How Meta, Google and TikTok classify telehealth and online pharmacy advertisers
Telehealth brands get classified before any approval decision is made — and the classification itself approves nothing. The classification determines which policy applies, which certification you need, and what your ads may say — and each platform buckets you differently.
Google: prescription drug services
Google "restricts the promotion of services related to the online prescribing, dispensing, and sale of prescription drugs," and businesses subject to this policy "include but aren't limited to online pharmacies and telemedicine providers." Classification is not based on your license alone: Google says it determines whether an advertiser is promoting such services based on "the content of your ads, site, or app, as well as the products or services that you offer," and that it "errs on the side of caution" for landing pages that appear to facilitate online prescribing, dispensation or sale of medicines. Google's application flow asks you to self-identify — the first option is "Prescription drug services provider (online pharmacy, telemedicine)" — and warns: "Do not apply for a category that does not match your business model." Country tables then split online pharmacies and telemedicine providers, often with different accreditation requirements per market.
Meta: Prescription Drug Ads authorization
Meta's Drugs and Pharmaceuticals policy states that "Ads promoting prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, and cannabis derived products must follow specific requirements outlined in the policy below." Advertisers don't need written authorization to run ads that educate, advocate or give public service announcements related to prescription drugs, or that promote telehealth services generally. Promoting prescription drugs is not allowed without authorization from Meta, and eligibility is limited to online pharmacies, telehealth providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers. This guide covers telehealth providers and online pharmacies. Meta's label for a telehealth business is Telehealth Provider.
TikTok: rules by market and ad topic
TikTok's Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals policy has no telehealth category. It sets rules by market and ad topic, including prescription medicine, medical institutions and pharmacies, so confirm with TikTok how your offer is classified.
Certification requirements for telehealth and prescription drug ads, including LegitScript
At scale, telehealth advertisers face two gates: third-party accreditation — usually LegitScript — and each platform's own certification or registration on top. Clearing one gate does not clear the next; each platform still applies its own review.
LegitScript Healthcare Merchant Certification
LegitScript certifies telemedicine providers that "provide remote clinical services through licensed healthcare professionals, including diagnosis, treatment, and prescribing medications." Its published standards require licensure in every jurisdiction served, valid prescriptions — "A prescription or prescription drug must not be prescribed or dispensed prior to the provision of care by a licensed medical professional" — compliance with all applicable HIPAA requirements for US applicants that handle PHI, SSL processing of patient data, and clear disclosure of the states and countries where services are available. Partner pharmacies responsible for fulfillment are "generally required to be LegitScript-certified or accredited by another recognized body." Published pricing is a $975 application fee per website (nonrefundable) plus a $2,150 annual certification fee per website, with a $2,500 expedite option per application; a probationary tier with heavier monitoring runs $3,995 per website annually. Multiple websites can go in one application, but each domain to be certified requires its own application fee and annual certification fee, and every certified site gets a public verification link. LegitScript asks to be notified if your "services, ownership, locations, or websites change." Certification renews annually.
Google: LegitScript (or NABP) plus Google's own certification
In the US, Google "allows telemedicine providers if they're accredited by LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program, which offers telemedicine certification to websites that provide virtual healthcare services and facilitate prescribing." Online pharmacies can qualify through LegitScript or NABP accreditation — for Shopping listings, Google names "the LegitScript Healthcare Merchant Certification and Monitoring Program, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's (NABP) VIPPS program, or the Pharmacy Verified Websites Program." Accreditation alone is not enough: "Advertisers must also be certified with Google," and "For some certifications, you may need to obtain third-party accreditation first (for example, from LegitScript, NABP, or G2)."
Application mechanics matter for teams running $100K+/month across managed accounts:
- File "at the child account level, not the MCC (Manager Account) level" — include your Google Ads customer ID and the certified domain.
- "If you are an agency applying on behalf of an advertiser, send documentation detailing your relationship with the advertiser or license holder."
- Request the permissions you actually need, including the ability to "Use prescription drug terms, including prescription opioid painkiller terms, in ad text, landing pages, or keywords".
- If you need the certification applied to additional managed accounts under the same Manager Account, "you can apply for Manager Account Certification". Google notes that eligibility "may vary based on advertiser and certification type."
Geography drives eligibility. In July 2025, Google began allowing LegitScript-certified telemedicine providers to promote prescription drug services in the UK, and providers licensed under Singapore's Healthcare Services Act to do so in Singapore. In August 2026 it added LegitScript-certified telemedicine providers in Spain. In the UK and Spain, advertisers "cannot promote prescription drugs in their ads and landing pages." Japan accepts either a medical institution licence registered with the MHLW or LegitScript certification as a telemedicine provider. Check the country table for every market before expanding.
