Google to ban 'harmful' payday loan ads

From July 13th, it will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue. In the US it is also banning ads for loans with an APR of 36% or higher.

Google believes that some of these adverts are "for fake or harmful products, or seek to mislead users about the businesses they represent".

Its research found that payday loans can result in "unaffordable payment and high default rates for users".

Google stressed that the change is designed to "protect our users from deceptive or harmful financial products" and will not affect companies offering loans such as mortgages, car loans, student loans, commercial loans, or credit cards.

In a blog post David Graff, Director of Global Product Policy at Google, said:

"We have an extensive set of policies to keep bad ads out of our systems - in fact in 2015 alone, we disabled more than 780 million ads for reasons ranging from counterfeiting to phishing.

"Ads for financial services are a particular area of vigilance given how core they are to people’s livelihood and well being.

"We’ll continue to review the effectiveness of this policy, but our hope is that fewer people will be exposed to misleading or harmful products."

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, added:

"This new policy addresses many of the longstanding concerns shared by the entire civil rights community about predatory payday lending. These companies have long used slick advertising and aggressive marketing to trap consumers into outrageously high interest loans - often those least able to afford it."