{"id":25151,"date":"2021-07-06T06:35:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T06:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/google-tightens-uk-policy-on-financial-ads-after-watchdog-pressure-over-scams.html"},"modified":"2021-07-06T06:35:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T06:35:27","slug":"google-tightens-uk-policy-on-financial-ads-after-watchdog-pressure-over-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/google-tightens-uk-policy-on-financial-ads-after-watchdog-pressure-over-scams.html","title":{"rendered":"Google tightens UK policy on financial ads after watchdog pressure over scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.K.\u2019s more expansive, post-Brexit role<\/a> in digital regulation continues to be felt today via a policy change<\/a> by Google, which has announced that it will, in the near future, only run ads for financial products and services when the advertiser in question has been verified by the financial watchdog, the FCA.<\/p>\n

The Google Ads Financial Products and Services policy will be updated from August 30, per Google, which specifies that it will start enforcing the new policy from September 6 \u2014 meaning that purveyors of online financial scams who\u2019ve been relying on its ad network to net their next victim still have more than two months to harvest unsuspecting clicks before the party is over (well, in the U.K., anyway).<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s decision to allow only regulator-authorized financial entities to run ads for financial products and services follows warnings from the Financial Conduct Authority that it may take legal action if Google continued to accept unscreened financial ads, as the Guardian<\/a> reported earlier.<\/p>\n

The FCA told a parliamentary committee this month that it\u2019s able to contemplate taking such action as a result of no longer being bound by European Union rules on financial adverts, which do not extend to online platforms, per the newspaper\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

Until gaining the power to go after Google itself, the FCA appears to have been trying to combat the scourge of online financial fraud by paying Google large amounts of U.K. taxpayer money to fight scams with anti-scam warnings.<\/p>\n

According to the Register<\/a>, the FCA paid Google more than \u00a3600,000 (~$830,000) in 2020 and 2021 to run \u201canti-scam\u201d ads \u2014 with the regulator essentially engaged in a bidding war with scammers to pour enough money into Google\u2019s coffers so that regulator warnings about financial scams might appear higher than the scams themselves.<\/p>\n

The full-facepalm situation was presumably highly lucrative for Google. But the threat of legal action appears to have triggered a policy rethink.<\/p>\n

Writing in its blog post<\/a>, Ronan Harris, a VP and MD for Google UK and Ireland, said: \u201cFinancial services advertisers will be required to demonstrate that they are authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority or qualify for one of the limited exemptions described in the <\/span>UK Financial Services verification page<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis new update builds on significant work in partnership with the FCA over the last 18 months to help tackle this issue,\u201d he added. \u201c<\/span>Today\u2019s announcement reflects significant progress in delivering a safer experience for users, publishers and advertisers. While we understand that this policy update will impact a range of advertisers in the financial services space, our utmost priority is to keep users safe on our platforms \u2014 particularly in an area so disproportionately targeted by fraudsters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s blog also claims that it has pledged $5 million in advertising credits to support financial fraud public awareness campaigns in the U.K. So not $5 million in actual money then.<\/p>\n

Per the Register, Google did offer to refund the FCA\u2019s anti-scam ad spend \u2014 but, again, with advertising credits.<\/p>\n

The U.K. parliament\u2019s Treasury Committee was keen to know whether the tech giant would be refunding the spend in cash. But the FCA\u2019s director of enforcement and market insight, Mark Steward, was unable to confirm what it would do, according to the Register\u2019s report of the committee hearing.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve reached out to the FCA for comment on Google\u2019s policy change, and with questions about the refund situation, and will update this report with any response.<\/p>\n

In recent years the financial watchdog has also been concerned about financial scam ads running on social media platforms.<\/p>\n

Back in 2018<\/a>, legal action by a well-known U.K. consumer advice personality, Martin Lewis \u2014 who filed a defamation suit against Facebook \u2014 led the social media giant to add a \u201creport scam ad\u201d button<\/a> in the market as of July 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However research by consumer group, Which?, earlier this year, suggested that neither Facebook nor Google had entirely purged financial scam ads \u2014 even when they\u2019d been reported.<\/p>\n

Per the BBC<\/a>, Which?\u2019s survey found that Google had failed to remove around a third (34%) of the scam adverts reported to it versus Facebook failing to remove well over a fifth (26%).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost like the incentives for online ad giants to act against lucrative online scam ads simply aren\u2019t pressing enough.<\/p>\n

More recently, Lewis has been pushing for scam ads to be included in the scope of the U.K.\u2019s Online Safety Bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sweeping piece of digital regulation aims to tackle a plethora of so-called \u201conline harms\u201d by focusing on regulating user generated content. However, Lewis makes the point that a scammer merely needs to pay an ad platform to promote their fraudulent content for it to escape the scope of the planned rules, telling the \u201cGood Morning Britain\u201d TV program today that the situation is \u201cludicrous\u201d and \u201cneeds to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

‘It’s ludicrous. It needs to change.’@MartinSLewis<\/a> calls for changes to be made to the Online Safety Bill to include the policing of scam adverts.<\/p>\n

Dame Margaret Hodge agrees with Martin as she highlights that only 1% of police money and time is spent on tackling fraud. pic.twitter.com\/PKI9obagmw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

It\u2019s certainly a confusing carve-out, as we reported at the time the bill was presented. Nor is it the only confusing component of the planned legislation. However on the financial fraud point the government may believe the FCA has the necessary powers to tackle the problem.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve contacted the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport for comment.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> A government spokesperson said:<\/p>\n

\n

We have brought user-generated fraud into the scope of our new online laws to increase people\u2019s protection from the devastating impact of scams. The move is just one part of our plan to tackle fraud in all its forms. We continue to pursue fraudsters and close down the vulnerabilities they exploit, are helping people spot and report scams, and we will shortly be considering whether tougher regulation on online advertising is also needed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The government also noted that the Home Office is developing a Fraud Action Plan, which is slated to be published after the 2021 spending review; and pointed to the Online Advertising Programme that it said will consider the extent to which the current regulatory regime is equipped to tackle the challenges posed by the rapid technological developments seen in online advertising \u2014 including via a consultation and review of online advertising it plans to launch later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Demand Curve: 7 ad types that increase click-through rates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

Facebook agrees to do more to tackle scam ads after celebrity defamation lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

UK publishes draft Online Safety Bill<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunchIt\/~3\/BhX_VjyliW0\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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