In the digital age, healthcare marketers have more tools than ever to connect with patients, providers, and caregivers. One of the most important tactics to help close a potential enquiry is remarketing. But in healthcare, this opportunity comes with strict compliance considerations.
This article breaks down how healthcare marketers can navigate PPC remarketing while staying compliant.
The purchase journey is typically longer in healthcare settings, as people research their options to find the best choice for them. By implementing remarketing, you can:
However, due to the often sensitive nature of healthcare services, remarketing requires extra caution and requires businesses to comply with various regulations.
This data privacy legislation emphasises consent and transparency over the usage of user data. To ensure that your business complies, you must ensure that your potential clients must:
One of the biggest compliance challenges for healthcare marketers is understanding what constitutes “personal health information” (PHI) or sensitive data. It’s not limited to medical records or patient names; seemingly harmless digital signals can fall under this definition too.
If your remarketing setup allows you to infer a user’s medical condition, treatment interest, or location in a healthcare context, that data can be considered sensitive. For example, someone visiting a webpage about mental health therapy or fertility treatment can’t be remarketed to using standard tracking methods, as their browsing activity could reveal private health interests.
Even data like IP addresses, cookies, or page visit history can become sensitive when tied to health-related intent. This means marketers must ensure that no tracking scripts, pixels, or audience lists can identify or infer medical status. When in doubt, treat all healthcare data as protected.
In many instances, being able to use first-party data in remarketing campaigns isn’t possible for many healthcare businesses. This is due to advertising platform policies that are designed to prevent the exploitation of people’s personal situations. As a result, you will only be able to reach visitors to your site if they continue to fall into one of the platform’s prebuilt audiences.
To ensure that you’re able to run some form of remarketing activity through Google, ensure you solely target the prebuilt audiences. If you solely target the most relevant prebuilt audiences and layer in topic targeting (if you’re advertising on YouTube or Display) to refine your campaign targeting, you’ll not only be able to reach people who will be relevant to your business, but you’ll be able to remarket to those who show an interest in your services.
Outside of advertising, adding micro-conversions to your website, such as capturing email addresses, allows you to nurture and pre-qualify prospective customers through follow-up emails or invite them to relevant webinars. This can help address potential questions they may have about your business.
In healthcare, consent isn’t just a box-ticking exercise; it’s the foundation of compliant marketing. Users must be informed, empowered, and able to choose how their data is used.
Your cookie banners and privacy notices should clearly explain if and how remarketing cookies are being used. Instead of generic “We use cookies to improve your experience” banners, offer granular options such as “Allow functional cookies” and “Allow marketing cookies,” with remarketing off by default unless explicitly approved.
Equally important is transparency in your privacy policy. It should outline who you share data with (e.g. Google, Meta), the legal basis for processing, and how users can withdraw consent. A strong consent framework not only protects your business — it also builds trust with potential patients or clients.
Even with careful compliance, there are cases where remarketing simply isn’t appropriate. If your campaigns involve highly sensitive conditions — such as mental health, sexual health, or addiction — the reputational and ethical risks can outweigh the benefits.
In these cases, consider contextual targeting instead. This approach serves ads based on the content a user is currently viewing rather than their past browsing history, ensuring privacy while maintaining relevance.
Alternatively, invest in first-party engagement strategies such as email nurture campaigns, downloadable guides, or educational webinars. These allow you to re-engage audiences in a compliant, trust-building way without relying on cookie-based tracking.
For a deeper dive into how healthcare marketers can advertise responsibly while maintaining compliance, read our post on Healthcare PPC Compliance 101: Targeting Patients Without Breaking the Rules, which breaks down what’s allowed (and what’s not) across major platforms.
The healthcare marketing landscape is changing fast. With the phase-out of third-party cookies, AI-driven ad targeting, and tighter privacy enforcement, remarketing is entering a new era.
Platforms like Google and Meta are rolling out privacy-preserving technologies, such as aggregated measurement and consent mode, which aim to balance effectiveness with compliance. At the same time, regulators are increasing scrutiny of healthcare advertisers who mishandle sensitive data.
Marketers should also expect stricter audience verification, automated content moderation, and greater accountability from vendors. The winners will be those who build privacy-by-design campaigns now, using transparency and consent as competitive advantages rather than obstacles.
PPC remarketing in healthcare can deliver outstanding results, but only when it’s built on a foundation of compliance, transparency, and trust. From understanding what constitutes sensitive health data to implementing privacy-first strategies, the most successful campaigns are those that respect user privacy at every stage.
At WebBox, we specialise in PPC management, strategy, and ad-hoc support for healthcare organisations that want to achieve results without compromising compliance. Whether you need a full campaign review, campaign setup, or paid media strategy, our team can help you reach your audience the right way.
Get in touch with us to discuss your PPC goals and ensure your campaigns stay both effective and compliant.
What is PPC remarketing in healthcare?
PPC remarketing in healthcare involves showing targeted ads to people who have previously visited your website. It helps keep your organisation top of mind, but you must comply with privacy laws like GDPR due to the sensitive nature of health data.
Is PPC remarketing allowed for healthcare providers?
Yes, but with strict conditions. Healthcare providers can run remarketing campaigns if they avoid using personal health information (PHI) and follow platform policies, and GDPR guidelines.
What counts as personal health information (PHI) in remarketing?
PHI includes any data that can identify a person in a health-related context, such as IP addresses, cookies, or browsing behaviour tied to medical pages or conditions. Even anonymised data can breach compliance if it infers medical interest.
How can healthcare marketers comply with GDPR in PPC campaigns?
Marketers must gain explicit consent for tracking and remarketing cookies, clearly explain data usage in their privacy policy, and allow users to opt in or out easily. Data should only be used for the stated purpose.
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