Not long ago, Google put a ban on payday loan ads that will cost the company millions. AdGooroo, a paid search research firm, has estimated that Google will be losing $34.5 million in US ad revenue on desktop alone. Even though most of us would choke at losing such a large of money, this really isn’t very much when you take into consideration that Google took in over $54 billion in total ad revenue in 2015.
AdGooroo observed 4,211 advertisers bidding on a set of 726 payday loan-related keywords in the US on Google desktop search in 2015. A couple of the top advertisers that are going to be losing out due to the ad ban includes MoneyMutual.com and QuickerCash.com. These two companies have spent over $2.5 million last year on those keywords.
The ban on ads that Google has placed on payday loans that require repayment within 60 days is global. In the US, any ads that promote high-interest loans with an APR of 36 percent or higher won’t be allowed to run in the US. The ban will take efffect on July 13, 2016.