A W.

So Google will not allow medical providers to advertise through their AdWords account unless the medical provider (in my case, who is already in compliance with state & federal law, and who operates with a verifiable NPI #) pays this company which I have never heard of before $1500 for "Certification" to run ads online as a medical provider.

At first, they began flagging my account for no reason: "Speculative and experimental medical treatment," were applied to tried and true procedures which are routine in our office. Not "Certified" to advertise in Sweden, Argentina, etc. when all I wanted was to advertise within a 50 mile radius of my office.

Then, when I called and requested that my ads be reviewed, I was informed that the only way to ensure that this doesn't happen again was to purchase LegitScript certification. This is basically a bribe so that your account doesn't get flagged by the major advertisers.

If it isn't a bribe, consider this: why wouldn't Google or Facebook just request legitimate medical providers to provide their state-issued NPI # or their medical license #? This would mean that the company is already in compliance with the government.

Instead, these tech companies made this LegitScript company up as a scam to defraud American medical providers.

As someone who runs my AdWords account for less than a few thousand a year, this additional $1500 start-up fee, plus a $1000 annual fee is prohibitively expensive.

I'll just allocate my online marketing budget for some billboards next year instead...

P.S. I should mention that I did try calling Legit Script to investigate our options with them. There was no answer during normal business hours, and no way to leave a voicemail. So, if that is not a "front" for a scam, then I don't know what is.