Beyond Google and Meta
When Google Ads and Meta are scaled and you need the next channel, these are the digital health ad platforms we reach for: programmatic display, connected TV, audio (podcast) ads, Reddit, LinkedIn, Bing, and Nextdoor. All on the same HIPAA-compliant pipeline.
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In one line: Matchnode runs the digital health ad platforms brands reach for after Google and Meta: programmatic display on The Trade Desk, MNTN, StackAdapt, and Yahoo DSP, connected TV on Hulu and Netflix, audio (podcast) ads, Reddit, LinkedIn, Microsoft Advertising on Bing, and Nextdoor, with ChatGPT Ads on the way. All plug into the same HIPAA-compliant tracking foundation.
Matchnode runs paid media for digital health, telehealth, and digital therapeutic brands. Google Ads and Meta are the anchors of most programs, but once those are scaled, the next lift usually comes from a second tier of digital health ad platforms: programmatic display across multiple DSPs, connected TV on Hulu and Netflix, audio (podcast) ads, Reddit for community-driven health conversations, LinkedIn for B2B, Microsoft Ads on Bing, and Nextdoor for neighborhood-level awareness. ChatGPT Ads is on our short list as the platform opens to advertisers.
Platforms we run: Programmatic display, CTV, audio (podcast) ads, Reddit, LinkedIn, Bing, Nextdoor.
Who it is for: Digital health, telehealth, digital therapeutics, and healthcare brands ready to scale past Google and Meta.
Partners and seats: The Trade Desk as primary programmatic DSP, with MNTN, StackAdapt, and Yahoo DSP as companion seats. Direct seats and managed service for the rest.
What clients get: A channel plan that picks the right next platform for the brand, with signal that flows back into the core program.
Google Ads and paid social usually have the highest ceiling for a digital health program. Before we add a platform from this page, we want the core working: conversion signal is clean, creative is producing winners, and the server-side pipeline is stable. Layering more platforms on a noisy foundation tends to spread the budget thinner and add complexity without adding growth.
Once the core is stable, there are three common reasons to add a platform from this list. First, audience fit: LinkedIn for a B2B digital health product, Reddit for a category with active community discussion, Nextdoor for a hyper-local service footprint. Second, inventory access: CTV and audio reach patients who do not see your Google or Meta ads because of category gating or creative format. Third, signal diversification: Bing reaches a demographic tilt Google underrepresents, and programmatic display on The Trade Desk opens up inventory and measurement Google and Meta do not expose.
The rule of thumbWe only add a platform when we can name the specific audience, inventory, or signal it unlocks that the existing channels cannot reach. If we cannot name that reason, we do not add the platform.
The Trade Desk is the independent demand-side platform we use to run display and video across the open web, outside of Google and Meta. It gives us access to publisher-direct inventory, private marketplaces, and measurement tools that the walled gardens do not expose.
For digital health brands, programmatic display is usually a retargeting and awareness layer first. It reaches patients who visited the site but did not convert, reinforces brand on high-quality health and news publishers, and supports CTV and audio buys on the same platform.
Good fit: Brands with a meaningful site-visitor cookie pool, a category where open-web publisher context matters (health, wellness, news), or a need to run CTV and audio through one platform.
Skip it if: You are still in the early scale phase on Google Ads and Meta, or you do not yet have a clean HIPAA-compliant pipeline for retargeting audiences.
MNTN. A performance-first CTV DSP with built-in direct-response measurement. We reach for MNTN when the brand wants CTV to act like a performance channel, not just an awareness layer.
StackAdapt. Display, native, video, CTV, audio, and DOOH under a single platform. We use StackAdapt when a client wants multi-channel programmatic consolidated into one buy and one report.
Yahoo DSP. Publisher-direct access to Yahoo, AOL, and partner inventory, plus identity and contextual tools. We use Yahoo DSP when that first-party data environment is the right fit for the audience.
Connected TV puts your video creative in front of patients who are streaming on Hulu, Netflix with ads, Peacock, Disney Plus, Roku, and smaller ad-supported services. It reaches households that are no longer watching linear TV, with digital-grade targeting and measurement.
We buy CTV primarily through The Trade Desk and through direct platform integrations where it makes sense. Targeting can be household-level, content-level, or audience-based, and measurement runs through the same server-side pipeline as the rest of the program.
Good fit: Brands with strong video creative (or budget to produce it), an audience where household-level targeting matters, or a need to build awareness at a scale Google and Meta cannot fully reach.
Skip it if: You do not have broadcast-ready video assets yet, or your category is tightly regulated in ways that limit creative approval on premium publishers.
Audio ads run inside podcasts, streaming radio, and music services like Spotify and iHeart. It reaches listeners during focused attention moments (commutes, workouts, chores) when other ad formats are not competing for the screen.
We currently run this for a client in the digital health category, pairing podcast genre targeting with retargeting on The Trade Desk. Host-read vs. produced spot decisions are a creative question we work through with the brand, with measurement stitched into the same conversion pipeline as display and search.
