In short: Advertising medical services, medicines, financial and insurance products goes through extra rules on Google and Meta: certification, advertiser verification, restricted targeting and required information on the landing page. Ads are often rejected because of a missed step, not because of the message itself. Plan the checks, the sign-off and the approval time before the campaign. This article is not legal advice: for the legal requirements in your sector, speak to a lawyer.
Why do ads in regulated industries get rejected?
Advertising platforms apply two layers of rules. The first is the law in the country where the ad is shown. The second is the platform’s own policy, which is often stricter than the law and is enforced automatically. An ad that is perfectly legal can still be rejected because it does not meet Google’s or Meta’s policies.
The common reasons are predictable:
- Missing certification or verification: the advertiser has not completed the required process for its category.
- Words the platform restricts: for example, names of prescription medicines in the ad, the keywords or on the landing page.
- An incomplete landing page: the address, fees or other information the platform requires are missing.
- Prohibited targeting: using audiences that are not allowed for the category.
- Promises of results: claims of a certain treatment outcome or of sure returns on an investment.
The good news is that almost everything on this list can be checked before launch. We also describe the general approach for sectors where messages go through rules in the section on industries with regulated advertising.
What applies to medical services and medicines?
As of September 2026, Google Ads’ healthcare and medicines policy includes the following:
- Prescription drug services: online pharmacies and telemedicine providers must apply to show ads, and requirements vary by country.
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers: they may advertise prescription and over-the-counter medicines in selected countries only, and only once certified by Google.
- Restricted drug terms: Google restricts the use of prescription drug names in ads, on landing pages and in keywords.
- No prescription: offering prescription medicines without a prescription is not allowed and is treated as an egregious violation that leads to account suspension.
- Experimental treatments: promoting speculative and experimental medical treatments is not allowed.
Google states explicitly that advertisers are expected to know the local law in every country their ads target. We describe what marketing medicines looks like within these limits on the page on pharmaceutical marketing.
What the Bulgarian law says
National law comes before platform policy. Article 190(2) of the Bulgarian Health Act states that medical specialists and medical establishments may not use commercial advertising for their activity, while the Medical Establishments Act requires the types of activity and the prices to be published. For a dental clinic, a medical centre or a laboratory this means a different approach: content that explains the service, the procedure, the team, the prices and how to book, rather than advertising promises and comparisons. This article is general information, not legal advice, so consult a lawyer about a specific campaign.
There is also a restriction that often surprises clinics. Health is one of the sensitive interest categories in Google’s personalised advertising policy. If you advertise in such a category, you cannot use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match and lists of site visitors for retargeting. Before planning a campaign that relies on showing ads again to past visitors, check whether this is allowed for your messages at all.
If the restriction applies to your ads, for a dental clinic it means campaigns built mainly around searches and location rather than bringing back people who have already visited the site. We describe how this looks in practice on the page on marketing for dental clinics.
ScaleLab tip: Separate the pages on your site into informational and advertising pages. The ad should lead to a page that describes the service, the procedure and how to book, with no promises of results and no prescription drug names.
What applies to finance and insurance?
Financial services face two separate sets of requirements in Google Ads.
The first is information on the landing page. Google requires the physical address of the business offering the product and all associated fees to be clearly visible. For personal loans, it also requires the minimum and maximum repayment period, the maximum annual percentage rate (APR) and a representative example of the total cost.
The second is advertiser verification. On 23 June 2026 Google announced new verification requirements for financial services advertisers in 24 European countries, Bulgaria among them, with rolling enforcement from 23 July 2026. They cover banking, credit cards, credit and loans, investment, brokerage, bonds, commodities and futures trading, and insurance. Verification goes through Google’s partner G2 and requires you to show that the relevant financial regulator authorises your activity. An advertiser who has received a notification and does not complete verification by the stated deadline cannot show financial services ads in the countries concerned.
On Meta, ads for financial products and services fall under a Special Ad Category. When ads reach certain European countries, Meta limits or removes some targeting options: age, gender, postcode, exclusion targeting, lookalike audiences and saved audiences. Ads may be rejected if the correct category is not selected.
You will find more on marketing these products on the page on finance and insurance.
When does an ad become a social issue ad?
