Google Ads suspended your telehealth account: what to do first

If Google Ads suspended your telehealth account, read the suspension email first. It names each policy behind the suspension, and that policy sets your route. Billing pauses and warning-based policies come with steps to fix them. Unauthorized pharmacies and circumventing systems are egregious, so appeal only with proof that Google got it wrong. Fix everything, then file one appeal.

Policy checked on October 29, 2026.

• If the notice names a payment issue (suspicious payment activity, unpaid balance, chargeback, promo code): answer Google’s payment questions, verify the card or pay, then appeal if the account is still suspended.
• If it names a warning or strike policy (Unapproved substances, Prescription drug services): fix or remove every violating ad and page, then acknowledge or appeal.
• If it names an egregious policy (Promotion of unauthorized pharmacies, Circumventing systems, Unacceptable business practices): appeal only if it’s a mistake, with documents for licensing, certification and business identity.

One disapproved ad in a running account is not a suspension; that route is in Google Ads telemedicine certification.

Which Google Ads suspension a telehealth account got

Telehealth Google Ads suspensions fall into three groups: egregious policies with no warning, policies that warn at least 7 days before suspending, and billing pauses. Google’s overview says egregious violations bring suspension “immediately without prior warning,” while for repeat violations “this notification will be sent at least 7 days before a suspension action.”

Google says “all ads in the suspended account will stop running.” The account goes read-only: you can still pay, download reports, appeal and verify.

Suspended for promotion of unauthorized pharmacies

Google Ads treats promotion of unauthorized pharmacies as egregious, so the account is suspended “upon detection and without prior warning.” Google forbids two things: “Offering prescription drugs without a prescription” and “Targeting locations where you are not licensed.”

For a GLP-1 telehealth brand, check the second line first: compare campaign location targeting with the states where your clinicians hold licenses. Then check that landing pages show a clinical visit before any prescription. Google’s Prescription drug services policy says it “errs on the side of caution” with “landing pages that link or refer to content that in any way appears to be or to facilitate the online prescription, dispensation, or sale of medicines.”

Google may look beyond the ad: “your ad, website, accounts, and third-party sources.” In the appeal, show the fixed targeting, your licensed states, your Google telemedicine certification and the LegitScript certification behind it.

Suspended for circumventing systems

Google Ads defines circumventing systems as “practices that circumvent or interfere with Google’s advertising systems and processes, or attempting to do so.” It is egregious, with the same no-warning suspension as unauthorized pharmacies.

Examples that touch telehealth accounts:

• Missing certification across accounts: “Using several accounts, either gradually or all at once, to promote products or services for which you lack the necessary Google Ads certifications.”
• Disapproved content spread out: “Spreading ads that violate Google Ads’ policies across 2 or more accounts.”
• Cloaking: showing Google a compliant landing page while people see something else. Google allows language or offer differences “but the promoted product or service needs to be the same for everyone.”
• Click trackers and redirects: fine “as long as you’re not doing these things to try to hide” a policy violation.
• False verification information: “Submitting false information as part of our verification programs.”

In the appeal, Google asks you to explain “why you have multiple accounts” or “why you were showing different content to Google than to other people,” and the steps you took, such as “removing redirections or getting certified to advertise restricted content.” Google also notes that hacked sites can get cloaking content “added without you knowing,” so run a security check first.

Unapproved pharmaceuticals and substances on a GLP-1 account

Google’s Unapproved substances policy warns before it suspends: “Google will issue a warning at least 7 days before suspending your account.” It sits in the strike system, so repeated violations bring a 3-day hold, then a 7-day hold, then suspension.

The product types it bans that a GLP-1 or weight-loss account can hit:

• “Products that imply they are as effective as prescription drugs or controlled substances”
• “Products containing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in relation to weight loss or weight control”
• “Herbal and dietary supplements with active pharmaceutical or dangerous ingredients”
• “Products that have been subject to any government or regulatory action or warning”

Google’s non-exhaustive list of unapproved pharmaceuticals and supplements is heavy on slimming capsules and teas. For which GLP-1 ad lines trip which rule, see Google Ads healthcare policy for GLP-1. Inside the warning window, edit or remove the ads, or appeal the ad decision.

