Google Begins Testing Drug Ads in AI Search Tools
The testing is currently confined to the U.S. and to certain ad types.
Google this month has started testing advertisements for some pharmaceutical products, including branded prescription drugs, in certain areas of its search platform.
The tech giant confirmed the news to Adweek this week, with a spokesperson noting that the pharma ad tests will appear within the AI Overviews and conversational AI Mode features of Google Search.
The testing is reportedly confined to the U.S. and to standard text and Shopping ads, where they’ll be labeled as “sponsored.” For now, pharma ads aren’t eligible for other Google ad formats, and they’ll remain subject to the platform’s existing rules around prescription drug ads, which includes applying for location-specific certification by Google.
The expansion to pharmaceutical ads comes just a few months after Google first confirmed that it had begun testing healthcare-related ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode. That testing pool reportedly started small and was restricted to certain types of U.S. campaigns that didn’t require asset pinning or text disclaimers, such as the disclosures about risks and side effects required for highly regulated health and pharma products.
solli’s Final Thoughts
AI-powered search tools are increasingly becoming go-to sources for health-related research and queries by patients and doctors alike, making them prime real estate for health and pharma advertising.
A recent Eversana InTouch report analyzed 10,000 pharma-related keywords on Google Search and found that nearly 75% triggered an AI Overview, compared to 52% of the tested keywords a year prior.
Google’s move to begin testing pharma ads within its AI search offerings, therefore, was all but inevitable, and other AI search platforms are sure to follow sooner than later, as they continue building out their own advertising capabilities. The vastly popular ChatGPT, for example, has this year begun testing ads in its own platform, though regulated health and pharma advertisers currently remain barred from the tests.
