ORLANDO, FL — (September 15, 2017) — Google has set restrictions on paid advertising through their Adwords platform for advertisements related to many drug and alcohol rehabilitation services. Details have still not been officially released by Google; however, certain keywords and keyword combinations are now restricted from triggering ads on Search and YouTube Search.
“We fully support the actions of Google to protect consumers from unscrupulous companies looking to take advantage of this highly vulnerable population. It is time consumers are provided with transparent and truthful information to appropriately identify high-quality addiction treatment providers. We are hopeful this signals the end of deceptive marketing in our industry,” said George Fischer, Marketing Director for Advanced Recovery Systems, who is responsible for Advanced Recovery Systems’ network of websites including The Recovery Village.
A Google representative confirmed to Advanced Recovery Systems that a decision was made to restrict ads targeting people using specific rehab related queries. According to the Google support representative, “The growing opioid crisis in the US has uncovered the complexity of the rehab services industry and the high risk of user harm by questionable players who are profiting from rehab services promoted via AdWords. In the interest of user protection, we have decided to take immediate measures while we further research the industry. As a first step, we’ll be restricting ads traffic for certain rehab-related user queries (starting with Search and YouTube Search). We are however looking into more robust, nuanced, and scalable means to ensure user protection while allowing good service providers to promote their business.”
About Advanced Recovery Systems (ARS)
Advanced Recovery Systems is an integrated behavioral healthcare management company dedicated to the treatment of addiction, substance abuse, eating disorders and mental health issues. ARS’ network of treatment centers includes The Recovery Village Umatilla (Umatilla, Florida), The Recovery Village Palmer Lake (Palmer Lake, Colorado), The Recovery Village Ridgefield (Ridgefield, Washington), The Recovery Village Columbus (Groveport, Ohio), Orlando Recovery Center (Orlando, Florida), Next Generation Village (Sebring, Florida), The IAFF Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery (Upper Marlboro, Maryland), and Blue Horizon Eating Disorder Services (Winter Park, Florida). ARS also manages three locations of Next Step Village (Maitland and Eustis, Florida), recovery residences for individuals looking for supportive, transitional living opportunities. For more information, visit www.AdvancedRecoverySystems.com.
Behavioral Health Network Resources has seen a negitive result of these restrictions at our Addiction Executive Ethical Rehab Marketing conferences..
Many of the centers in Florida are struggling with their rehab marketing efforts. They have relyed upon Google Adwords to sustain their addiction tretment centers. Now, they are starting to realize their rehab marketing plan leads [Top 7 Mistakes]. And, again they are seeking a short-term solution to their long-term problem of generating enough clients to sustain themselves. They need to find long-term solutions, to their long term problem like ranking on page one of Google organically.