Which healthcare and medicines categories require Google Ads certification
Google Ads requires advertisers to apply and be approved before advertising certain healthcare and medicines products. The restricted categories that require an application include: prescription drug services, restricted drug terms, pharmaceutical manufacturers, prescription opioid painkillers, speculative and experimental medical treatment, cell therapies, and gene therapies (United States), addiction services, abortion, health insurance (United States), and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) [exa-bacb66d2b75c8adc].
For prescription drug services, Google restricts promotion of services related to the online prescribing, dispensing, and sale of prescription drugs, and businesses subject to this policy include online pharmacies and telemedicine providers [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc]. Advertisers must be certified by Google to serve prescription drug services ads, and approval to bid on keywords containing prescription drug terms is granted only in specific locations such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and others [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc]. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must be certified by Google and may only promote prescription drugs in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States [exa-68071bd522523209]. For most healthcare policies, if your campaign targets allowed locations and the domain is properly certified, ads are labeled "Eligible (limited)" and can run in allowed locations [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec].
How LegitScript, NABP, and country-specific healthcare applications work on Google Ads
Before applying to Google, identify the specific certification type that matches your business model (for example, Online Pharmacy, Addiction Services, Telemedicine, Health Insurance, or Pharmaceutical manufacturer) and do not apply for a category that does not match. For some certifications, you may need third-party accreditation first, from LegitScript, NABP, or G2 [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc].
In the United States and Canada, online pharmacies must be accredited by either the LegitScript Healthcare Merchant Certification Program (internet pharmacy and telemedicine certification) or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) Digital Pharmacy Accreditation or the .Pharmacy Verified Websites Program [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. Telemedicine providers must be accredited by LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. Addiction services advertisers must be certified through LegitScript's Addiction Treatment Certification program; LegitScript charges a fee for processing and monitoring, and not all providers are eligible [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. US health insurance advertisers must be certified with G2RS before applying to Google, and those selling ACA-compliant plans need an additional certificate to bid on ACA-related keywords [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec].
Requirements vary by country. For example, Australia allows online pharmacies verified by LegitScript or registered with state-level pharmacy authorities, and telemedicine providers verified by LegitScript [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. In July 2025, Google updated the policy to allow telemedicine providers to promote prescription drug services in the United Kingdom (LegitScript certification required) and Singapore (licensed under the Healthcare Services Act) [exa-9f22a95bdb0964a5].
The application process requires adhering to location-specific requirements, ensuring your website is fully functional and globally accessible, and submitting the Google Ads online application form. Applications must be made at the child account level, not the MCC (Manager Account) level, and must include your Google Ads customer ID and certified domain. If you are an agency applying on behalf of an advertiser, send documentation detailing your relationship with the advertiser or license holder [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc]. If you want to advertise in more than one location, submit a separate application for each location or group of locations [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc].
Google Ads Financial Services Verification requirements and country-by-country regulator checks
Some locations require additional verification to advertise financial services. Google requires verification for advertisers, with a separate verification needed for each targeted location [exa-0b14b75a50be35fb]. The verification process usually involves providing information about the types of financial services you offer, your license to provide those services, your registration number, and location-specific information [exa-0b14b75a50be35fb].
Google publishes a table of relevant regulators and enforcement start dates per country. For example, the United Kingdom enforcement began September 6, 2021; Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan on August 30, 2022; Brazil, France, Germany, India, Portugal, and Spain on January 24, 2023; and Italy on November 1, 2023 [exa-0b14b75a50be35fb]. In June 2026, Google announced new verification requirements for 24 additional European Economic Area markets, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden, with rolling enforcement beginning July 23, 2026 [exa-e4968a7d16199857].
To complete the process for these markets, advertisers must (1) obtain verification through Google's external compliance partner, G2, and then (2) apply for financial services verification with Google as either "First Party" or "Authorized Advertisers" using the unique verification code from G2 [exa-e4968a7d16199857]. G2 will ask about the type of financial services provided, licensing status, and registration numbers. Advertisers must demonstrate that the relevant financial services regulator directly authorizes them, or that they are exempt [exa-e4968a7d16199857]. G2 began processing applications for these regions on June 23, 2026 [exa-e4968a7d16199857].
