Cast an eye over Google and you’ll find that guns, explosives and drugs are among some of the items the search engine giant doesn’t run adverts for.

Now, Google has added payday loans to that list.

“We’re sharing an update that will go into effect on July 13, 2016,” Google explained in a blog post, “we’re banning ads for payday loans and some related products from our ads systems. We will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue.”

Payday loans are issued by micro-lenders, some of whom charge an inordinate amount of interest on the money they lend to borrowers. One such payday loan provider charges R293.68 on a R1 000 loan taken out over a 30 day period.

Sadly, these services often lure customers who aren’t credit worthy to take out loans with the promise of “instant cash”.

Wade Henderson, President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights reacted to the news of Google’s ban saying, “This new policy addresses many of the longstanding concerns shared by the entire civil rights community about predatory payday lending.”

“These companies have long used slick advertising and aggressive marketing to trap consumers into outrageously high interest loans – often those least able to afford it,” Henderson remarked.

Google has said that companies offering home loans, vehicle and asset finance, commercial loans and revolving loans will not be affected.

Users will also still be able to search for payday loan providers but Google will no longer serve adverts that relate to these services at the top and sides of its pages.

All we have to say is well done Google for putting your users first, you get two thumbs up from us.

[Source – Google][Image – CC BY/2.0 Images Money]