Ichnos · industry survey
Can you advertise sti testing and sexual health?
Yes — in 34 places we have confirmed, out of 339examined. Not on the major platforms: sexual health sits inside the platforms' restricted-content rules, so clinical services are moderated with the same brush as adult content.
That is a fact about the platform’s category rules, not a finding about any business in it. The audience has not gone anywhere — it simply gathers somewhere the ad platforms do not sell access to. Each of the 34 says so in its own words, on its own page, and we quote the sentence — so the answer is checkable rather than asserted.
- Places found
- Publications, associations, forums and directories where this industry’s own language is actually spoken.
- Confirmed open
- These say in their own words that an outsider may take part. We quote the sentence, so you can judge it rather than take ours.
- You can simply buy
- Advertising, sponsored placement or event presence — a budget and a decision, not an application.
- Worth, per year
- Estimated value of the placement you could buy here. Banded from what each destination offers — not from rate cards we do not hold.
What these places let an outsider do
Almost none of it is guest posting. For an industry that cannot buy ads on the major platforms, an advertising page on a trade publication is not a lesser option — it is the channel.
Why the ordinary channels are closed
Most categories are locked out by one of these. STI testing and sexual health carries both.
Refused outright by the ad platforms
The category is prohibited in policy, so there is no application, no certification and no appeal that opens it. Accounts that run it anyway are usually terminated rather than paused, and a terminated account takes its payment method, its pixel history and often the business manager with it.
Restricted by a regulator, not just a platform
A public body governs what may be claimed, to whom, and with what disclosure. This one does not go away by changing channel — the same rules apply to a trade publication, a conference talk and a mailing. What changes off-platform is that the channel will actually carry the message once it is compliant.
Where to start, and why in this order
Ordered by what you can act on soonest, not by what we found most of. A route that takes a rate card and a date beats one that takes a relationship, when the question is what to do on Monday.
- 1Buy advertising 14 places
14 of the 34 open destinations in sti testing and sexual health sell placement outright, which makes this the fastest route in the category: there is nothing to negotiate and nobody to persuade, only a rate card and a date. 14 is enough to test two or three and keep the ones that return, but not enough to treat as a channel on its own.
- 2Place sponsored content 3 places
Slower and more expensive than a banner, and worth more: it carries the publication's context rather than sitting beside it. 3 destinations in sti testing and sexual health will take it. Disclosure is mandatory and is not a drawback — an audience that knows what it is reading trusts the publication that told them, which in a category the platforms have already refused is worth more than the impression.
- 3Sponsor or exhibit 14 places
The most expensive route and often the highest intent, because the people in the room chose to be there. STI testing and sexual health has 14 destinations selling event presence. Book the prospectus early; in a trade calendar this size the good slots go a long way ahead.
- 4Join as a member 10 places
Slowest to pay off and hardest for a competitor to replicate. 10 bodies accept members from sti testing and sexual health, and membership usually unlocks the newsletter, the directory and the event at member rates — so treat each one as the key to three routes rather than as one on its own. In a category the platforms refuse, standing is the asset that cannot be switched off by a policy change.
- 5Contribute an article 4 places
Requires something to say that somebody working in sti testing and sexual health would not already know. 4 destinations accept contributed articles. Where it works it works well: a contributed piece carries a byline and a link and stays indexed for years, which is the one form of presence here that appreciates.
Start with these — free, no account
14 of the confirmed-open destinations for sti testing and sexual health accept outside participation without charging for it. No budget, no ad account, no permission from a platform. Open any one and look for the way in.
