Key takeaways
- Google's policies bar ads that promote THC products, accessories marketed for cannabis use, and services that facilitate that use.
- Check each offer against the policy in writing before any spend, and never reword a barred offer to get it approved.
- Paid budget usually goes to menu-platform placements and owned channels, tracked to new customers in your POS.
- Judge every dollar on cost per first-time customer and on how many of them come back.
Google Ads for a dispensary are mostly off the table. Google's dangerous products policy bars ads for recreational drugs, including THC products, accessories marketed for using them, and services that facilitate that use (Google's policy). What remains is narrow. We check it first, then put most of a paid budget where cannabis is allowed, and track every dollar to first-time customers.
When Google Ads pay off for cannabis dispensaries
They rarely pay off for THC retail, and you should hear that before anyone charges you a management fee. Here is how the usual offers fare:
| What you might advertise | Can it run on Google Ads? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Flower, edibles, vapes, concentrates or deals on them | No | The dangerous products policy bars promoting recreational drugs |
| Pipes, papers and accessories sold for cannabis use | Generally no | The same policy covers products marketed for recreational drug use |
| The store itself, by name | Don't count on it | The policy also covers businesses that facilitate recreational drug use, and the ad would lead to your menu |
| Hemp-derived CBD products | Only in narrow cases | Google's health care policy allows certain CBD products in a few places, with certification (Google's health care policy) |
Ads also have to follow the law everywhere they show (Google's legal requirements policy), and your state's cannabis advertising rules apply on top. Rewording an ad to get a THC offer past review is the wrong move. Repeated violations can get the account suspended, and then every campaign in it stops, including any that were fully compliant.
So the real question is where a dispensary's paid budget should go, and how to know it worked.
How a tracked Google Ads campaign connects
- A high-intent search Words that name a service you sell
- Your ad Matches the words they used
- Landing page One service, one action
- Call or form Tracked by campaign
- Booked new customer Recorded against the ad
Bookings guide the next round of bidding
Campaign setup we use
- A policy check before any spend. We list your offers and record, in writing, which ones Google allows. For most dispensaries that list is short or empty.
- Narrow Google campaigns only where an offer qualifies, written to policy, with a landing page reviewed before launch.
- Menu and directory placements, measured. A unique link or deal code for each placement, so the POS shows which one brought a first visit.
- Cannabis-focused ad networks where your state allows them. Many states limit where cannabis ads can appear and who must be in the audience, so your compliance lead signs off on every placement.
- Owned channels carrying the offers. Loyalty, email and opted-in texts announce deals and drops, and no ad policy can switch them off.
- One landing page per offer. The landing page guide for dispensaries covers how we build them.
- Tracking into your POS, so spend is matched to first-time customers and their return visits.
Budget and tracking
Budget for paid placements the way you would judge a new hire: by the customers they bring and what those customers are worth over time.
An example with round, made-up numbers. Say $1,000 a month of menu-platform placements brings 25 first-time customers your POS can trace, which is $40 each. If 8 of them join loyalty and come back twice a month, those 8 alone make 16 visits a month from then on. Judged on the first ticket, $40 may look expensive. Judged on repeat visits, it may not be.
That sum only works if the tracking exists:
- A source on every new customer in the POS or loyalty platform: a placement code, a link tag or a "how did you hear about us" field at check-in.
- Online pre-orders recorded as conversions with their source (Google's conversion tracking help covers the setup where Google campaigns qualify).
- A monthly report of first-time customers, cost per first-time customer, and how many came back within 60 days, by channel.
Time the spend to your season. Push placements and list messages weeks before 4/20, the holidays and big product drops, because customers choose where to shop before the day arrives.
How it works
- Assess. We review what you spend on visibility, your ad account and its policy history, and how new customers are recorded at check-in.
- Prioritize. We rank channels by cost per first-time customer and set launch dates ahead of 4/20 and holiday weekends.
- Execute. We set up placements, pages and tracking in accounts you own, and your compliance lead approves each one.
- Measure. We report first-time customers and repeat visits by channel each month, and move budget toward what brings regulars.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We tell you what Google will and won't run before you spend a dollar, then manage the paid channels that do accept cannabis as projects with outcomes and dates, in accounts you own. We report in first-time customers and repeat visits, not clicks. Search still does most of the work for dispensaries, so the SEO guide for dispensaries is the companion to this page. Book a growth consultation and bring last quarter's placement invoices.
Sources
- Dangerous products or services policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- Healthcare and medicines policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- Legal requirements policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- About conversion measurement, Google Ads Help