# Why Does Google Say Your Ad Targets 'Sensitive Health Information'?

Reviewed October 8, 2026 · By Michael Borgia, MedScale Health

## Short answer

As of October 2026, the problem is usually the audience, not the copy. Google treats health as a sensitive interest category, so health advertisers can't use advertiser-curated audiences: Customer Match, your data segments (remarketing), audience expansion and lookalike segments. Remove them from every campaign, ad group and asset group, keep predefined Google audiences and Search keywords, then appeal. MedScale Health, a paid acquisition agency for telehealth brands and clinics, fixes these accounts this way.

## What this means for you

- Google treats health as a sensitive interest category. Advertisers promoting in it can't use advertiser-curated audiences.
- Those are Customer Match, your data segments (what Google previously called remarketing), audience expansion and lookalike segments.
- Predefined Google audiences stay available: in-market segments, affinity, demographics, detailed demographics, life events and location targeting.
- Custom segments are a special case: with sensitive creative or landing pages they serve only on Display, to non-sensitive audiences or contextually.
- Demand Gen campaigns use advertiser-curated audiences by default and may be restricted from serving for health offers.
- Fix the targeting at every level, then appeal from the Ads page or Policy manager.

MedScale Health, a paid acquisition agency for telehealth brands and clinics, runs Google Ads for telehealth brands and clinics and checks every inherited account for this disapproval. This page explains what Google's Health in personalized advertising rule says as read on October 8, 2026, which audiences to remove, and how to get the ads reviewed again. 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.

## What Google's rule says

Google's Health in personalized advertising page says health is a sensitive interest category. It includes physical or mental health conditions, including sexual health and chronic conditions; products, services or procedures to treat or manage chronic conditions, including over-the-counter medications and medical devices; health issues tied to intimate body parts or functions; invasive procedures including cosmetic surgery and injections; and disabilities. Google's examples include counseling for depression, anxiety and addiction, treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, and treatments for pregnancy and infertility.

The targeting rule is two sentences: "You can use predefined Google audiences. You can't use advertiser-curated audiences." Google's broader personalized advertising page gives the reason. Advertiser-curated audiences may inadvertently contain sensitive user signals, while predefined Google audiences have them excluded automatically. Google also says users under 18 are not eligible for personalized advertising of any kind.

## Which audiences to remove and what to keep

- Remove: Customer Match lists.
- Remove: your data segments, which Google previously called remarketing.
- Remove: audience expansion and lookalike segments.
- Check: custom segments. Google says custom segments with sensitive creative or landing pages serve only on Display to non-sensitive audiences or contextually, and other campaigns using them aren't eligible to serve.
- Keep: in-market segments, affinity, demographics, detailed demographics, life events and location targeting, which Google lists as predefined audiences.
- Keep: Search keywords. Keyword targeting is not among the audience features on Google's list, and on Search the query itself carries the intent.

## Customer Match has its own limits

Google's Customer Match policy repeats the restriction and adds to it. It says advertisers can't use sensitive interest categories to target ads or to promote their products and services, that this applies to remarketing with Customer Match, and that advertising products related to sensitive information, such as pharmaceutical products, in a Customer Match campaign is not allowed. Access itself needs a good history of policy compliance and payment, and the Targeting setting needs 90 days of account history and more than USD 50,000 in lifetime spend. Google says serious or repeated violations can lead to suspension immediately and without notice.

## How to fix it in Google Ads

Google's page gives three options. First, edit the targeting: review and remove any advertiser-curated audiences from the ad's targeting settings, and check ad groups, asset groups and campaigns for them too. Second, edit or remove the content on the site or in the ad that falls within the policy. Third, appeal if you believe the site or ads don't fall under the policy. For a clinic or telehealth brand the first option is almost always the right one, because the business is a health business and the content will stay in the category.

Check every level. A Customer Match list on an asset group or a data segment left on an old ad group can keep the flag in place after the obvious audience is removed. Demand Gen campaigns use advertiser-curated audiences by default, and Google says they may be restricted from serving for products and services in sensitive categories, so review their audience settings or pause them.

