Advertising rules for healthcare practices

The certification follows the prescription.

Prescribe or dispense online, treat addiction or sell insurance, and you need a certification before ads run. See patients in person and advertise the visit, and you usually do not.

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5certification types Google names as examples, from online pharmacy to pharmaceutical manufacturer
$975LegitScript's healthcare application fee per website, then $2,150 a year
$1.5MGoodRx's civil penalty in the FTC's first Health Breach Notification Rule case, 2023
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A healthcare practice that prescribes or dispenses online, treats addiction or sells insurance needs a certification before ads run; one that sees patients in person and advertises the visit usually does not. Either way, Google closes every audience built from your own data, Meta requires its own authorization before an ad promotes a prescription drug, and an ad pixel on a booking or intake page is a HIPAA question.

Healthcare, clinical tier

Four rules on every healthcare ad.

  • CertifyCertify what you prescribe or dispense online.
  • KeywordsIn the US, drug names in the copy, not the keywords, unless you are certified.
  • AudiencesNo audience built from patients: remarketing, Customer Match and lookalikes are closed on Google.
  • TrackingKeep the pixel off the booking form.
A beam of green light stopped at a pane of glass, which glows orange where it hits
Why healthcare ad accounts get disabled

Five ways it happens.

  • A remarketing list. Google closes them in sensitive interest categories, and health is one.
  • A drug named as a keyword, without certification.
  • A state you are not licensed in. For an online pharmacy, targeting one, or offering prescription drugs without a prescription, breaks Google's unauthorized pharmacies policy, which suspends the account "upon detection and without prior warning," with no return to Google Ads.
  • A pixel that sees the patient. HHS's example: tracking on an appointment page that collects a reason for care discloses protected health information.
  • A claim the page cannot back. An unproven cure, or a testimonial with no results-vary disclaimer.
The rules, with dates

Which certification, from each platform's own page.

TelemedicineGoogle: "Google allows telemedicine providers if they're accredited by LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program."Google Ads, Healthcare and medicines
AuthorizationMeta: "Eligibility for authorization is limited to online pharmacies, telehealth providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers."Meta Business Help Center, Prescription Drugs policy
KeywordsGoogle: "you must be certified in order to keyword-target these terms."Google Ads, Restricted drug terms
AudiencesGoogle: advertisers in sensitive interest categories "are unable to use advertiser-curated audiences."Google Ads, Personalized advertising

In person or online: what changes

Read at the source, 26 September 2026
You see patients in person
You prescribe or dispense online
Google
None needed

No certification to advertise the visit.

Certify first

LegitScript for telemedicine, then Google's certification. Online pharmacies may use LegitScript, NABP or .Pharmacy.

Meta
Can run

No authorization needed to promote the practice or telehealth services generally.

Approval first

LegitScript and Meta's authorization before any ad promotes a prescription drug; US, Canada or New Zealand only, 18-plus.

TikTok
Adults, no creators

Medical institution ads may be allowed for adults. No creator posts.

Regulator approval

Prescription medicine ads need proof of approval from a regulator such as FDA, and 18-plus.

What it costs
No fee

No certification fee.

$975 to apply

LegitScript: $975 application per website, then $2,150 a year. Expedited review, starting within two business days, is $2,500 more; probationary certification, with more frequent monitoring, $3,995 a year.

Tracking
No pixel

No ad pixel on booking or intake pages. HHS's booking page example still stands after a 2024 court order.

No pixel

The same, plus the FTC's Health Breach Notification Rule for health apps and sites outside HIPAA.

Platform lines read on each source's own page on 26 September 2026. LegitScript fees from its healthcare certification page, checked 25 September 2026. LegitScript sets and changes them; confirm the current figure before you apply.

In person, online or both? We check what you sell against each platform's list before anything spends.

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Same clinic, two ads

One line, two outcomes.

Meta bans ads that imply knowledge of a person's physical or mental health: "Do you have diabetes?" is its not-allowed example, "New diabetes treatment available" its allowed one.

