According to abortion and contraception provider MSI Australia, Google‘s new policy threatens its ability to reach consumers through advertising on Google searches. Providers will need to pay LegitScript to keep advertising in Google searches.
As reported in The Guardian, provider MSI said Google is forcing the organisation to pay thousands of dollars a year to third-party US company LegitScript to keep advertising its telehealth services in Google searches.
A new health and medicines policy unveiled by Google in May, effective in August, requires providers offering telemedicine services globally to be certified and comply with local laws. Providers in Australia will have to register with the Portland, Oregon-based certifications provider LegitScript to keep advertising their services.
MSI Australia’s managing director, Greg Johnson, is worried that the new Google policy will limit access to abortion and contraception services, especially for consumers based in regional areas due to MSI’s threatened ability to advertise its services.
“We already have extensive consumer protections in place through Australian regulatory bodies and quality assurance programs,” he said. “Google’s new policy just adds an expensive, opaque layer of red tape and will ultimately cause harm to people who need care,” said Johnson.
MSI said it would cost more than $4,700 in registration and annual fees but the price may vary. These fees are separate from the costs of advertising the services.
As reported in The Guardian, MSI has argued that forcing healthcare providers into expensive third-party verification with a US-based company ignores the regulations and inspections under Australian state and federal governments that MSI is subject to. It argued this puts an extra hurdle up in getting advertisements online.
MSI has experienced issues with advertising its services in Australia through Google in 2019 and 2022 over the wording of abortion services.
In 2022, the provider said that Google had prevented it from using Search ads. It also said that Google had placed a wide-ranging ban on advertising links to the MSI website.
According to The Guardian, Google might have misinterpreted mentions of medical abortions on the MSI Australia website as promoting abortion-inducing drugs despite the drugs themselves not being named on the site.
MSI’s director of clinical excellence, Dr Catriona Melville, said it was concerned the US-based company was making decisions influenced by the US political climate surrounding reproductive rights.
A spokesperson for Google said the policy covered all telemedicine ads and was not specific to abortion providers.
“This helps ensure that people can safely access these services while complying with relevant laws and industry standards,” the spokesperson said. “Many telemedicine providers in Australia and around the world have completed this certification process and are successfully running ads on our platforms”.
The spokesperson added that LegitScript was a globally recognised accreditation body used by companies around the world, and LegitScript’s expertise ensured Google’s user safety and advertiser compliance. There were no exceptions to the policy, the spokesperson said but added Google was working with MSI to clarify the policy and requirements.
