Unlike Google Ads, buyers are not allowed to serve ads for online pharmaceutical products on Google Partner Inventory. Creatives promoting online pharmaceutical products will be disapproved.
Google Ads has a direct relationship with every advertiser and can require proof of legal status. For Authorized Buyers, Google’s relationship is with the buyer and we lack insight to the identity of those advertisers.
The Authorized Buyers pharmaceutical policy includes prescription drugs, online pharmacies, unapproved pharmaceutical supplements, and other substances, such as steroids.
The following examples also fall under this category (not an exhaustive list):
- Sale of HGH, HCG, prescription vaccines and enzymes, HCG clinics, and clinics and spas that administer Botox, Latisse, Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse.
- Clinical trials, contraception info and products, fertility tests and aids, miracle cures and related products, misleading claims in the creative, HIV home tests, secret paternity tests.
- Sale of any product on the unapproved supplement list.
- Illegal drugs, herbal drugs, drug paraphernalia, bong, glass pipes, hookahs, aids to pass drug tests.
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Recovery-oriented drug and alcohol addiction services. Examples of recovery-oriented addiction services: Clinical addiction treatment providers, recovery support services like sober living environments and mutual help organizations, lead generators or referral agencies for addiction services, crisis hotlines for drug and alcohol addiction.
Exception using block override
Within Preferred Deals and Programmatic Guaranteed Deals, it is possible to serve ads for online pharmaceutical products only if the publisher has enabled Block Override for these given deals (learn more about Block Override). Note that Google Ads country restrictions still apply when block override is enabled.
Over-the-counter (OTC) brands
Authorized Buyers are allowed to serve creatives for over-the-counter (OTC) brands on Google Partner Inventory. Approval for these brands is determined by the landing page and the content of the creative. Landing pages are considered acceptable as long as they do not contain Prescription Drug Terms (PDT) or directly link to an online pharmacy website. If the landing page of the creative contains PDT or directly links to a pharmacy website, the creative will be disapproved and the bid response will be filtered out of the auction.
Due to local restrictions, OTC creatives are not allowed in China or Russia. Any OTC creatives running in Korea require the ad deliberation number to be located in the ad creative with a font size of 8 or larger. Creatives without the ad deliberation number will be disapproved.
Speculative and experimental medical treatment
- Promotion of speculative and/or experimental medical treatments is prohibited.
- Examples of products and services that will be prohibited (non-exhaustive)
- Stem cell therapy, cellular (non-stem) therapy, gene therapy and similar forms of regenerative medicine, platelet rich plasma, biohacking, do-it-yourself (DIY) genetic engineering products, and gene therapy kits.
- Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.