2026 Search Advertising Rules for Health Brands: Policy Guide for Google Ads & Microsoft

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For healthcare brands, it’s essential to take advantage of all that digital marketing can offer them—but they can’t operate in this space the same way that eCommerce brands can. Because patient privacy and comfort is paramount, marketing platforms have developed a number restrictions specific to health and wellness advertisers.

Search engine marketing (SEM) platforms like Google Ads and Microsoft Ads regulate the data that health brands can collect and utilize; the tracking and personalization mechanisms they can access; and the types of messaging that they are allowed to deploy. As technology and laws evolve, so do these platform policies. Failure to keep up can result in ad disapprovals and even account suspensions.

Leading into 2026, Google Ads made a number of targeted updates to its health advertising policies, including:

• The reintroduction of limited healthcare professional (HCP) targeting for eligible advertisers, expanding compliant B2B options within the healthcare category.
• New standards and enforcement around Google Shopping eligibility for healthcare products, particularly for subscription-based offerings

In this guidance, we’ll highlight the newest SEM health advertising restrictions for 2026 while reiterating the core policies that all brands in this space must adhere to.

Jump to Section:

• What’s New in SEM Healthcare Advertising Policy for 2026?
• Google Ads Health Advertising Policies
  • Personal Advertising Policy/Health in Personalized Advertising
  • Healthcare and Medicines Policy
    • Certifications
    • Clinical Trial Advertising, Experimental Treatments, and Gene Therapies
    • Prescription Drug Terms
  • Sexual Health and Wellness Policy
• Microsoft Ads Health Policies
  • Restricted Content: Pharmacy and healthcare products and services
• Platform-Compliant Healthcare Advertising

What’s New in SEM Healthcare Advertising Policy for 2026?

The first big change for 2026 is a rare instance where restrictions were loosened. Google Ads reintroduced limited healthcare professional (HCP) targeting for eligible healthcare advertisers. This change allows certain B2B health brands—such as medical device manufacturers or professional service providers—to more directly reach clinical audiences, while consumer health targeting remains highly restricted.

But there’s always give-and-take, and for other brands, marketing became more regulated. Late in 2025, Google began to ramp up enforcement around Google Shopping eligibility for healthcare advertisers. While many physical, non-prescription health products remain eligible, subscription-based healthcare offerings face additional scrutiny, and prescription drugs continue to be excluded. Eligibility now depends not only on the product itself, but also on how it is sold and fulfilled.

Google Ads Health Advertising Policies

Personal Advertising Policy/Health in Personalized Advertising

Google’s Personalized Advertising policy is a major consideration for health brands that use Google Ads. This rule is intended to prevent brands from advertising sensitive topics to specific users in ways that feel invasive and diminish user experience. 

This rule addresses health specifically in the Health in Personalized Advertising section, which forbids advertisers from using Google Ads to deliver personalized content related to:

• Physical or mental health conditions
• Products, services, or treatments intended to manage chronic health conditions
• Health problems “associated with intimate body parts or functions, which includes genital, bowel, or urinary health”
• Invasive procedures including cosmetic surgery
• Disabilities

It’s important to note that, even though it’s called the “Personalized” advertising policy, these rules also apply to targeting potential caretakers who may be responsible for someone a covered health issue. 

The Personalized Advertising Policy, outside of its Health subsection, also forbids advertising that:

• Highlights personal trauma or abuse 
• Creates feelings of negativity through things like body shaming or suggested negative outcomes if a user doesn’t take a certain action

These last two are also key for health providers. Even brands that offer counseling services to address past trauma—or deal in weight-management solutions meant to make people healthier—must find ways to advertise these services without violating the stated policy.

Healthcare and Medicines Policy

Google’s Healthcare and Medicines policy dictates what health and drug information can and can’t be advertised and what certifications a brand needs in order to advertise certain products and services. It covers a number of relevant areas, like:

Certifications

• Google requires online pharmacies, telemedicine providers, and addiction treatment services to apply for and receive LegitScript certification in order to advertise on the platform
• Google requires insurers to be certified with G2 in order to run Google Ads

Clinical Trial Advertising, Experimental Treatments, and Gene Therapies

• Google forbids clinical trial recruitment ads in most countries, but the US, UK, and Canada are not among them.
• Google forbids promotion of “speculative and/or experimental medical treatments” as well as cell or gene therapies, with limited exceptions

Prescription Drug Terms

• Google again limits the advertising of prescription drugs in most countries, but not the US, Canada, and others provided they have proper certifications
• Businesses can use the drug terms in their ads and landing pages without certification, but may not bid on the terms if they don’t have it
• The list of monitored drug terms can be found here
• Google also provides a list of unapproved substances, most of which would not be a concern for legitimate health providers 

It’s important to note that, in late 2023, Google updated the language in its Healthcare and Medicines policy to better clarify what types of online health providers would be subject to these rules

Sexual Health and Wellness Policy

Google Ads also has distinct policies regarding the promotion of sexual health products on YouTube and the Google Display Network. It relates to other Google Ads content policies and applies to everything from traditionally over-the-counter products like lubricants up to prescription medications.

Sexual health products must be:

• Targeted only to users 18 years of age or older
• Not promoted based on themes of sexual pleasure or enhancement
• Not be advertised in sexually suggestive ways
• Advertised in accordance with local and country-specific laws

This policy also includes rules against advertising certain products outside of the United States and Canada.

Microsoft Ads Health Policies

Though not nearly as prominent of a paid search platform as Google Ads, Microsoft Ads is still an excellent SEM service that many health brands may be interested in using to reach their unique audience. Like Google Ads, however, Microsoft Ads also has specific policy guidance for health brands.

Restricted Content: Pharmacy and healthcare products and services

Microsoft has an overarching health advertising page that lays out specific restrictions for each country around the world. Its policies are generally more restrictive than Google’s. For instance, while Google will allow advertisers in some countries (including the US) to advertise for clinical trial recruitment, that’s entirely outlawed on Microsoft Ads. 

Likewise, the language is broad elsewhere. Microsoft’s policy states simply that “Ads related to sensitive health conditions targeting consumers are not allowed.”

As of 2025, other noteworthy Microsoft Ads health policy takeaways include:

• Like Google, Microsoft requires pharmaceutical sellers must receive LegitScript certification, although they will also accept accreditation from the National Association Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) 
• Also like Google, brands are not allowed to advertise in ways that create the impression of direct health targeting—using language like “your condition” or “your symptoms.”
• Claims and content of weight loss products and services are heavily restricted
• Prophylactic advertising is widely forbidden
• Like Google, Microsoft also has a list of disapproved healthcare products and supplements.

For a full understanding of how Microsoft’s health advertising policies differ from Googles, it is important to review this policy on the Microsoft Ads site. 

Platform-Compliant Healthcare Advertising

With so many legal and platform-based regulations in place for health advertisers, it’s vital to do your diligence and ensure you are not creating ad content that is liable to be disapproved. Remember, this is not a comprehensive list, and it’s important to review all available policies before launching your digital ads program. 

For help building a vibrant and effective health advertising strategy for your brand, consider partnering with an expert healthcare marketing agency that knows the ins and outs of these policies and can resolve errant disapprovals that occasionally sometimes occur in this nuanced field.