Short answer: In US campaigns, Google lets your ads and landing pages name Botox without certification, in line with local laws. Bidding on the drug name as a keyword needs certification. On Google, ads for injections also can’t use audiences you curate, such as your client list. On Meta, injectable treatments are cosmetic procedures for adults, and ads that promote a prescription drug follow stricter drug rules.
Before you read: This guide sums up the Google and Meta ad policies that cover Botox and other injectables at a med spa. It is general information, not legal advice: review your ads, pages and treatments with your attorney.
Botox is on Google’s prescription drug list
Google keeps a non-exhaustive list of the prescription drugs it monitors under its healthcare and medicines policy. Botox is on it, with botulinum toxin, Dysport and Xeomin, and so are semaglutide, tirzepatide, Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. Those terms are restricted in ads, landing pages and keywords.
Name the drug in the ad, not in your keywords
In campaigns that target the United States, Canada or New Zealand, Google allows prescription drug terms for promotional purposes, as long as you follow local laws and regulations.
You don’t need certification to use those terms in ads and landing pages. You do need it to keyword-target them.
Google gives online pharmacy, addiction services, telemedicine, health insurance and pharmaceutical manufacturer as examples of certification types. It also asks advertisers not to apply for a category that doesn’t match their business model.
In our view, a med spa that is none of these should keep drug names out of its keywords. Build them around the treatment area and the result, and name Botox in the ad and on the page.
Campaigns that target other countries can’t use prescription drug terms in ads or landing pages. There, Google permits only non-promotional uses, such as legal notices.
A page about the treatment is not an ad, so it can still answer the search for Botox. Our SEO for med spas service writes those treatment pages for the searches in your area.
Injection ads can’t use your own audiences on Google
Google’s policy on health in personalized advertising treats invasive medical procedures, including cosmetic surgery, surgical procedures or injections, as a sensitive interest category.
Ads in that category can’t use advertiser-curated audiences: Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments. Google says they may contain sensitive user signals by mistake.
Google now calls remarketing “your data”: ads for people who have interacted with your brand or services before. So a Botox ad can’t be aimed at the people who visited your Botox page.
Predefined Google audiences can be used, such as in-market segments, affinity segments, life events and location targeting, because Google removes the sensitive signals from them. Users under 18 aren’t eligible for personalized ads of any kind.
Our guide to Customer Match in Google Ads explains how to use your customer list in campaigns outside these categories.
On Meta, injectables are cosmetic procedures for adults
Meta’s health and wellness policy lists injectable treatments and dermal fillers among the cosmetic procedures advertisers can promote when they target people 18 years or older.
Meta also allows before and after transformation images in those ads, but no negative statements that attack how a person looks. Our guide to med spa marketing ideas covers those photos and how to keep the copy on the treatment rather than the viewer.
When a Meta ad promotes a prescription drug
Under Meta’s drugs and pharmaceuticals policy, advertisers actively certified with LegitScript can promote prescription drugs to people in the United States, Canada or New Zealand. They can only target countries where they are certified.
The advertisers it names are online pharmacies, telehealth providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and they must show they are appropriately licensed. Manufacturers can go through Meta’s internal review instead of LegitScript.
The audience must be 18 or older, and the advertiser must obtain authorization from Meta. The ads must also include a disclaimer to consult a licensed health professional or obtain a valid prescription.
Ads that educate about prescription drugs, or promote telehealth services generally, need no written authorization.
Meta’s pages don’t say when an ad for an injectable treatment counts as an ad for the drug. In our view, an ad about the treatment and the appointment, such as “Frown lines, appointments on Saturdays”, is safer than one that sells Botox by name.
If Meta rejects one of these ads, our Facebook ads policy guide covers your options and how to request another review.
Weight loss programs with semaglutide or tirzepatide
Meta requires every weight loss ad, for a product or a service, to target adults 18 and over. Those ads also can’t show a close up of a body area by pinching fat. Our guide to weight loss ads covers what a clinic can promise on Google and Meta.
When the product needs a prescription, Meta’s prescription drug rules apply.
