New Google rule bans discriminatory targeting for housing ads

Enlarge / A sign on the street is visible to anyone who walks or drives by. A sign online can be strategically, and illegally, targeted away from people against whom you may have a bias. (credit: Getty Images)

Google is taking action to reduce unlawful discrimination on its advertising platform a year after the federal government sued its largest competitor, Facebook, over the same thing.

The company is "introducing a new personalized advertising policy for certain types of ads," a Google executive shared in a company blog post today. The policy prohibits entities placing ads for employment, housing, or credit services from targeting or excluding ads "based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP Code."

The federal Fair Housing Act explicitly prohibits landlords and sellers from discriminating against potential renters or buyers on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. ("Family status" includes a ban on discriminating against someone who is pregnant or families with children.) That applies to the advertising of units as well as who actually gets to sign the lease or the mortgage and what they have to pay.

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