Every specialty we work with writes about the service, not the viewer. Both ads are illustrations, not a client's account.

PELORA example ad · Sponsored
“Do you have diabetes?”
Rejected
It implies knowledge of the viewer's health, which Meta bans.
PELORA example ad · Sponsored
“New diabetes treatment available”
Runs
It describes the service, not the viewer.
What we do differently

Every healthcare ad, read by a person.

A person reads every ad and its landing page against your specialty's rules, your certification and your state license, two rounds, before it runs. For prescription products it is a drug-ad review, so a creator program for one adds $1,000 a month.

PELORA reviewRound 2 of 2
  • CertificationWe check what you sell against Google's and Meta's lists before we build.
  • ConsentA written HIPAA marketing authorization from every patient shown, separate from treatment consent.
  • TrackingAd pixels stay off booking, intake and portal pages.
  • The pageThe landing page matches the ad and names the states you serve; LegitScript asks certified sites to list them.
Map of the United States with Newport Beach, California marked
Where we work

Newport Beach office. Clients anywhere.

We launch only in your licensed states, whatever you sell. We work remote from Newport Beach, nationwide.

CaliforniaFloridaTexasArizonaNevadaColoradoNew YorkAnywhere in the US
Related

Go deeper.

Healthcare marketingOur system for healthcare practicesCreators for healthcareWho they are and what they can sayThe full rulebookMeta, Google, LegitScript, FDA, with dates
Questions

Asked by healthcare practices.

Is the Meta pixel HIPAA compliant for a healthcare clinic?
It depends on what the pixel can see, and on a booking or intake page it can see protected health information. HHS says disclosures of health information to tracking vendors for marketing, without the patient's authorization, are impermissible; a 2024 court order vacated part of that guidance for public pages. Whether you need a business associate agreement is a question for your counsel.
Can a medical practice use retargeting ads?
Not with audiences you build on Google. Health is a sensitive interest category, where Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments cannot be used. Predefined Google audiences, keywords and location targeting remain open.
What is Google's policy on health claims in ads?
Google bars unproven claims of cures for incurable medical ailments and claims that present an improbable result as the likely outcome. Testimonials that claim specific results must carry a visible disclaimer that there is no guarantee and results can vary. Separately, the FTC says a "Results not typical" line does not cure a misleading testimonial.
What are Facebook's ad rules for doctors and medical practices?
Promote the practice and the service, and a prescription drug only with Meta's authorization. Meta's personal attributes rule bans copy that implies it knows the viewer's health. Weight loss and cosmetic procedure ads must target 18 and older.
Which healthcare practices need LegitScript?
Telemedicine that prescribes and addiction treatment, for Google and Meta ads; online pharmacies need it for Meta, while Google also accepts NABP or .Pharmacy accreditation. A practice that sees patients in person and never promotes a prescription drug usually does not.
Can we name prescription drugs in our Google ads?
In the US, yes in the ad and on the landing page, and no as a keyword without certification. Google's restricted drug terms policy says you don't need to be certified to use prescription drug terms in ads and landing pages, but you must be to keyword-target them.
Do you work with healthcare practices outside California?
Yes, across the United States from Newport Beach. We target only the states you are licensed in.

Sources, read on September 26, 2026, with LegitScript fees checked September 25, 2026: Google Ads, Healthcare and medicines, Restricted drug terms, Unauthorized pharmacies, Personalized advertising, Health in personalized advertising and Unreliable claims; Meta Transparency Center, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes, and the Business Help Center page on prescription drugs; TikTok Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals (September 2026) and Branded Content Policy (effective August 31, 2026); HHS, Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates; FTC release on GoodRx, February 2023; FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance; LegitScript healthcare certification fees.

Before the next campaign

Get the account read first.

Fifteen minutes. Bring the rejected ad or the pixel setup you doubt. We will name the rule and what runs instead.

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