On Google, the online prescribing, dispensing and sale of prescription drugs are restricted services. Google names telemedicine providers among the businesses this covers.
In the United States, Google allows telemedicine providers accredited by LegitScript, and they must also be certified with Google. Google errs on the side of caution with landing pages that appear to facilitate an online prescription.
In our view, if your program starts with an online visit that ends in a prescription, check these rules on both platforms before you advertise that page.
Google also counts products containing hCG for weight loss or weight control among the unapproved substances it doesn’t allow, regardless of any claims of legality.
Google’s unauthorized pharmacies policy doesn’t allow offering prescription drugs without a prescription. Google treats that as an egregious violation and suspends the account upon detection, without prior warning.
Our guide to a suspended Google Ads account explains why it happens and how to appeal.
How to set up a Botox campaign on Google and Meta
- Build your Google keywords around the treatment area and the result, with no drug names unless Google has certified you.
- Name Botox in the ad text and on the landing page, which Google allows in US campaigns without certification.
- Leave Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments out of every Google campaign for injections.
- Set the age of every Meta ad for an injectable treatment to 18 and up.
- Keep online prescriptions and drug sales out of your ads and pages until you have the certifications they need.
- When an ad is disapproved, read the policy named in the notice before you edit the ad or appeal.
Steps 2, 3 and 4 follow Google’s and Meta’s policies. Steps 1, 5 and 6 are our own advice, based on those rules.
Before an injectables campaign goes live
- No keyword names a prescription drug, unless Google has certified you.
- No Google campaign for injections uses Customer Match, your data segments or lookalike segments.
- Every Meta ad for an injectable reaches only people 18 and over.
- No ad or page offers a prescription drug without a prescription.
- No weight loss ad shows a close up of pinched fat.
- Any page that books an online visit ending in a prescription has been checked against the telemedicine rules.
RememberOn Google, name Botox in the ad and on the page, not in your keywords, and keep your own audiences out of injection campaigns. On Meta, injectable ads target adults, and an ad that promotes a prescription drug needs certification and Meta’s authorization.
Our marketing for med spas pairs Google Search campaigns, in an account in your name, with Facebook and Instagram ads that open a WhatsApp chat with you.
Questions about advertising Botox
Can a med spa bid on the keyword “botox” in Google Ads?
Only with certification from Google. In US campaigns, its restricted drug terms policy allows prescription drug terms in ads and landing pages without certification, but keyword-targeting them requires it. Botox is on the list of prescription drugs Google monitors.
Can I show Botox ads on Google to my client list?
No. Google’s policy on health in personalized advertising treats injections as a sensitive interest category. Those ads can’t use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match, your data segments or lookalike segments. Predefined Google audiences, such as in-market segments, can be used.
Does a Botox ad on Facebook need LegitScript certification?
For ads that promote prescription drugs, Meta asks for an active LegitScript certification and its authorization. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can use its internal review instead. Its health and wellness policy separately allows ads for injectable treatments shown to adults 18 and over. In our view, an ad about the treatment and the appointment is the safer choice.
Can I advertise semaglutide or tirzepatide at my med spa?
Both are on Google’s list of prescription drugs, so US campaigns can name them in ads and landing pages, but not in keywords without certification. If your program prescribes online, Google and Meta both ask for LegitScript certification plus their own approval.
Can I advertise hCG for weight loss on Google?
No. Google’s healthcare and medicines policy doesn’t allow the promotion of products containing hCG in relation to weight loss or weight control, regardless of any claims of legality. It lists them among unapproved substances, with products that contain ephedra.
Sources
Read on November 7, 2026. From Google’s Advertising Policies Help: Healthcare and medicines, Restricted drug terms, Prescription drug services, Prescription drugs and Health in personalized advertising. From Google Ads Help: About your data segments. From Meta’s Transparency Center: Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Health and Wellness. Also from our site: the marketing and SEO pages for med spas, plus the guides on med spa marketing ideas, Customer Match in Google Ads, a suspended Google Ads account and Facebook ads policy.