Suspended for suspicious payment activity or another billing reason

Google Ads can suspend or pause an account for 4 billing reasons: “Promotional code abuse,” “Requesting a chargeback,” “Suspicious payment activity” and “Unpaid balance.” When Google asks you to confirm a payment method or pay, “the account is not suspended.”

For a suspicious payment pause:

1. An admin selects Answer questions in the in-account notification and completes the payment-history form.
2. If asked, confirm your card. Google makes “a temporary $1.95 charge” that holds a 6-digit code in your card’s transaction history.
3. If asked, make the payment Google requests.

Only admins can clear it. Google says you’ll get a decision “within 5 business days” after the questions, or “within 2 business days” after you submit the code. For a billing suspension appeal, Google may ask you to verify your payment method “within 30 days” before it reviews the appeal.

Google Ads advertiser verification failed or required before you can appeal

Google Ads may require advertiser verification before it hears an appeal. Google says selected advertisers “must complete advertiser verification successfully to appeal their account suspension,” and “If Google isn’t able to verify their identity after 3 attempts, they won’t be allowed to appeal.”

What to know before you upload:

• Advertisers on monthly invoicing “are not required to complete Advertiser verification and may directly appeal” (Google, September 2023 update).
• Google wants the “entire document, including all four corners,” readable and without glare. “Uploading photos or documents other than what is requested may result in account suspension.”

If a task shows an issue, Google says it “couldn’t verify your information,” often because of “a mismatch between the provided organization name and the documents, expired documents, or documents missing key information.” Resubmit the documents in your Google Ads account.

How to appeal a Google Ads suspension

Google’s official appeal route runs through the notification in your account:

1. Understand. List every ad and website in violation, “including paused ads and ads that aren’t disapproved.”
2. Fix all of it. Edit or remove each disapproved ad. Some policies “may require changes to your actual business practices.”
3. Check related accounts. Google says all “linked (or previously linked) and all related accounts” must comply first.
4. Verify if Google asked.
5. Appeal. Select Contact Us in the notification at the top of the account to open the appeal form. File a separate appeal for each suspended account.
6. Wait. Status shows “Appeal pending” and the outcome comes by email. If rejected, you can re-appeal.

Send one appeal at a time: on misuse, Google “will suspend processing of certain appeals for 7 days.” Google says “We only reinstate accounts in compelling circumstances, such as in the case of a mistake,” so be “thorough, accurate, and honest.”

On other accounts, Google warns that “any new accounts that the advertiser tries to create may also be suspended,” and “We highly recommend that advertisers reinstate all the suspended ads accounts first, before attempting to create new accounts.”

How long a Google Ads suspension and appeal take

A Google Ads suspension “is considered permanent unless the appeal is submitted and the account is successfully reinstated.” Other steps have a clock:

Google’s 2025 Ads Safety Report (April 16, 2026) says Gemini “helped us reduce incorrect advertiser suspensions by 80% last year” and that Google “suspended 24.9 million accounts” in 2025. On speed, PPC Land reported on November 14, 2025 that Keerat Sharma, Google’s VP and General Manager of Ads Privacy and Safety, said “99% of advertiser appeals” are “now resolved within 24 hours.”

Telehealth checklist before you press Contact Us

Check these on a suspended GLP-1 account before you submit:

• Every location targeted matches a state where your clinicians are licensed.
• Landing pages show a clinical visit before any prescription, with no “order now” next to a drug name and price.
• Google telemedicine certification is active on this child account, not only on the manager account. LegitScript certification is current.
• No supplement or “GLP-1 drops” style product implies it works like a prescription drug.
• Redirects and click trackers send everyone, including Google, to the same page.
• Verification documents are current, complete and match the organization name you entered.
• One appeal per account, written as facts and documents.

Meta’s version of this problem has its own routes: see Meta ad account disabled for telehealth.

FAQ

Why does my Google Ads account keep getting suspended?

Usually a strike-based or linked-account issue. Under the strike system, a third violation of the same policy within 90 days of the second suspends the account. A suspension can also spread to accounts tied to it.

Can a GLP-1 brand advertise on Google again after an unauthorized-pharmacies suspension?

Only through a successful appeal. Google’s policy says “You will not be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again,” and “Accounts are only reinstated in compelling circumstances.”