Meta: authorization for prescription drug ads
Meta requires online pharmacies and telehealth providers to be actively certified with LegitScript. Meta also requires its own authorization before an advertiser promotes prescription drugs. In the Authorizations and verifications tab in Meta Business Suite, select the country, choose your business type, verify using LegitScript, enter the certified website URL and select the ad accounts to authorize. Meta says "You must have LegitScript certification for the country you select." If Meta determines that you no longer have an active LegitScript certification, your authorization status may be revoked.
TikTok: proof depends on what you advertise
In the US, TikTok may allow prescription medicine ads with proof of approval and certification from a regulator such as the FDA, restricted to 18+. Pharmacy ads need proof of certification from a third-party organization such as NABP or LegitScript. Medical institutions must comply with local law and may need certifications. LegitScript also directs certified merchants to a TikTok registration process.
What telehealth ad copy and landing pages cannot say or imply on each platform
Certification is a precondition, not a green light: each platform also sets its own rules for ad copy and landing pages.
On Google it depends on the target location. In the US, Canada and New Zealand, prescription drug terms may be used for promotional purposes, but keyword-targeting those terms requires certification, and telemedicine providers need certification regardless. Everywhere else, prescription drug terms can't be used in ads or landing pages except in non-promotional contexts such as regulatory warnings, legal notices, public health and safety campaigns and academic publications. Outside the US, Canada and New Zealand, most telemedicine country entries say "Advertisers cannot promote prescription drugs in their ads and landing pages," and ads targeting Australia specifically "can't use prescription drug terms in the ad or its destination." Adjacent rules that catch telehealth brands: Google doesn't allow "Products that imply they're as effective as prescription drugs or controlled substances," bans "Promotion of speculative and/or experimental medical treatments," and "doesn't allow ads promoting or selling prescription opioid painkillers" (medication-assisted treatment drugs for opioid use disorder can still qualify under the prescription drugs requirements).
Meta
Meta's Drugs and Pharmaceuticals policy requires a disclaimer to consult a licensed health professional or obtain a valid prescription on prescription drug ads. Authorized prescription drug advertisers may list the price of a prescription drug, offer paid or free delivery, and use calls to action with explicit or implied sales language; Meta describes this as a non-exhaustive list. Meta's Health and Wellness policy applies to weight loss, cosmetic and reproductive health offers: these ads must target people 18 or older. Ads can't claim to cure, heal or eliminate listed diseases including diabetes, thyroid conditions and cancer, though claims about treating or managing symptoms aren't covered by that rule. Ads also can't make negative statements about physical appearance, or promise specific outcomes within a set timeframe without disclaimers or qualifiers. FDA and FTC rules on claims apply separately, so take these to your legal counsel.
TikTok
TikTok lists prescription medicine as not allowed in nearly all markets. The exceptions are the US and Canada (18+) and New Zealand (25+, through a TikTok sales representative), and its Dangerous Products policy names only the US and Canada. Prescription drugs must be approved by the regional regulating authority and carry no misleading or inaccurate claims. Austria also bars remote diagnosis and treatment services.
Health data, pixels and conversion tracking restrictions on telehealth sites
Each platform has its own rules on health data, covered below.
What Meta prohibits
Meta prohibits sharing health information through its Business Tools, including diseases, medical conditions, treatments and prescription medications. Meta puts the burden on the advertiser: "you are ultimately responsible for the data you share with Meta," and "Meta's systems are not a substitute for your own compliance mechanisms." On a telehealth site, health data can reach Meta in predictable places:
- Patient portals — Meta says you shouldn't send information about people from pages where visitors may log in and provide potentially sensitive information, such as patient portals.
- Event and conversion names — Meta says names and criteria "must not reflect, imply, or be based on any prohibited information." Meta's core setup review also covers offline events shared through the Meta Business Tools.
- URLs and custom parameters — Meta tells advertisers to check URLs, parameters, forms and event names for prohibited information.
What restriction looks like
Meta can assign websites and apps to data source categories, and its Health and wellness category names telemedicine platforms as an example. Categories can carry one or more restrictions, specific to certain regions or global. Core setup restricts custom parameters and anything in a URL after the domain. A restriction on certain standard events limits specific mid and lower funnel events. Full restrictions stop all event sharing in specific regions or all regions, and Meta Business Tools "cannot be used for ads purposes where restrictions are in place." Under any data restriction, custom events are automatically blocked until you review and confirm them. Under full restrictions, Meta suggests objectives that don't rely on Business Tools data, such as Awareness, Engagement and Traffic.
Repeat prohibited-information notices can put your tool into core setup for at least 90 days. If you think Meta assigned the wrong data source category, you can request a review and Meta will email its decision.
Google's personalized advertising policy doesn't allow sharing personally identifiable information through data segment tags or product data feeds, and health-related promotion limits which audiences you can use (see the targeting limits below). On tracking infrastructure, "Advertisers are only allowed to use click trackers that are certified by Google," and ads using non-certified click trackers in tracking templates may be disapproved.