Good fit: Brands with a 30- or 60-second audio story worth telling, a category with obvious podcast genre affinity (mental health, fitness, chronic condition management), or a desire to complement CTV awareness buys.
Skip it if: Your offer requires complex visual explanation, or you do not have a clear measurement plan for audio-driven conversions.
Reddit is where patients go to talk candidly about health conditions, treatment options, and provider experiences. For certain digital health categories, it is the highest-signal audience environment outside of Google search: people are there to ask questions and compare notes, not to passively scroll.
We run Reddit ads against subreddit-level targeting, interest-based targeting, and custom keyword targeting. Conversation ads (promoted posts that invite replies) and video work better than classic display formats, because the creative has to feel at home in a text-first community.
Good fit: Digital health categories with active subreddit communities (weight management, mental health, chronic conditions, hormone health), brands with a tone that can show up conversationally, or anyone looking for audience insight beyond keyword data.
Skip it if: Your category is sensitive in ways that will attract hostile community feedback, or you do not have creative flexibility to match Reddit native style.
LinkedIn is the platform for digital health brands selling to providers, payers, employers, benefits brokers, HR leaders, and other B2B buyers. The targeting depth on job title, company, seniority, industry, and skills is not replicated on Meta or Google, which is why LinkedIn shows up in almost every B2B digital health plan we build.
We run LinkedIn against account lists (ABM), job-title and industry cuts, and lookalikes off the client CRM. Single image, video, and document ads work in different parts of the funnel; lead gen forms and Sponsored Messaging are the formats we test alongside site traffic campaigns for longer sales cycles.
Good fit: B2B digital health brands (enterprise benefits, provider network tools, payer-facing platforms), brands hiring providers at scale, or DTC brands with a secondary enterprise motion.
Skip it if: Your primary buyer is a consumer patient reachable on Google or Meta, and you do not have a B2B layer that justifies LinkedIn CPMs.
Microsoft Ads runs Search on Bing, Yahoo, and AOL, plus native placements on MSN and a growing retail network. The Bing audience tilts older and higher-income than Google, and for some digital health categories (Medicare, chronic condition management, hormone health) that skew actually reaches more converting patients per dollar than Google does.
Setup is straightforward because Microsoft Ads imports campaigns directly from Google. The value is not in building from scratch, it is in running a tuned Microsoft variant alongside Google and letting the cost-per-acquisition math show which channel deserves which share of the budget.
Good fit: Any digital health brand already running Google Search for keywords where Bing inventory exists. Especially strong fit for categories skewing 45 and up, Medicare-adjacent, or B2B.
Skip it if: Your target patient population is under 30 and mobile-first, or your Google Search spend is too small to justify the ongoing management overhead of a second search platform.
Nextdoor reaches verified residents inside specific neighborhoods, which is a targeting cut no other platform offers at the same granularity. For healthcare brands with a physical footprint (clinics, in-home services, hybrid telehealth-plus-in-person models), it is a way to drive awareness and foot traffic at the ZIP code level.
Creative has to feel local and trustworthy. Nextdoor users have higher baseline skepticism than most feed environments, so the ads that perform tend to look like community updates rather than polished brand spots.
Good fit: Brands with a multi-market physical footprint, in-home care or hybrid care models, or services gated to a specific geography where neighborhood-level awareness matters.
Skip it if: You are a pure national DTC telehealth brand with no local footprint, or your patient does not trust neighbor-style endorsements for the category you are in.
OpenAI is opening ChatGPT to advertisers, and Matchnode is on the short list for early access. ChatGPT is not a DSP and does not slot next to The Trade Desk. It is a new category: an intent-heavy conversational surface where patients ask questions about conditions, treatments, and options before they ever reach Google.
We are preparing measurement, creative, and compliance playbooks now so our digital health clients are ready to test on day one. When the platform opens, we will add a full platform card here with our point of view on fit, creative, and measurement.
We do not run all of these platforms for every client. We pick one or two at a time, run them against a specific hypothesis, and only expand if the signal comes back clean. The table below is the quick cheat sheet we use when a client asks what to try next.
| Best For | Typical Role | Creative Lift | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Desk | Open-web display, video, CTV, and audio in one DSP | Primary programmatic DSP | Medium (display and video) |
| MNTN | Performance-minded CTV with direct-response measurement | CTV with DR expectations | High (broadcast-grade video) |
| StackAdapt | Multi-channel programmatic (display, native, CTV, audio, DOOH) | One-stack alternative to Trade Desk | Medium (cross-format) |
| Yahoo DSP | Yahoo, AOL, and partner inventory with first-party identity | Publisher-direct complement | Medium (display and video) |
| Connected TV | Brands with video creative and a scaling awareness need | Top-funnel awareness (Hulu, Netflix) | High (broadcast-grade video) |
| Audio (Podcast) Ads | Categories with obvious podcast affinity | Mid-funnel complement to CTV | Medium (30 or 60 second spot) |
| Community-driven health categories | Consideration and insight | Medium (native-feel posts) | |
| B2B digital health and provider recruiting | B2B pipeline | Medium (single image, video, docs) | |
| Bing | Older-skewing or Medicare-adjacent search audiences | Search diversification | Low (imports from Google) |
| Nextdoor | Local and hybrid healthcare footprints | Hyper-local awareness | Low to medium (community-style) |
| ChatGPT | Intent-heavy conversational search moments (coming soon) | New AI conversational surface | TBD (platform in preview) |
The same server-side pipeline, CAPI, and CDP that power your Google Ads and paid social program also power every platform on this page. One technical build, consistent measurement, no duplicated effort per channel. The foundation is documented on our Technical Services page.