- United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA)nmac.orgJoin as a member
“Become a Member today and join us in the fight to END HIV.”nmac.org, read this year
- Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP)amp.orgJoin as a member
“ Learn More Become a Member Be a part of the premier international community for molecular professionals.”amp.org, read this year
- Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of Americashea-online.orgJoin as a member
“Learn more … Become a Member Event SHEA Spring SHEA Spring is the premier conference for professionals in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship.”shea-online.org, read this year
- A2LA Accreditation Programsa2la.orgJoin as a member
“Although membership is not a requirement for accreditation, we strongly encourage all A2LA-accredited organizations to become members to have a stronger voice in the organization and receive additional membership benefits.”a2la.org, read this year
- Maryland Public Health Associationmdpha.orgJoin as a member
“MdPHA remains dedicated to increasing health equity for Marylanders through advocacy and community collaborations. Read more » Become a member!”mdpha.org, read this year
- The STI Project Podcastthestiproject.comContribute an article
“To request a media kit and to learn about sponsoring a podcast or an interview, submitting a guest post, hiring Jenelle as a brand ambassador, or our quarterly blog sponsorships, please use The STI Project’s Contact Form.”thestiproject.com, read this year
- Annual Clinical & Scientific Meetingannualmeeting.acog.orgContribute an article
“To learn more about this opportunity, please refer to the submission guidelines.”annualmeeting.acog.org, read this year
- Public Health Conference of Iowaiowapha.orgJoin as a member
“Become a Member! We are an organization of public health professionals and organizations.”iowapha.org, read this year
- British Association for Sexual Health and HIVbashh.orgJoin as a member
“Find Out More Become a Member of BASHH There are currently approximately 1,000 members of BASHH, making it the largest such organisation in the world.”bashh.org, read this year
- Lab Managerlabmanager.comContribute an article
“Before pitching us an idea, please see our contributor guidelines below: Contributed articles Contributed content must fall within one of Lab Manager ’s coverage categories and be relevant for our readers.”labmanager.com, read this year
- PH SPOTlight Podcastphspot.orgContribute an article
- Clinical and Laboratory Standards Instituteclsi.orgJoin as a member
- Indiana Public Health Association Annual Conferenceinpha.orgJoin as a member
- Human Rights Campaign All Children - All Families Agency Tiershrc.orgJoin as a member
A further 31 destinations sell access outright — advertising, sponsored placement or event presence. Those need a budget and a decision rather than an application, and they come with the rate-card route and the sentence from each destination’s own policy page in the paid map.
Get the sti testing and sexual health map
Every one of the 34 confirmed-open places, with what each lets you do and the sentence on their own site that says so. One industry, one payment, delivered as a file you keep. See a sample map first — it is a real one, with the identities withheld after the first three in each section.
A map is a dated reading, and policies move. Kept current is $997 a year — the same map plus quarterly re-verification of every route in it and the log of what opened, closed or changed terms in sti testing and sexual health. Agencies running several restricted categories take every industry for $2,997 a year. Compare all four.
Questions people in this category actually ask
Answered plainly, including the one where the honest answer is “don’t”.
Why was my sti testing and sexual health ad account banned or rejected?
Almost always for the category rather than for anything specific to your business. The major platforms apply their rules to sti testing and sexual health as a class, so a licensed, compliant operator is refused on the same footing as one that is not. It is a fact about their category rules, not a finding about you — which is also why appealing rarely works: there is nothing about your individual account to reconsider.
Can I get around it with a second account or a different sti testing and sexual health business name?
Do not. This is the advice most readily available elsewhere and it is the advice that ends businesses. Platforms link accounts by payment method, device, IP, business registration and staff logins; a second account discovered is usually a permanent termination of everything connected to it, rather than the suspension you started with. It is a particularly bad trade in sti testing and sexual health, where 34 destinations already publish a way in and 31 of them will take your money today — you would be risking the business to avoid an afternoon's work. The route out of a category ban is a different channel, not a different login.
Where can sti testing and sexual health advertise instead?
Where the industry already gathers. We have mapped 339 such places — trade publications, associations, professional forums and directories — and 34 of them publish a way in for outside businesses, read off their own pages and quoted. 31 of those sell advertising, sponsored placement or event presence outright, which means a budget and a decision rather than an application.
Is this just a list of sti testing and sexual health websites?
No, and the difference is the whole product. A list of places your audience gathers is a reading list. What makes it a map is the permission column: for each place, whether it publishes a way in, what kind, and the sentence on their own site that says so. We read 339 destinations serving sti testing and sexual health to find the 34 that say yes — and the 305 that say nothing either way are the reason a list is not enough. Anyone can assemble the list; the reading is the work.
Industries in the same position
Shut out the same way sti testing and sexual health is — same kind of refusal, so the same shape of answer.
How this was assembled
Learn the language
The vocabulary this industry uses among itself — its regulators, licences, statutes and trade bodies. Say them correctly and you are inside the trade.
Find where it is spoken
The publications, associations and forums where that vocabulary actually appears. Not where an audience might be — where its language demonstrably is.
Check the way in
Whether each place accepts anything from outside, read from its own advertising or submissions page and quoted verbatim.