The EU regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising has applied since 10 October 2025. Meta stopped political, electoral and social issue ads in the EU from 6 October 2025, and according to Meta’s latest information such ads are not delivered in the EU.
What does this mean for regulated industries? A campaign that touches on a matter of public interest, such as public health, access to education or a change in legislation, may be judged a social issue ad and stopped. Frame your message around your service and its benefit, not around a position on a public issue.
What changes with AI Overviews?
According to Google’s help page as of September 2026, ads inside AI Overviews are shown in English only in 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia and India, and are not shown in Europe. Ads above and below AI Overviews run in all markets where AI Overviews appear.
For sensitive verticals such as finance and healthcare, Google does not show ads inside AI Overviews. If those ads do reach Europe in future, regulated industries will probably keep relying on the classic search ad positions. That is our assessment, not a decision Google has announced.
How should you plan messages, pages and approvals?
1. Establish the category before anything else
Check each platform’s policies to see which category your ads fall into and what steps it requires: certification, verification, a special ad category. These processes take time, so start them before you prepare the ads. Run the same check before you test new channels such as advertising in ChatGPT.
2. Build the landing page to the rules
Check that the page contains everything required: company details, fees, terms, licences. Remove promises of results and any wording the platform restricts.
3. Get the messages signed off
Review the copy against the rules of the sector and the advertising channel, and leave final approval to the lawyer or responsible person in your organisation. If you use automatically generated copy in Google Ads or Meta, set guidelines and review what is produced. Our article on the obligations under the AI Act explains when AI content also has to be labelled.
4. Plan targeting around the restrictions
If retargeting or age targeting is not allowed, build the campaign around searches, location and content rather than audiences.
5. Allow time and have a fallback
Add time for verification and approval to the campaign schedule. Prepare backup ad variants in case one is rejected.
| Sector | What to check before launch |
|---|---|
| Pharma | Google certification, restricted drug terms, countries where ads are allowed |
| Medical and dental services | Promises of results, the ban on advertiser-curated audiences |
| Finance and insurance | Advertiser verification, address and fees on the page, Meta special ad category |
| Education | Accurate claims about qualifications and outcomes, topics that could count as social issues |
ScaleLab tip: Keep a spreadsheet of every rejected ad, the reason and the change that got it approved. After a few months it becomes your internal handbook and saves weeks on the next campaign.
What should you do now?
Do not launch until you have checked the category, the landing page and the targeting. Remember that this article describes platform policies as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Policies change, so check the current versions and consult a lawyer on the legal requirements.
For regulated sectors, we recommend checking the category and landing page before setting the budget, building time for sign-off into the plan, and reporting by cost per enquiry after launch. In paid advertising work, the website and measurement are also checked before the first paid visit, and channels are compared by cost per enquiry.
Frequently asked questions
Can a dental clinic use retargeting in Google Ads?
Health is one of the sensitive interest categories in Google’s personalised advertising policy. If your ads fall into that category, you cannot use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match and site visitor lists. Check the policy for your specific messages before planning such a campaign.
Does a financial services company need verification to advertise on Google?
For many financial services, yes. From 23 July 2026 Google has been rolling out a verification requirement in 24 European countries, including Bulgaria, covering banking, loans, investment, insurance and more. Without completed verification, an advertiser who has received a notification cannot show financial services ads.
Can I advertise prescription medicines?
Google allows this only in selected countries and only for certified manufacturers. Offering prescription medicines without a prescription is not allowed. The law of the country concerned also applies, so check the requirements with a lawyer.
Why does Meta stop my ad when it is not political?
Since October 2025 Meta has not allowed social issue, electoral or political ads in the EU. If your message touches on a matter of public interest, it may be judged to be such an ad. Frame it around your service and its benefit.
Is this legal advice?
No. This article describes advertising platform policies as of September 2026. For the legal requirements in your sector, speak to a lawyer or the responsible person in your organisation.
Sources
- Google Ads: Healthcare and medicines policy
- Google Ads: Restricted targeting in personalized advertising
- Google Ads: Financial services policy
- Google Ads: New verification requirements for certain financial services advertisers (23 June 2026)
- Google Ads: About ads in AI Overviews
- Meta: How to choose a Special Ad Category
- Meta: Ending political, electoral and social issue advertising in the EU
- Ministry of Health: Health Act, article 190(2) (in Bulgarian)