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Display & Video 360 users must comply with this Google Ads policy. Visit the Display & Video 360 help centre for additional restrictions.
We want users to have adequate information to make informed financial decisions. Our policies are designed to give users information to weigh the costs associated with financial products and services, and to protect users from harmful or deceitful practices. For the purposes of this policy, we consider Financial products and services to be those related to the management or investment of money and cryptocurrencies, including personalised advice.
When promoting financial products and services, you must comply with state and local regulations for any location that your ads target – for example, include specific disclosures required by local law. Advertisers are expected to do their own research on the local regulations for any location their ads target.
Below, you can find policy requirements related to financial services, personal loans and certain restricted financial products. As the online advertising and regulatory space continues to evolve, we'll update this policy with additional product-specific guidelines on an ongoing basis. Learn about what happens if you violate our policies.
In this article
Learn more about the 'Eligible (Limited)' status.
Financial products and services disclosures
Financial products and services can be very complex and sometimes difficult to understand. Disclosures increase transparency and provide consumers with valuable information to make informed decisions.
Advertisers promoting financial products or services are required to provide:
- The physical address for the business offering the financial product or service
- Associated fees
- Links to third-party accreditation or endorsement where affiliation is asserted or implied, particularly when it serves to improve the reputation of the site
Examples (non-exhaustive): Verification of government affiliation, third-party ratings
Note: Disclosures can’t be posted as roll-over text or made available through another link or tab. They must be clearly and immediately visible without needing to click or hover over anything.
Learn more about the Financial products and services disclosures policy.
Personal loans
For this policy, we define personal loans as lending money from one individual, organisation or entity to an individual consumer on a non-recurring (one-off) basis, not for the purpose of financing the purchase of a fixed asset or education.
Personal loan consumers require information about the quality, features, fees, risks and benefits of loan products to make informed decisions about whether to undertake the loan.
- Examples (non-exhaustive): Payday loans, logbook loans, pawn shops, military loans, tax loans, medical or fertility loans, cash advance loans
- Not included: Mortgages, car loans, student loans, revolving lines of credit (such as credit cards, personal lines of credit), US Veterans Affairs loans or US Federal Housing Administration loans
Disclosures increase transparency and provide consumers with valuable information to make informed decisions. Only personal loans that require repayment in full in 61 days or longer are allowed. This applies to advertisers who offer loans directly, advertisers who are lead generators and those who connect consumers with third-party lenders.
Advertisers promoting personal loans must prominently disclose all of the following additional information on their landing page or app:
- Minimum and maximum period for repayment
- Maximum annual percentage rate (APR), which generally includes interest rate plus fees and other costs for a year, or similar other rate calculated consistently with local law. Must be separate from the representative example.
- A representative example of the total cost of the loan, including all applicable fees
Learn more about the personal loans policy.
High APR personal loans (US specific)
If your targeted location includes the US, your ads must also be compliant with the high APR personal loans policy.
We want to protect our users from deceptive or harmful financial products, such as ultra high-cost personal loans.
We do not allow ads for personal loans with an APR of 36% and above in the US. This policy applies to advertisers who make loans directly, lead generators and those who connect consumers with third-party lenders.
Ads promoting high APR personal loans that target non-US locations are eligible to serve. If your ads target both US and non-US locations, or just non-US locations, their serving status will show as Eligible (limited).
Learn more about the high APR personal loans policy.
Loan modification
To protect our users from deceptive and harmful practices in ads for mortgage-related or foreclosure-related sites and apps, we also restrict certain products and services related to loan modification where the following scenarios would lead to disapproval for loan modification:
Guaranteeing loan modification or foreclosure prevention
Charging an upfront fee, unless service is being provided by a law firm
Asking users to transfer or surrender property titles, or offering to buy a house at a below-market price
Asking users to bypass the lender and make payments directly to the company or other third party
Encouraging users not to contact their lender, lawyer, credit counsellor or housing counsellor
Credit repair services
We want consumers to make informed decisions about the services offered to help them address bad credit. This policy applies to advertisers who offer Credit repair services directly, lead generators and those who connect consumers with third-party Credit repair services.
To protect users from harmful practices, the following would lead to disapproval for Credit repair services:
Ads for Credit repair services
No certification is available at this time.
Learn more about the Credit repair services policy.
Debt services
We want consumers to make informed decisions about the services offered to help them address overwhelming debt. This policy applies to advertisers who offer debt services directly, lead generators and those who connect consumers with third-party debt services.
To protect users from deceptive and harmful practices, we only allow advertisements for the following debt services in select locations, and only if they meet the following criteria:
- The services and ads comply with local laws and industry standards, and
- The targeted location is eligible for certification and the account is certified by Google
Products or services allowed under the Debt services policy with certification
Ads for debt settlement services that offer to negotiate with creditors a reduced, lump-sum payment that will be regarded as payment in full
Ads for debt management services that offer to negotiate with creditors reduced periodic payments, interest rates and/or fees
Learn more about the Debt services policy.
Binary options
We want to protect our users from the significant risk of financial loss involved in trading binary options.
The following would lead to disapproval for binary options:
Ads for binary options or synonymous financial products
Examples (non-exhaustive): Ads for digital options, binary options, digital 100, fixed return options, all-or-nothing options
Binary options broker: Site only offers binary options, including signals/software for binary options with no other financial products
Binary options informational/educational sites/blogs: Educational sites or blogs on binary options and synonymous products
Learn more about the binary options policy.
Complex speculative financial products
Due to the inherent complexities and risks involved in trading the following types of complex speculative financial products, to protect users, we only allow advertisements for these products in select locations and only if they meet all of the following criteria:
- The advertiser is a licensed provider or aggregator
- The products and ads comply with local laws and industry standards
- The targeted location is eligible for certification and the account is certified by Google
Products or services allowed under Complex speculative financial products with certification
Contracts for difference (CFD), financial spread betting, rolling spot forex (often referred to as 'Forex' or 'FX') and related forms of speculative products
The following would lead to disapproval for Complex speculative financial products:
Ad destinations that provide signals for the trading of complex speculative financial products
Examples (non-exhaustive): Trading signals, tips or speculative trading information; affiliate sites containing related content or broker reviews
Learn more about the Complex speculative financial products policy.
Country-specific financial services verification
In order to advertise financial services in certain countries, advertisers must complete a verification process. For most advertisers, this process will entail providing information about the type of financial services they provide, whether they are licensed to provide those services and their registration number, among other things.
Learn more about country-specific financial services verification.