Google bans ads for payday and high interest loans

Google announced it will no longer accept and display ads promoting payday loans requiring repayment within 60 days.

The update to the AdWords policy also includes a ban on ads for high interest loans with an APR of 36 percent or higher in the US. David Graff, director of global product policy at Google, made the announcement in a blog post Wednesday.

“When reviewing our policies, research has shown that these loans can result in unaffordable payment and high default rates for users so we will be updating our policies globally to reflect that.”

Graff noted that the change will not affect companies offering loans such as Mortgages, Car Loans, Student Loans, Commercial loans, Revolving Lines of Credit (e.g. Credit Cards).

The move was praised by Wade Henderson, CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who told Google, “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.”

The policy updates go into effect on July 13, 2016.

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