Does anyone dare tell Google they are wrong these days? Doubtful, but Google’s recent announcement that they will no longer accept ads from payday loan companies is a bad step and one well beyond their right as a media company.
The new policy, received today by most Google partners including EAG, is shown in part below. While payday loan companies are not listed per se, this is the intention as outlined in recent press releases. However, if you read the policy closely, you will see there is no difference between these lenders and perfectly legitimate banks, finance and loan companies.
The interest rate and length of loan is the only determinant of whether or not the advertising (and by extension) the industry is bad. Except for inappropriate language and pornography, very few media outlets have become judge and jury of an industry’s value in the market place.
This is not Google’s role in our economy. We have capitalism to determine whether or not an industry is appropriate and good for consumers. This slippery slope has no turn-out lane and it is definitely downhill from here.
Whether or not you believe that payday loans are predatory is not the issue. If there is no demand, then the industry will die. More importantly, if another company or industry steps in and provides short-term financing for the under-banked at a reasonable rate, the payday loan industry will fade away.
Google becoming a filter, if not censor, of PPC advertising and industries is not right and impossible to enforce with any consistency or fairness. Of all companies, Google should understand that the internet cannot be policed, yet that is their intention with this latest announcement.
EAG Advertising and Marketing does not represent any payday loan companies, but we do represent many in the financial services sector. Financial regulation is cumbersome and very often does not accomplish the consumer protectionism intended. If you don’t let the marketplace freely police financial services companies, then you remove a very important element of consumer protection.
The government nor Google can police the marketplace fully (although they may want to). We need less interference by these institutions and more knowledge seeking by consumers.
Want to get the best consumer loan? Read the fine print. Don’t assume if it’s on the Internet, it must be good.
