Google policy update will restrict consumer finance ad targeting

Google will impose new restrictions on personalized ads related to consumer financial products and services next year, when it updates its Personalized ads policy in February.

Google’s “credit in personalized ads” policy will be broadened to include “consumer finance in personalized ads.”

“We’ve long had personalized ads policies that prohibit advertisers from targeting people on the basis of sensitive categories. This update strengthens our ongoing efforts to protect consumers, expanding our credit in personalized ads policy to additional consumer finance ad categories in the US and Canada,” according to a Google spokesperson

Why we care. Violations of this policy may lead to Google issuing a warning to advertisers. Continued violations could result in the suspension of an account.

What is changing. The updated policy will say:

• “In the United States and Canada, the following sensitive interest categories cannot be targeted to audiences based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code.”

The update will apply to offers relating to credit or products or services related to credit lending, banking products and services, or certain financial planning and management services. Examples include:

• Credit cards
• Home loans
• Car loans
• Appliance loans
• Short-term loans
• Banking and checking accounts
• Debt management products

Enforcement. Google said enforcement will commence on February 28 of next year, but that it could take six weeks to ramp up to full enforcement.

Deep dive. Read Google’s full blog post for more information.