TikTok
TikTok says it doesn't allow advertisers to share information about children, health or financial information, or other categories of prohibited data. It also warns that URLs and UTM parameters may contain potentially prohibited data. If TikTok detects potentially prohibited data, you may receive a notification by email, in Events Manager's Diagnostics tab or in TikTok Ads Manager.
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Explore Agency AccountsTargeting limits for health audiences on each platform
Targeting rules for health audiences are set platform by platform.
Google treats both Health and Restricted drug terms as sensitive interest categories. Health covers conditions, sexual health, treatments for chronic conditions and mental health counseling; Restricted drug terms covers prescription medications. The operative split:
- Predefined Google audiences can be used, "because the sensitive user signals are automatically excluded from them."
- Advertiser-curated audiences can't be used, "because they may inadvertently contain sensitive user signals." Google's guidance for the restricted drug terms category covers customer match, your data segments, audience expansion, lookalike segments, in-market, affinity, demographic, life-event, location and custom segments — map each audience type in your account to the allowed or prohibited bucket before launch.
- Users under 18 "are not eligible for personalized advertising of any kind."
- There is an HCP carve-out: content directed to healthcare professionals in their professional capacity is excluded from the restriction in the US, Canada and New Zealand — but advertisers planning to use personalized targeting for restricted drug term products to HCPs after July 1, 2025 "must apply for the Restricted Drug Term Personalization Certification Application."
- Discovery and Demand Gen campaigns "use advertiser-curated audiences by default and may be restricted from serving" if they target products and services within sensitive interest categories.
On search, the certification split from the copy section applies: "Advertisers of prescription drug services must be approved by Google Ads to bid on keywords containing prescription drug terms," and Google's keyword-permission location list is shorter than its prescription drug services list — keyword bidding on drug terms is not available in every market where telemedicine ads themselves can run.
Meta
Health and wellness is not a Special Ad Category on Meta. Custom audiences "may not work as expected" if they rely on custom parameters or anything in a URL after the domain, which core setup restricts. Restrictions on certain standard events limit specific mid and lower funnel events. Prescription drug ads can only target people 18 or older in the US, Canada or New Zealand, and only in countries where you are certified. They must include a disclaimer to consult a licensed health professional or obtain a valid prescription.
TikTok
TikTok restricts prescription medicine ads to 18+ in the US and Canada and 25+ in New Zealand, and medical institution ads to 18+ in the US. Confirm any other targeting limits in TikTok's policy for each market.
What to confirm before launching a telehealth campaign across platforms
Run this checklist before spend starts, and re-run it whenever you add a market, a treatment category, or a new agency or ad account. Platform reviewers make the final call on every ad, and no checklist eliminates enforcement risk.
- Confirm classification on each platform. Google: prescription drug services provider (online pharmacy or telemedicine) — "Do not apply for a category that does not match your business model." Meta: Telehealth Provider, Online Pharmacy or Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, for ads that promote prescription drugs.
- Verify certification coverage. LegitScript certification is per website: each domain to be certified requires its own application fee and annual certification fee, all operated domains must be disclosed, and your public verification link should resolve correctly.
- Get the Google application mechanics right. File "at the child account level, not the MCC (Manager Account) level"; if an agency applies on your behalf, "send documentation detailing your relationship with the advertiser or license holder"; request the permissions you actually need, including prescription drug terms in ad text, landing pages or keywords; apply for Manager Account Certification if you need the certification on additional managed accounts under the same MCC (eligibility may vary based on advertiser and certification type).
- Lock geography. Target only locations where the service is allowed and where you are licensed — "Targeting locations where you aren't licensed" is an unauthorized-pharmacy violation, and those suspensions happen "upon detection and without prior warning," and Google says "You will not be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again." Check the country tables for every market, including the UK and Singapore additions from 2025 and Spain from August 2026; Singapore requires an HCSA licence rather than LegitScript.
- Complete Meta's prescription drug authorization if your ads promote prescription drugs. In the Authorizations and verifications tab in Meta Business Suite, select the country, choose Telehealth Provider, Online Pharmacy or Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, verify using LegitScript, enter the certified website URL and select the ad accounts to authorize. Authorization can be extended only to other ad accounts in the same business portfolio, so plan your account structure before you apply.
- Confirm TikTok's market rules and data-sharing rules. Check TikTok's Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals policy for each market you target, and its rules on prohibited data sharing.
- Audit tracking hygiene. Remove the pixel from pages such as patient portals, keep prohibited information out of URLs, parameters and event names, and review any offline events against the same terms. Confirm any click trackers are on Google's certified list.
- Pre-screen creative. Screen every ad against each platform's copy rules above, and consider keeping Rx and OTC campaigns separate, since each platform applies its own requirements to each.
- Plan for disapprovals. Keep documentation, backup creative and a dispute process ready. Meta says account restriction reviews are typically completed in 48 hours, although some take longer.
- Maintain the certification. Notify LegitScript if your "services, ownership, locations, or websites change," and calendar the annual renewal. Meta may revoke authorization if you no longer have an active LegitScript certification.