Google is changing its rules to restrict companies from advertising financial services unless they have already received Central Bank approval, in an effort to limit fraudulent ads on its platform.
The tech giant will “shortly notify customers that it is updating its financial services verification process to introduce new requirements for advertisers promoting financial services in Ireland,” it said in a statement. “The update will allow Google to require Financial Services advertisers to complete verification based on their authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland or other appropriate regulator. Advertisers who are required to complete the process and do not, will not be allowed to show financial services ads,” it said.
The move means, in theory, that potential advertisers would have to prove their bona fides if they want to buy ads for financial services on Google’s various sites.
The move was welcomed by Bank of Ireland, which described the decision as “a positive step.”
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“Bank of Ireland recently put forward a four-point plan to combat fraud in Ireland which included ensuring that online advertising for financial products and services is only permitted by regulated financial service providers,” a spokesman said in a statement. “We have called for this to increase consumer and business protection from fraud. We look forward to engaging further with Google on the new process for online advertising that it has announced today,” he added.
The change is part of Google’s ongoing efforts to tackle fraudulent or scam ads, the tech firm said. Those efforts include more use of technology to detect what the company called “co-ordinated adversarial behaviour.”
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