Healthcare websites, SEO and Google Ads for clinics, specialists and health brands
Google Ads for clinics and healthcare
Google Ads for healthcare works under tighter rules than most sectors. Google limits which health services can be advertised, where, and to which audiences, and your professional body limits what an ad may say. We manage Google Ads for clinics and practices within both sets of rules, and track the calls and bookings that result.
What Google restricts
Google's healthcare and medicines policy decides what a health advertiser may run. We checked it on 10 October 2026. It changes, so we check it again before each campaign is built. The main points for a clinic:
- The rules depend on the country an ad targets. Some content cannot be advertised at all, and other content is allowed only in certain locations for approved advertisers.
- Prescription drug terms are restricted in ad text, landing pages and keywords.
- Online pharmacies and telemedicine providers need certification. For South Africa, Google's policy requires online pharmacies to be registered with the South African Pharmacy Council and telemedicine providers to hold LegitScript certification, both must also be certified with Google, and prescription drugs cannot be promoted in ads or landing pages.
- Speculative or experimental medical treatments cannot be advertised. Cell and gene therapies are allowed only under a narrow United States exception.
- Drug and alcohol addiction services are restricted and need certification.
- Clinical trial recruitment, HIV home tests, birth control and fertility services, and abortion-related ads are each allowed only in some locations.
Google treats breaches of this policy as egregious and can suspend an account without warning. That is the reason to get the set-up right before the first ad runs.
Why remarketing is not available
Google's personalised advertising policy lists health as a sensitive interest category. It covers physical and mental health conditions, products and services that treat chronic conditions, and invasive procedures including cosmetic surgery and injections.
Advertisers in a sensitive category cannot use audiences they build themselves. That rules out:
- Customer Match, which means uploading a patient or enquiry list.
- Your data segments, which means remarketing to people who visited your website.
- Lookalike segments and audience expansion.
Location targeting, demographics and Google's own predefined audiences, such as in-market and affinity segments, remain available. In practice most clinic advertising is search advertising, where the patient's own search does the targeting.
How we build healthcare campaigns
- Search first. We build campaigns around the treatments and services you want more of, combined with the areas you draw patients from.
- Tight location targeting. Most patients will not travel far for routine care, so budget is kept to the area you serve.
- Factual ad copy. Ads state the service, the type of practitioner, the location and how to book. They avoid superlatives, guarantees and offers.
- A matching landing page. Each ad group points to the page for that treatment. Google reviews the destination as well as the ad, so the page wording matters as much as the ad wording.
- Call and booking tracking. Many patients phone the practice instead of filling in a form, so call tracking sits alongside form and booking tracking. See conversion tracking.
- No patient details in tracking. Google's policy prohibits sharing personally identifiable information with it through audience tags. We record that an enquiry happened, not what it said.
Your profession's rules and privacy law
Google's approval does not mean an ad meets your professional rules. In South Africa, the HPCSA's ethical rules require advertising that is not unprofessional, untruthful, deceptive or misleading, and prohibit canvassing and touting. They define touting as drawing attention to offers, guarantees or material benefits. We write ad copy with those limits in mind and send it to you for approval before it runs.
Privacy law applies to the enquiries ads produce: POPIA in South Africa, GDPR for patients in the UK and Europe, and HIPAA for covered entities in the United States. We can build landing pages and tracking to HIPAA requirements where needed, usually at extra cost because of the added infrastructure.
This is general information, not legal advice. We give guidelines only and make no warranty that a campaign or website will be compliant. The practitioner confirms the final rules with the HPCSA, their own regulator or their own legal counsel.
How the service works
Google Ads management is a monthly retainer based on scope. The account is set up in your practice's name, and Google bills ad spend directly to you. We report on calls, enquiries and bookings. The general service is described on our Google Ads page.
Ads bring patients while a campaign runs. Medical SEO builds the search presence that remains when it stops, and most practices benefit from both. Our wider sector work is in the healthcare overview.
To talk about advertising your practice, get in touch. Quotes follow an initial discussion.
Clients in healthcare & clinics
Questions
Questions about Google Ads for clinics and healthcare
Can't see yours? Ask Ryan directly and you'll get a straight answer, usually the same day.
Ask on WhatsAppCan a medical practice advertise on Google Ads?
Yes, in most cases. Google allows healthcare advertising within its healthcare and medicines policy, which restricts certain content and varies by country. Some services, such as online pharmacies and telemedicine, need certification before ads can run.
Can a clinic use remarketing on Google Ads?
Generally not for health services. Google lists health as a sensitive interest category, and advertisers in it cannot use Customer Match, their own website visitor segments, lookalike segments or audience expansion. Search, location and Google's predefined audiences remain available.
Can we mention prescription medicines in our ads?
Google restricts prescription drug terms in ad text, landing pages and keywords, and the detail depends on the country targeted. We check the current policy for your location and plan ad and page wording around it.
Will our ads comply with HPCSA rules?
We write ad copy with the HPCSA's published ethical rules in mind and send it to you for approval, but we make no warranty of compliance. The practitioner confirms the final rules with the HPCSA or their own legal counsel.
Who owns the Google Ads account and pays for the ads?
You do. The account is set up in your practice's name and Google bills ad spend directly to you. Our management is a separate monthly retainer based on scope.
How do you track which ads bring in patients?
We track calls, form enquiries and bookings as conversions. We record that an enquiry happened and which campaign it came from, and we keep the content of the enquiry out of advertising tools.
Start a project
Be the business they find first
Tell Ryan what you sell and who buys it. You'll get a straight answer on what's holding your website back and what to fix first. There's no obligation to go ahead.
More enquiries you can trace. You'll see which search, page or ad brought in each call, booking and form.
Higher in search results. On Google, in the map results and in AI answers, for the searches your customers make.
One person to talk to. Ryan answers on WhatsApp and sends a plain-language report on results every month.
