Google to ban ads for payday lenders

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

last updated 12 May 2016

Starting July 13, Google is banning advertisements for payday loans and some related products, a move designed to protect users from "deceptive or harmful financial products."

In a post on the Google Public Policy Blog, the company said it will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue, and in the United States, will ban ads for loans with an APR of 36 percent or higher. The company made the decision after conducting extensive research, and the new policy will not affect companies offering mortgages, car loans, commercial loans, student loans, or revolving lines of credit. Google also revealed that in 2015, it disabled more than 780 million ads "for reasons ranging from counterfeiting to phishing."

In the U.S., the $38.5 billion payday-lending industry works with roughly 12 million customers every year, offering small loans at interest rates that can exceed 300 percent, The Wall Street Journal reports. The sector's main trade group, the Community Financial Services Association of America, is upset by Google's decision, and released a statement saying: "The internet is meant to express the free flow of ideas and enhance commerce. This is unfair toward those that are legal, licensed lenders and uphold best business practices."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox