Google expands financial services verification policy to Australia, Singapore, Taiwan

Google announced today that it is expanding its Ads Financial Products and Services policy to Australia, Singapore and Taiwan. 

Last year Google announced the implementation of measures aimed at verifying the legitimacy of advertisers in the financial services industry in the UK. These measures were added to prevent financial product scams and scammers from exploiting the Google Ads platform for their benefit.

As Search Engine Land reported last year, the verification process included proving that the advertiser is “authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority,” or must qualify for an exemption.

Verification requirements for advertisers. As part of the verification process, “financial services advertisers in these markets will need to demonstrate that they are authorized by their relevant financial services regulator and have completed Google’s advertiser verification program in order to begin promoting their products and services.”

Launch date. Advertisers will be able to apply for verification at the end of June, and the policy will go into effect on Aug. 30. Advertisers that have not completed the new verification process by this date will no longer be allowed to promote financial services.

What Google says. “We work tirelessly to make sure the ads we serve are safe and trustworthy, and we know that partnering and collaborating with government regulators is critical to our success,” said Alejandro Borgia, Director, Ads Privacy and Safety. “That’s why we’re closely coordinating with regulators in these three markets to make sure this program is effective at scale. In the coming months, we plan to further expand these verification requirements to advertisers in additional countries and regions.”

The results are in. Google launched the verification program in the UK in September 2021. Since then, Google states that they have seen a “pronounced decline in reports of ads promoting financial scams.” According to Google’s 2021 Ads Safety Report, they blocked 58.9 million ads for violating their financial safety policies. 

Why we care. Although nothing is 100% foolproof, it’s a good effort by Google to combat financial scams. If you’re running ads for financial services in Australia, Singapore or Taiwan, mark your calendars and keep an eye out for a notification inside your Google Ads dashboard. Review the procedures for exemptions and start the verification process ASAP so your account doesn’t get suspended.