Healthcare Advertising on Google and Meta: Policies for Clinics, Dental, Aesthetics and Wellness

A clinic, a dental practice or an aesthetic studio can advertise on Google and Meta, but not like a roofer or a café. Health is a regulated vertical on every major platform: some services need certification, some cannot be promoted at all, targeting is narrower, and ad copy that would be fine for a gym gets rejected for a clinic. Below: what Google and Meta actually require, where TikTok fits, and how to prepare ads and landing pages for review.

Policies below were checked against the Google Ads, Meta and TikTok help centers on October 19, 2026. Healthcare rules differ by country and change often, so each section links to the official page. This article explains ad platform rules; it is not medical or legal advice, and your country’s healthcare advertising law may be stricter than any platform.

Why healthcare is not a normal vertical

Ordinary clinic services, such as a dental check-up or a dermatology consultation, are banned nowhere in this table. The trouble starts with medicines, unproven treatments and how you talk to the patient.

Google Ads: the Healthcare and medicines policy

Google’s Healthcare and medicines policy says some healthcare content cannot be advertised at all, and other content only in certain countries and only by approved advertisers. Approved ads usually run with the status “Eligible (limited)”.

What needs Google certification

• Prescription drug services. Google restricts ads for the online prescribing, dispensing and sale of prescription drugs: online pharmacies and telemedicine providers must apply for certification. Conditions are set country by country. In the US, for example, online pharmacies need LegitScript or NABP accreditation and telemedicine providers need LegitScript; in the UK, online pharmacies must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Prescription drug terms. Google restricts drug names and prescription terms in ads, landing pages and keywords. A clinic that lists the brand names of injectables on its page can trip this rule even if it sells only the procedure.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers and addiction services need certification; abortion and health insurance ads need it in some countries, including the US.

Certification is tied to your business, its licenses and its domain, and is granted per country. No account provider can obtain it for you.

What Google does not allow

• Prescription drugs without a prescription. Unauthorized pharmacies lead to account suspension without warning.
• Unapproved substances, regardless of any claims of legality, including hCG products for weight loss or weight control.
• Speculative and experimental medical treatments.
• Cell and gene therapies, except FDA-licensed or approved therapies promoted by their license holders in the US. Educational ads about them are allowed.
• Clinical trial recruitment in most locations, and HIV home tests outside a few countries.

The Misrepresentation policy adds the rule most clinic ads run into: no claims that entice the user with an improbable result, even if that result is possible. “Painless”, “permanent”, “guaranteed” and “results in one session” are the usual examples in practice.

Targeting: health is a sensitive interest category

Under Google’s personalized advertising policy, Health is a sensitive interest category. It covers physical and mental health conditions, sexual health, treatments for chronic conditions, intimate body functions, invasive procedures and disabilities. Google’s own examples include counseling for depression, anxiety and addiction, and treatments for pregnancy and infertility.

What this means for a clinic campaign:

• Customer Match, your data segments, lookalike segments and audience expansion are not supported when you promote in this category, so remarketing to your own patient list is out.
• Google’s predefined audiences (in-market, affinity, demographics) can still be used: Google says they are configured without sensitive signals.
• Custom segments work only with conditions: with sensitive creatives or pages, Display only.

Meta: health and wellness ad standards

Meta covers health in several Advertising Standards: Health and Wellness, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Personal Attributes and the lead ads rules.

18+ for most health, weight and cosmetic offers

Under Health and Wellness, ads for dietary, health, weight loss or weight gain products and services, and for cosmetic products, procedures or surgeries, must target people 18 or older. Exemptions include fitness services and health clubs, general foods, non-permanent cosmetics (creams, makeup, hair products) and dental products such as teeth whitening.

For 18+ audiences Meta lists cosmetic procedures from rhinoplasty and breast surgery to fillers, chemical peels, laser treatments and hair restoration.

The same policy forbids:

• claims to cure, heal or eliminate incurable or terminal diseases such as diabetes, cancer, HIV or Alzheimer’s (claims about managing symptoms are allowed);
• clickbait such as exaggerated claims or outcomes promised within a set timeframe without disclaimers;
• statements of inferiority about appearance: negative words or questions that attack a person’s looks, body parts or hygiene;
• weight loss ads that close in on pinched body fat or say a wearable alone gives results.

Before and after. Meta’s current policy lists general cosmetic products, procedures and surgeries depicting a before-and-after transformation among allowed 18+ content. That is not a free pass: the same images still must not shame the viewer, promise a result by a date or exaggerate, and medical advertising law in your country may limit them further.

