Choosing a marketing agency for a healthcare practice
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for a clinic or hospital, and why healthcare compliance knowledge should be a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have.
4 min read
Google restricts healthcare advertising more than most categories, and some types of healthcare business — online pharmacies and certain telehealth services among them — require advertiser verification before any ad can run. Building a campaign before checking this wastes time on ads that never go live.
What is generally allowed, with restrictions
- Appointment booking and clinic promotion, without specific outcome or cure claims.
- Educational content about conditions and treatments, kept factual and non-alarming.
- Location and service-area targeting for clinics and hospitals.
What routinely gets disapproved
Before-and-after imagery without proper disclaimers, guaranteed-result language, and ad copy implying diagnosis over an ad rather than an in-person consultation are common reasons for disapproval. Reviewing Google's healthcare and medicines policy before launch saves a frustrating cycle of rejected ads.
A disapproved ad campaign is not just a delay — the review cycle for healthcare category ads can take longer than for other industries.
Structuring campaigns that convert
Campaigns by department or condition (dermatology, dental, physiotherapy) rather than one broad 'hospital' campaign let you match ad copy and landing pages to a specific search intent, and measure which department actually brings appointments worth the spend.
The takeaway
Check Google's healthcare advertiser verification requirements for your specific category before building a single campaign — some require certification before ads run at all.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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