"Behind digital ads, automated systems determine which health topics are promoted-and which are suppressed-reshaping access for women's health startups. getty Women are healthcare power users. They seek care more frequently, spend more, and make most household health decisions. Yet many startups building products for menopause, fertility, postpartum recovery, and sexual health struggle to reach customers at all. The problem isn't demand.It isn't clinical legitimacy.And it isn't a lack of innovation. It's advertising."
"Across major digital platforms, women's health companies are running into a quiet but consequential barrier: automated ad systems that routinely block medically accurate products and education as "adult," "sexual," or "sensitive," even when comparable men's health ads are allowed to run freely. The result is a market where startups can build credible solutions but can't reliably inform patients that they exist."
Automated advertising systems on major digital platforms frequently classify medically accurate women's health products and education as "adult," "sexual," or "sensitive," preventing these ads from running. Women are primary healthcare decision-makers and seek care often, yet startups focused on menopause, fertility, postpartum recovery, pelvic health, and sexual pain struggle to reach customers. These restrictions persist despite regulatory clearance, clinical validation, and consumer demand. Platforms' automated brand-safety optimizations suppress common, medical topics, creating a marketplace where credible solutions cannot reliably inform patients. Investigations, including a 2025 Center for Intimacy Justice report, document widespread suppression across Meta, TikTok, Amazon, and Google.
Read at Forbes
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