Do not tell the viewer what they have

The Personal Attributes policy bans ads that assert or imply a person’s physical or mental health. Meta’s own examples:

For clinics this is the most common rejection: “Tired of your crooked teeth?” or “Struggling with hair loss?” talk about the viewer. “Clear aligners at our clinic” or “Hair restoration consultations” talk about the service.

Prescription drugs and addiction treatment

Drugs and Pharmaceuticals: prescription drug ads need active LegitScript certification and Meta’s authorization for online pharmacies and telehealth providers, may target only the US, Canada or New Zealand, and never people under 18. Over-the-counter medicines may be promoted to people 18 and older. General telehealth ads without drugs do not need this authorization. Addiction treatment ads targeting the US require LegitScript certification and Meta’s permission.

Lead forms and tracking

• Lead ad forms must not ask for health information (conditions, treatments, mental health, disabilities) without Meta’s prior permission, per the lead ads rules in the Advertising Standards. Ask for name, phone and preferred time; leave the diagnosis to the consultation.
• Since September 2, 2025 Meta flags custom conversions that suggest specific health conditions (its examples: “arthritis”, “diabetes”) and blocks them from new campaigns. Name events by action (“booking_submitted”), not by diagnosis (“diabetes_consult”).

TikTok: market by market

TikTok’s Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals policy is a country table rather than one rule:

• prescription medicine is not allowed in any market listed;
• medical institutions and cosmetic clinics are often allowed with proof of local licensing and 18+ targeting, but some European markets do not allow medical institutions at all;
• aesthetic treatments may be allowed in some markets only through a TikTok sales representative;
• since a March 2026 update, cosmetic surgery ads can run in the US and Canada with a sales rep’s permission, age targeting, licensed providers, clear disclosure of risks and recovery time, and no before-and-after images that exaggerate results or shame bodies;
• weight management claims must target 18+ and cannot promise results from a product alone.

By niche: what to check first

Preparing ads and landing pages for review

1. Map each service to a policy and a country. Medical service, prescription drug, cosmetic procedure, weight loss and mental health have different rules, and each platform decides per country.
2. Get certification first where it applies (online pharmacy, telemedicine, addiction services, prescription drugs on Meta). Launching first and certifying later only produces disapprovals.
3. Write about the service, not the patient. No “you have”, “are you suffering from”, no questions about the viewer’s body.
4. Cut improbable and timed promises. No “guaranteed”, “100% safe”, “permanent”, “in 7 days”. State typical results, risks and that results vary.
5. Clean the landing page. Clinic name, address, license or registration number where your country has one, doctors’ names and qualifications, prices or “from” prices, and no prescription drug brand names in the copy.
6. Set age 18+ for cosmetic, weight and most health offers on Meta and TikTok.
7. Keep forms and events neutral. Contact details only in forms; conversion names without diagnoses.
8. Read the disapproval reason before you appeal. The notice names the policy; fix that exact thing.

An agency account is reviewed by exactly the same platform rules as any other account. It does not speed up moderation, does not replace certification and does not protect from suspensions. Ads that break healthcare policy will be rejected on any account.

Where an agency account helps

For a single dental practice with one city and a card on file, a direct account works. An agency account is worth considering when:

• You run several clinics or serve several healthcare clients. Each location or client gets its own account, budget and statement.
• Card declines stop your campaigns. The agency settles with the platform; you top up the balance through AdsRiver by bank transfer or PayPal (prepayment, B2B contract, invoice).
• You want a second pair of eyes on red statuses. A manager in Telegram helps read a disapproval, find the policy behind it and prepare an appeal.

AdsRiver terms: minimum top-up from $200, service fee on request, account ready in 1–3 business days. Which healthcare formats can run through an agency account depends on the platform, the country and the category: tell the manager all three before launch. Platform pages: Google Ads agency account, Facebook Ads agency account, TikTok Ads agency account.

FAQ

Can a dental clinic advertise on Google and Meta?

Yes. Dental services are not a banned category on either platform. Problems come from improbable promises, drug names on the landing page and, on Meta, copy that implies the viewer’s condition. On Meta, dental products like teeth whitening are exempt from the 18+ requirement, while cosmetic procedures are not.

Are before-and-after photos allowed?

On Meta, before-and-after images for general cosmetic products and procedures are allowed for 18+ audiences, as long as they do not shame, exaggerate or promise a result by a date. TikTok forbids before-and-after images that exaggerate results or shame bodies, and some markets restrict them further. Local medical advertising law may ban them outright, so check your country.

Will an agency account help me get healthcare certification or approval?

No. Google certification, LegitScript and Meta’s permissions are issued to your business and domain, whatever account you use. The manager can explain what is required and check your ads and page before launch.

Launching healthcare ads?

Message our Telegram bot with your services, countries, platforms and monthly budget. The manager will check your category against the platform rules for those countries and reply with terms and the next step.