Google Premier Partner running Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, and AI Max for digital health brands.
Read more →Meta, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok paid programs. Feeds creative winners into Google and programmatic, on the same tracking foundation.
Read more →Server-side tracking, HIPAA-compliant CAPI, and the CDP foundation every program on this page runs on top of.
Read more →Once Google Ads and paid social are tuned, scaled, and producing clean conversion signal. Before that, adding channels usually dilutes the budget without adding measurable growth. The exception is when there is a specific audience or inventory gap the core channels cannot close (for example, a B2B digital health buyer who lives on LinkedIn), in which case a smaller dedicated platform can launch earlier.
We do not run all four for every client, we match the DSP to the job. The Trade Desk is the default for most open-web display, video, and CTV buys because of the inventory depth and measurement. MNTN is the pick when CTV needs to act like a performance channel with direct-response measurement. StackAdapt is the pick when a client wants display, native, CTV, audio, and DOOH consolidated in one stack. Yahoo DSP is the pick when the Yahoo and AOL publisher environment or Yahoo identity tools are the specific unlock. The tracking pipeline behind them is shared, so switching or adding a DSP is a platform decision, not a rebuild.
OpenAI has started previewing ad experiences inside ChatGPT, and the platform is opening to advertisers in phases. Matchnode is on the short list for early access. In the meantime, we are building the measurement, creative, and compliance playbook so that digital health clients can test on day one rather than catch up six months in. When ChatGPT Ads opens broadly, we will add a full platform card here with our point of view on fit, format, and measurement.
It depends on the stage and the creative. CTV is an awareness and consideration layer, not a lower-funnel conversion channel. Brands that already have broadcast-grade video assets and a scaling need past what Google and Meta can reach tend to get real lift. Brands with no video assets or an unproven offer tend to burn CTV budget on impressions without a clean way to measure what changed.
It can, with the right expectations. Audio is usually a mid-funnel complement (often paired with CTV) rather than a direct-response channel. We measure it through the same server-side pipeline as the rest of the program, with conversion windows scoped to what is reasonable for an audio-driven touch. We are currently running this for a digital health client in production, and the economics work when the creative and measurement plan are dialed in.
It works in the right categories with the right tone. Reddit communities discussing mental health, chronic conditions, hormone health, and weight management are some of the highest-signal audiences on the internet: they are there to compare notes and ask real questions. The ads that perform feel like they belong in the conversation. The ads that flop feel like a billboard dropped into a group chat. Matching the platform tone is the whole game.
Whenever there is a B2B motion: selling to employers, benefits brokers, payers, providers, or hospital systems. LinkedIn targeting on job title, company, industry, and seniority is not replicated elsewhere, which is why it shows up in almost every B2B digital health plan we build. For pure DTC patient-acquisition brands with no B2B layer, LinkedIn CPMs usually do not pencil.
Often yes, for two reasons. One, the Bing audience skews older and higher-income, which is a strong fit for Medicare-adjacent, chronic condition, and hormone health categories. Two, setup is cheap because Microsoft Ads imports directly from Google. If Google Search is already working, running a tuned Microsoft variant in parallel is usually a modest lift that pays back. If your patient audience is under 30 and mobile-first, the math is different.
Good for hyper-local healthcare footprints: multi-market clinics, in-home care services, hybrid telehealth-plus-in-person models. The neighborhood-level targeting is not replicated anywhere else. Not good for pure national DTC telehealth where the patient could be anywhere. Also not good when the creative cannot adapt to a community-update tone; polished brand spots tend to get ignored or flagged.
Yes. Every digital health ad platform on this page plugs into the same server-side pipeline, conversion API, and CDP that power the rest of the program. One technical foundation, every channel, aligned with HHS HIPAA guidance. See the full Technical Services page for the compliance detail.
We name the specific audience, inventory, or signal the platform unlocks that Google and Meta cannot reach. If we can name it, we run a scoped test against that hypothesis with its own measurement plan. If we cannot name it, we do not add the platform. The table in the How We Decide section is the cheat sheet we start from, but the real decision is always anchored to the specific brand, offer, and stage.
If your Google Ads and paid social program is already scaled and you are looking for the next channel to test, let’s talk. We will look at your data, your creative inventory, and your patient audience, and scope the platform that is most likely to pay back next.
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