Can You Advertise ED and Hair Loss Treatment on Google?

What this means for you

• Online ED and hair loss brands that prescribe are prescription drug services under Google's policy. They need LegitScript Healthcare Merchant Certification and then Google's own certification before ads serve.
• In-person clinics can name sildenafil, tadalafil or finasteride in US ad text and on landing pages without certification. Keywords that contain those names need certification.
• Sexual health and conditions of intimate body functions are sensitive health content. Remarketing lists, customer match and lookalikes are off.
• Copy that reads as sexual enhancement risks Google's sexual content policy, where sexual enhancers are a restricted category with narrower serving.
• Topical finasteride is compounded, not FDA-approved. The FDA says there is no FDA-approved topical formulation of finasteride.

MedScale Health, a paid acquisition agency for telehealth brands and clinics, runs Google Search for men's health brands and clinics that treat erectile dysfunction and hair loss. This page sets out which Google policies apply to each model, what the ads can say and bid on, and the claims that end campaigns. This page is marketing guidance, not medical or legal advice. Platform policies change, so check the sources listed at the end before acting on a specific rule.

Gate 1: online prescribing needs certification

Google restricts the promotion of services related to the online prescribing, dispensing and sale of prescription drugs, and names online pharmacies and telemedicine providers among the businesses covered. Google judges scope from the ads, the site and the services on offer, and errs on the side of caution with landing pages that appear to facilitate online prescribing. An ED or hair loss brand whose site runs an online consultation and ships treatment is in scope.

For the United States, Google allows telemedicine providers accredited through LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification Program, and the advertiser must also be certified by Google before those ads serve. Google warns against applying for a certification category that does not match the business model, and asks for the application at the child account level with the certified domain.

Gate 2: drug names in the ad versus in the keyword

Google's restricted drug terms policy for campaigns targeting the United States, Canada or New Zealand lets advertisers use prescription drug terms for promotional purposes, in line with local law: "While you don't need to be certified in order to use prescription drug terms in ads and landing pages, you must be certified in order to keyword-target these terms." Telemedicine providers and online pharmacies need certification regardless.

Google's non-exhaustive list of monitored prescription drugs includes sildenafil, tadalafil and finasteride, along with brand names such as Viagra, Cialis and Propecia. Only approved advertisers may bid on keywords containing those terms. Condition phrases such as "hair loss treatment" or "erectile dysfunction clinic" contain no drug name, so an in-person clinic can bid on them while certification is pending, and keep the drug names for the ad text and the landing page.

Sexual health is a sensitive audience category

Google's personalized advertising policy treats health as a sensitive interest category. Its definition includes physical health conditions "including diseases, sexual health", "any health issues associated with intimate body parts or functions, including genital, bowel, or urinary health", and invasive procedures including cosmetic surgery. ED falls under the first two, hair restoration surgery under the third, and prescription medication content is a sensitive category of its own under restricted drug terms.

Advertisers promoting in a sensitive category can't use customer match, your data segments, audience expansion or lookalike segments. Predefined Google audiences such as in-market and affinity remain available, and nobody under 18 is eligible for personalized ads. Run the account on keywords and location, and never upload a customer list.

Keep ED copy clinical

Google's sexual content policy lists sexual merchandise, meaning "sale of merchandise that's intended to enhance sexual activity", with sexual enhancers as an example, among its moderately restricted categories. Those ads serve only according to the user's age, local laws and SafeSearch settings. Sexually suggestive language and imagery is restricted the same way. An ED ad written about performance or pleasure invites that classification. One written about a licensed provider, an online visit, a treatment plan and the price keeps the account inside the healthcare policies, where certification answers the question.

Hair loss: compounded formulas and supplements

In April 2025 the FDA warned about compounded topical finasteride. It said there is no FDA-approved topical formulation of finasteride, that compounded topical products do not have FDA-approved labeling, and that it is aware of compounders and telemedicine platforms marketing topical finasteride alone or combined with minoxidil. Any ad or page that names it should call it compounded, not FDA-approved, and never imply it is the same as the approved oral tablets.

Google's unapproved substances policy applies whatever the certification. It bars products that have been subject to any government or regulatory action or warning, products that imply they are as effective as prescription drugs, and herbal and dietary supplements with active pharmaceutical ingredients. Treat a compounded topical finasteride ad as one Google may refuse even for a certified advertiser, and keep "works like finasteride" supplement claims out of the account entirely.

What still gets rejected

• Online ED or hair loss ads that run before LegitScript and Google certification are both in place.
• Keywords containing sildenafil, tadalafil, finasteride or their brand names, bid on without certification.
• Pages that sell treatment without a prescription step. Google treats that as an unauthorized pharmacy, an egregious violation that suspends the account on detection, without prior warning.
• Supplements pitched as working like a prescription drug.
• Remarketing lists and customer match in health campaigns.

What MedScale does

MedScale Health builds Google accounts for ED and hair loss brands around the model. In-person clinics get condition-intent campaigns and compliant landing pages that can run now, with drug-term keywords added once certified. Telehealth brands get LegitScript certification help and the Google application first, with service-layer Meta campaigns carrying demand in the meantime. Every ad and page is pre-checked before it ships. MedScale tracks server-side under a BAA with neutral event names, and no names, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses or browser IDs go to any ad platform. No approval or result is guaranteed. Start with the free growth audit at medscale.health/audit.