In the UK, advertisers promoting financial services must demonstrate they are authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or qualify for an exemption. Verification is required for all ad formats and assets, and applications must be submitted by an authorised representative — an admin of the Google Ads account or payments profile, which includes advertising agencies [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. Approved third parties (such as brokers, resellers, and affiliates) cannot apply independently; an FCA-authorised firm must initiate verification on their behalf by submitting their domains [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. Google categorizes financial services advertisers into five types: authorised advertisers, approved third parties, non-financial services advertisers, government entities, and regulation-exempt advertisers [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8].
How uncertified accounts and ads are restricted or disapproved
If an ad is disapproved because you still need to apply to advertise for a specific industry, you can find that information in your ad's status. Go to Ads within the Campaigns menu, review the "Status" column, and hover over ads marked "Not eligible" for more information. If the policy details show "Certificate required", apply to advertise per the policy instructions [exa-bacb66d2b75c8adc].
For financial services, in-scope advertisers that have received a notification and have not successfully completed the verification process before their specified enforcement date will not be allowed to show financial services ads in the relevant targeted locations [exa-e4968a7d16199857]. Affected advertisers receive in-account notifications such as "Ad performance may be impacted by financial services verification policy" [exa-e4968a7d16199857].
Enforcement severity varies by policy. Violations of the unauthorized pharmacies policy are considered egregious: Google Ads accounts will be suspended upon detection and without prior warning, and advertisers will not be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. Similarly, prescription opioid painkiller violations are treated as egregious and can lead to suspension without prior warning [exa-ac2873a3714b09ec]. By contrast, for health insurance and several other healthcare policies, Google states that violations will not lead to immediate suspension without warning, and a warning will be issued at least 7 days before suspending an account [exa-cf4f8c714376d580]. Practitioner reporting notes Google blocked or removed 5.5 billion ads and suspended 12.7 million advertiser accounts in 2023, and that automated reviews sometimes cause incorrect suspensions [exa-8abd93b46be9fe8f].
Options to fix include applying for certification, editing ads and landing pages to target only allowed and certified locations, and appealing policy decisions directly from your Google Ads account [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc]. If you cannot fix violations, remove the ad to help prevent your account from being suspended for repeated policy violations [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc].
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Explore Agency AccountsHow certification interacts with Google Ads advertiser verification and manager accounts
Certification is separate from and in addition to advertiser verification: Google notes that in addition to completing advertiser verification, certain industries require you to apply to advertise content related to that industry [exa-bacb66d2b75c8adc]. Financial services verification also interacts with the Advertiser verification programme — upon approval of exemption applications, Google may require completion of the Advertiser verification programme if it hasn't been completed before [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. For UK financial services, applications must be submitted by an authorised representative who is an admin of the Google Ads account or payments profile, including advertising agencies, subsidiaries, or other entities managing the account [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. For the new EEA financial services requirements, Google notes that agencies and other customers who manage campaigns on behalf of affected advertisers will also need to obtain verification for in-scope advertiser accounts [exa-e4968a7d16199857].
At the account level, healthcare applications must be made at the child account level, not the MCC (Manager Account) level, including the customer ID and certified domain [exa-8e36b254dd6b56fc]. However, if you are already certified and want that certification applied to additional managed accounts under the same Manager Account (MCC), you can apply for Manager Account Certification; eligibility may vary based on advertiser and certification type [exa-bacb66d2b75c8adc]. The same Manager Account Certification option exists for financial services certifications [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8].
Verification is not permanent: you may need to renew it periodically, and you may be asked to re-verify your identity after significant account changes such as payment profile updates [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. If Google finds you are promoting financial services after completing verification but provided false information, your verification will be revoked with immediate effect and your account may be suspended [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. Google may also update verification requirements at any time [exa-661b74fb2468c4e8]. Note that moving ads into an agency-owned account does not remove these requirements — certification attaches to the advertiser, domain, and targeted locations, and agencies managing in-scope advertiser accounts must themselves complete verification where Google requires it.