Google to place global ban on payday loan adverts from July

Google has said it will ban ads for payday loans because they can be "deceptive or harmful". The ban, which will come into force globally from 13 July, will cover loans that can be due within 60 days and, in the US, loans that carry an annual interest rate of 36% or higher. In a blog post, Google's director of public policy, David Graff, wrote: "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. "This change is designed to protect our users from deceptive or harmful financial products." The ban will not cover mortgages, car loans, student loans, commercial loans or credit cards, said Graff, adding: "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." In a quote accompanying the announcement, Wade Henderson, the president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said: "This new policy addresses many of the longstanding concerns shared by the entire civil rights community about predatory payday lending.