Google Ads 'Healthcare and Medicines' Policy: How to Fix It

What this means

Google's Healthcare and medicines policy controls ads for pharmacies, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, and health treatments. It applies to the ad, the keywords, the landing page and, for Shopping and Performance Max, the product data.

You'll typically see one of two outcomes:

• Disapproved: the product or content isn't allowed (for example, an unapproved substance) or you aren't certified to promote it.
• Eligible (limited): the content is allowed, but only in certain countries, for certified advertisers, or with other restrictions. Google notes that ads from properly certified domains targeting allowed locations usually serve with this status.

Some violations here are egregious. Promoting an unauthorized online pharmacy (selling prescription drugs without a prescription, or targeting places where you aren't licensed) can lead to account suspension without warning.

Why it happens

Common triggers for e-commerce stores:

• Supplements with restricted ingredients. Google's unapproved substances rules prohibit, regardless of claimed legality, products containing ephedra, hCG for weight loss, supplements with active pharmaceutical or dangerous ingredients, and products with names confusingly similar to unapproved items. Google maintains a non-exhaustive list of unapproved pharmaceuticals and supplements.
• Drug-equivalence claims. Calling a supplement "natural Viagra" or "works like Adderall". Google prohibits products claiming effectiveness equal to prescription drugs or controlled substances.
• Disease claims. Marketing non-approved products as preventing, curing or treating a disease ("cures diabetes", "treats anxiety").
• Prescription drug terms. Mentioning prescription medicines in ads, keywords or landing pages without the required certification, including in blog content linked from product pages.
• Online pharmacy or telehealth without the required accreditation. In the US, online pharmacies need LegitScript or NABP accreditation plus Google certification; telemedicine providers need LegitScript certification.
• Location targeting. Rules differ widely by country. A product allowed in the US may be prohibited or require registration elsewhere.

How to fix it

1. Identify the exact subpolicy. Hover the status on the ad, asset or product. "Unapproved substances" requires removal; a prescription drug or pharmacy issue requires certification; "Eligible (limited)" may need no action at all.
2. Check ingredients against Google's list. Compare every ingredient in flagged products with Google's unapproved pharmaceuticals and supplements list. If a product contains a listed ingredient, stop advertising it in Google Ads.
3. Exclude prohibited products from Shopping and Performance Max.
   • Shopify: In the Google & YouTube app, or with a custom label or product tag, exclude those products from the feed or from campaign listing groups.
   • WooCommerce: Exclude them in your feed plugin settings, or set a custom_label you filter out in Google Ads. Use exclusions instead of renaming products. Re-submitting the same product under a disguised name can be treated as circumventing systems.
4. Remove disease and drug-equivalence claims from ad text, product titles, descriptions, images and FAQs. Describe ingredients, format and serving size factually. Our ad copy checker helps flag risky wording.
5. Clean keywords and negatives. Remove keywords containing prescription drug names unless you are certified. Add negatives so broad and phrase match don't pull in drug searches; see our guide to negative keywords for e-commerce.
6. Get certified if your business qualifies. Online pharmacies, telemedicine providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and some others must apply for Google certification, often after third-party accreditation (such as LegitScript). Apply through Google's healthcare certification form and only target the countries your certification covers.
7. Check location targeting. Make sure campaigns only target countries where the product and your business are allowed.

How to request a review

After changes, edit the affected ads (which resubmits them) or appeal from the ad status or Policy manager, selecting that you made changes. For products in Merchant Center, fix the product data and request a review there. If you were certified after the disapproval, appeal so the ads are re-reviewed under the certification. If your account was suspended for an unauthorized pharmacy, use the Contact us link on the suspension notice instead, and make sure all prohibited products are gone first.

Health reviews can take longer than standard ones. Avoid repeated appeals on products that genuinely contain unapproved substances; they won't be approved.

How to prevent it

• Vet products before listing in the store if you plan to advertise them on Google.
• Keep a restricted-ingredient list in your product team's workflow.
• Separate content from commerce. Educational blog posts about conditions can make linked product pages look like disease claims.
• Use feed labels to control eligibility, so new risky products don't automatically enter Performance Max.
• Revisit country rules before expanding to new markets.

Health and supplement stores are among the hardest to advertise on Google. Mercantads can audit your catalog, rebuild your feed exclusions and keep compliant products running. Contact us or learn about our Performance Max management.