Google Suspends Addiction Treatment Ads – How Do You Compete On An Uneven Playing Field?

The perennial marketing question—how effective is your online marketing strategy?—has gotten a bit more complicated for addiction treatment provider organizations.

In September, Google embargoed addiction treatment search advertising in the U.S. after news articles reported fraudulent patient brokering and deceptive marketing practices—a move they expanded worldwide in January (see Google Suspends Addiction Treatment Referral Ads Worldwide).

Google’s ban is focused on specific practices of deceptive marketing, such as hijacking the names and reputations of notable addiction treatment provider organizations, and rerouting online searches and 1-800 number calls to “the highest bidder.” But the Addiction . . .