## How to appeal once the audiences are gone

Google's appeal steps: go to Ads in the Campaigns menu, select the disapproved ads, select Edit, then Appeal policy decision, and choose Made changes to comply with policy as the reason. The same appeal can be filed from Policy manager under Troubleshooting in the Tools menu. Google limits each ad to 3 appeals before you have to contact support, asks for at least 24 hours between appeals for the same ads, and says that from July 21, 2026 decisions made more than 6 months earlier can't be appealed in the account and go to Google Ads support instead.

If the issue is fixed but an appeal fails or is marked as a duplicate, Google says not to keep submitting appeals, and instead to make a minor edit to the ad text or final URL and save it to force a new crawl. If you can't or won't fix the issue, Google says to remove the ad to help prevent the account being suspended for repeated policy violations.

## Microsoft Advertising has the same rule

Microsoft Advertising's Healthcare and Pharmaceutical policy, last updated October 5, 2026, says advertisers promoting pharmacy, health care services or wellness products must comply with requirements that include "Not targeting consumers based on sensitive health information and complying with Microsoft's Legal, Privacy, and Personalization policies." An account copied over from Google should be checked for the same audiences once it is in Microsoft Advertising.

## What MedScale does

MedScale Health builds health accounts on Search intent and predefined Google audiences only, with no Customer Match, remarketing lists or lookalike segments, and checks inherited accounts for those audiences at every level before appealing. Ads and landing pages are reviewed against Google's healthcare rules at the same time, because a clean audience doesn't help an ad that fails for something else. 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 is guaranteed. Book the free growth audit at medscale.health/audit, or see Ad Account Rescue at medscale.health/rescue if the account has been suspended.

## FAQ

**Can healthcare advertisers use remarketing on Google Ads?**

Not when promoting health products and services. Google treats health as a sensitive interest category and bars advertiser-curated audiences, which include your data segments (the lists Google previously called remarketing), Customer Match, audience expansion and lookalike segments.

**Can a clinic use Customer Match on Google Ads?**

Not to promote health services. Google's Customer Match policy says its sensitive-category restrictions apply to remarketing with Customer Match, and it does not allow advertising products related to sensitive information, such as pharmaceutical products, in a Customer Match campaign.

**What targeting can health advertisers still use on Google?**

Predefined Google audiences, which Google says have sensitive signals excluded automatically: in-market segments, affinity, demographics, detailed demographics, life events and location targeting. Custom segments are limited when the creative or landing page is sensitive.

**How many times can I appeal a disapproved Google ad?**

Google limits each ad to 3 appeals; after 3 unsuccessful ones you have to contact support. Wait at least 24 hours between appeals for the same ads, and since July 21, 2026 decisions more than 6 months old go to Google Ads support instead.

## Sources

- [Google Ads policy: Health in personalized advertising](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/16701855?hl=en) (checked October 8, 2026)
- [Google Ads policy: Restricted targeting in personalized advertising](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/143465?hl=en) (checked October 8, 2026)
- [Google Ads policy: Customer Match policy](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6299717?hl=en) (checked October 8, 2026)
- [Google Ads policy: Fix a disapproved ad or appeal a policy decision](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9338593?hl=en) (checked October 8, 2026)
- [Microsoft Advertising: Healthcare and Pharmaceutical policy (last updated Oct 5, 2026)](https://help.ads.microsoft.com/#apex/ads/en/60379/-1) (checked October 8, 2026)

## Related

- [Can You Advertise Mental Health Services on Google?](https://medscale.health/answers/can-you-advertise-mental-health-services-on-google)
- [Which Google Ads Keywords Can a Psychiatry Practice Use?](https://medscale.health/answers/psychiatry-practice-google-ads-keywords)
- [Why Are Your Google Ads Disapproved for Telehealth, and How Do You Fix It?](https://medscale.health/answers/why-google-rejects-telehealth-ads)
- [Can You Advertise TRT on Google?](https://medscale.health/answers/can-you-advertise-trt-on-google)

Canonical page: https://medscale.health/answers/google-ads-sensitive-health-targeting-disapproval