Google Ads is tightening enforcement around prescription drug terms across ads, keywords, and landing pages, with enforcement beginning October 29 and ramping over 4–6 weeks, including seven‑day warnings before suspensions. In the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand, advertisers must be certified to keyword‑target Rx terms, while most promotion is banned in the rest of the world aside from narrow exceptions. The update will likely cause stricter reviews, more disapprovals, and spillover that can affect non‑health advertisers, especially those using broad or phrase match or with medical language on landing pages. The post advises contractors and other non‑Rx advertisers to tighten match types, expand negative lists, clean landing page copy, set alerts, appeal calmly with evidence, segment edge cases, and obtain certification if Rx targeting is truly needed.

Google’s New Rx Ad Crackdown: What It Means, What Breaks, and How Contractors Stay Clean

TL;DR Google Ads will restrict prescription drug terms across ads, keywords, and landing pages starting October 29, rolling out over 4–6 weeks. Certification is required in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand to keyword-target Rx terms; broader bans apply elsewhere. Expect stricter enforcement, more disapprovals, and potential spillover. Even if you’re HVAC/plumbing/electrical, tighten your keyword matches, negatives, and landing page language to protect lead flow.

What Changed (and When)

Google Ads is rolling out a new policy that clamps down on prescription drug terms in ads, keywords, and landing pages. Enforcement starts October 29 with a four to six-week ramp. Translation: the hammer won’t drop all at once, but it’s coming. If Google believes you’re abusing the rules, they’ll issue a seven-day warning before any account suspension.

Who Can Advertise and Where

• U.S., Canada, New Zealand: Promoting prescription drugs is allowed if you comply with local laws, but you must be certified to keyword-target prescription-related terms. This net covers online pharmacies, telemedicine, and pharma manufacturers.
• Rest of World: Promotion is largely banned, with narrow exceptions for non-promotional uses like public health notices and academic research. Certified entities may be allowed to keyword-target within those exceptions.

Bottom line: if your business touches Rx, expect paperwork, process, and fewer shortcuts. If it doesn’t, keep reading—there’s still impact.

Market Impact You’ll Actually Feel

• Healthcare marketers: Certification becomes table stakes. No cert, no Rx targeting.
• Legal advertisers (mass tort, pharma-adjacent): Prepare for turbulence and more disapprovals.
• Everyone else: Increased compliance overhead and stricter review tooling. Expect more flags, slower approvals, and possible false positives—especially if you rely on broad or phrase match.

I’ve done this long enough to know: when Google tightens a sensitive category, the filters get edgy. That means spillover. Overly broad matching plus soft compliance language on your site can trip policies you didn’t intend to flirt with.

Why Contractors Should Care (Even If You Don’t Sell Pills)

You sell service calls, not prescriptions. Still, this update matters because enforcement tools don’t always draw perfect lines:

• Broad/phrase match creep: If you’re lazy with match types, your queries can wander into medical territory. One weird query string can trigger disapprovals, stall approvals, or throttle delivery.
• Landing page language: Hiring pages with medical benefits, wellness claims, or policy text might set off filters. Keep it factual and avoid Rx-specific terms unless necessary.
• Lead flow risk: Disapprovals = downtime. Downtime = fewer calls. Calls pay the techs; clicks don’t.

This is a reminder to run a tight ship: exact where it counts, negatives where it saves your bacon, and clean content on pages tied to campaigns.

Practical Moves I Recommend

• Audit match types now: Pull Search Terms from the past 60–90 days. Nuke any medical-adjacent queries. Tighten to exact on core money keywords (emergency hvac repair, water heater install, panel upgrade). Phrase is fine if your negatives are airtight.
• Expand negative lists: Add obvious medical terms: prescription, drug, medication, pharmacy, telehealth, treatment, dosage, side effects, pill, opioid. Share at the account level.
• Scan landing pages: Review pages used in ads—home, service, financing, coupons, hiring. Strip unnecessary medical phrasing. If you mention employee benefits, avoid Rx-specific details.
• Set alerts and rules: Use automated rules or scripts to email you on any disapproval. The faster you respond, the less revenue you lose.
• Appeal with receipts: If flagged incorrectly, submit an appeal with simple, factual notes and a screenshot of compliant content. Don’t rant. Win the reversal and move on.
• Segment risky areas: Put anything “edge-case” into its own campaign with controlled keywords and tighter content. That way, one hiccup doesn’t take your whole account down.
• If you actually need Rx terms: Get certified yesterday. The ramp will clog support queues.

What I Expect Next