAA on every plan, and Curve's team does the setup for you, typically live in about a week (it varies case by case).

Frequently asked questions

Does a telehealth company need LegitScript to run Google Ads?

To promote telemedicine services in the US, Google requires accreditation through LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program and certification with Google itself.

Can my med spa bid on prescription drug brand names?

In the US you can use prescription drug terms in ads and landing pages without certification, but Google requires certification to keyword-target them. If no certification category fits your business, take those terms out of your keywords.

What does Eligible (limited) mean on a healthcare ad?

The ad can run, but Google restricts where it serves. For most healthcare policies, a certified domain targeting allowed locations gets this label.

How many times can I appeal a disapproved ad?

Each ad is limited to 3 appeals, and Google asks you to wait at least 24 hours between appeals on the same ads. After 3 unsuccessful appeals you have to go through Google Ads support.

How can Curve help while we fix a disapproval?

Curve's team reviews what your site sends to Google Ads with you and rebuilds your conversion tracking so it is HIPAA-compliant and keeps your campaigns optimizing. Curve detects PHI-like patterns, such as a drug or condition name, before data reaches Google, and signs a BAA on every plan. Book a call with Curve.

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