# Google tests pharmaceutical ads in AI Mode and AI Overviews

Published: 2026-10-13T12:05:20.655Z · Source: Adweek (https://www.adweek.com/media/google-opens-ai-mode-to-prescription-drug-ads/)
Source date: 2026-10-12
Entities: google, ai-mode, ai-overviews

Google has begun testing ads for certain pharmaceutical products, including prescription drugs, within AI Mode and AI Overviews, a Google spokesperson confirmed to Adweek. The test, limited to the U.S. and underway this month, lets advertisers with Google's pharmaceutical certification run standard text and Shopping ads labeled "Sponsored"; Google had kept healthcare ads, along with finance and gambling, out of its AI surfaces until a narrower test open to select healthcare advertisers began in June. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz said he could not independently locate any live pharma ads in AI Mode or AI Overviews and that Google told him there had been no recent policy change.

Why it matters: It's the first regulated ad category Google has let into its AI answer surfaces after months of keeping sensitive verticals out, a sign of how far Google will extend AI Mode and AI Overviews monetization.

## What this answers

**Does Google show pharmaceutical ads in AI Mode or AI Overviews?**

Yes — Google began testing ads for certain pharmaceutical products, including prescription drugs, within AI Mode and AI Overviews this month, limited to the U.S., a Google spokesperson confirmed to Adweek.

**Did Google always allow healthcare ads in its AI search surfaces?**

No — Google had excluded healthcare ads, along with finance and gambling, from AI Mode and AI Overviews until a narrower test open to select healthcare advertisers began in June 2026, per Adweek.


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