The Australian abortion and contraception provider MSI says Google is forcing the organisation to pay thousands of dollars a year to a third-party US company to keep advertising its telehealth services in Google search.
Under a new health and medicines policy introduced by Google in May, providers offering telemedicine services globally must be certified and comply with local laws. From August providers in Australia will be required to register with the Portland, Oregon-based certifications provider LegitScript to keep advertising their services.
MSI said it would cost more than $4,700 in registration and annual fees but the price may vary. These fees are separate to the costs of advertising the services.
The organisation 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.
The managing director of MSI Australia, Greg Johnson, said access to abortion and contraception services would be threatened if MSI could not advertise telehealth services, particularly to those based in regional areas.
“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.”
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.
“We believe that Australian healthcare policy should be determined by Australians, not by the political landscape of another country.”
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 said LegitScript was a globally recognised accreditation body used by companies around the world, and Google relied on LegitScript’s expertise to ensure 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.
LegitScript’s senior communications manager, David Khalaf, said the company’s goal is to make the internet safer and more transparent by protecting consumers from the online sale of fraud and violative products.
“By partnering with companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and TikTok, our Healthcare Merchant Certification program ensures that pharmacies and telemedicine companies advertising on these platforms have demonstrated compliance and are operating within all laws and regulations of their applicable jurisdiction,” he said.
MSI has previously experienced issues with advertising its services in Australia through Google in 2019 and 2022 over the wording of abortion services.
MSI Ghana also reported in March that its use of the term “pregnancy options” had fallen afoul of Google’s ad policy in the country. Google denied this, arguing that the ads may have been rejected for targeting people based on sensitive health categories such as pregnancy.
