Google’s search monopoly complicates a mental health crisis
It looks like the main reason the ads price for therapy went up is the extra competition - that COVID making the therapy market from in-person to virtual creates the supply to be not constrained by distance, which means suppliers have to compete across greater pool of suppliers, including therapists from cheaper cost of living areas. This naturally creates a downward pressure for the average price, and of course firms like BetterHelp show up to take advantage of this price differential - i.e. they are doing an arbitrage.So this comes down to therapists living in expensive areas complaining about competition from therapists from cheaper areas. Given there are still people who need/want local therapy, there will be a new price equilibrium but most likely it will be lower than before. No amount of complaining about Google or ads or arbitrage like BetterHelp will make the price stay as before. Nothing much to see here - this looks mostly like a market adapting to a new changed market condition.