Google Ads prevents you from advertising prescription drugs unless you’re certified by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). This is to protect potential customers from unscrupulous sellers and to ensure the drugs that are being purchased are safe to be consumed.
Furthermore, there is a list of products that are outright prohibited from being advertised on its networks regardless of certification, this includes products such as steroids, non-government-approved products, controlled substances and DHEA products.
Beyond that, you may also be impacted by the health in personalised advertising policy, which removes your ability to use customer match, data segments, custom audiences and look-a-like audiences as part of your Google Ads advertising strategy.
Furthermore, you can’t exploit someone’s personal hardship by advertising treatments for various health issues and diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and STDs. This is to ensure that the Google ecosystem remains positive and businesses are not seen to be taking advantage of someone’s misfortune or ailment.
In terms of ad copy and landing pages, Google wants advertisers to acknowledge that no treatment is 100% effective. As a result, you should avoid making definitive claims in your ads and landing pages, such as “will prevent” or “cures” and use terms such as “can contribute” and “may help to.”
Not only this, you need to avoid using terminology that alludes to you knowing about somebody’s ailment, such as “looking to lose weight?”, “are you pregnant?” or “going through cancer treatment?”, as these are exploiting someone’s personal characteristics. Using terminology such as “weight loss support”, or “support during cancer treatment”, or “pregnancy supplements” will help you share your message without appearing to be exploitative over someone’s current health situation.
