Google Ads · Financial services Google Ads for financial services.
Google Ads for lenders, brokers, insurers and investment businesses.
Google Ads for lenders, brokers, insurers and investment businesses.
Financial services are among the most competitive categories on Google.
People compare rates, fees and features, visit multiple providers, use comparison sites and often return several times before making an application. A campaign that simply generates more clicks can therefore become expensive without producing better customers.
The focus should be on reaching people who are looking for the products you actually offer, presenting the information they need to make a decision, and measuring what happens after the click.
Financial services advertising also comes with additional considerations. Google has financial products and services policies and verification requirements, while ASIC regulates financial services and credit advertising in Australia.
Those requirements are considered when setting up and managing campaigns.
For financial businesses that want better-quality enquiries and applications, not just more traffic.
Financial services campaigns need to account for more than keywords and cost per click.
The search may be valuable, but the real question is what happens after someone clicks.
Does the person meet your lending criteria? Are they looking for the right type of cover? Do they complete an application? Does the enquiry turn into a settled loan, policy or client?
We look at:
The objective isn't to maximise the number of enquiries.
It's to build a campaign around the enquiries that are commercially useful to the business.
Different financial products produce very different search behaviour.
The way someone searches for a first home loan is different from someone looking to refinance, while someone comparing car finance is often already shopping for the underlying vehicle.
Campaign structure needs to reflect those differences.
First home buyers, refinancers and property investors tend to search differently and have different requirements.
Refinancing demand can also change as lending rates and market conditions change.
Campaigns can be structured around the specific loan products, borrower types and geographic markets the business is equipped to serve.
Finance searches often happen alongside searches for the vehicle or recreational asset itself.
Someone searching for a car loan may already be comparing vehicles, repayments and lenders. Timing, location, loan type and eligibility can all influence whether that search becomes an application.
Google applies additional requirements to some personal lending advertising, including requirements around how loan costs and repayment information are presented.
Business lending has a different policy treatment, but financial services verification and other relevant requirements can still apply.
The important distinction is between generating generic loan enquiries and reaching people looking for a product the lender or broker can actually provide.
For brokers, trust and verification are particularly important.
Campaigns need to reflect the products and lending panel available to the business, while Google's verification process needs to align with the business's relevant Australian credit licence, credit representative status or other applicable authorisation.
The advertising should also make it clear what the business actually does rather than presenting a broker as if they were the lender.
Insurance searches can range from highly specific product searches to broader research around protecting a home, vehicle, income or family.
This can include home insurance, car insurance, life insurance, income protection and business insurance.
Campaigns need to consider both the search intent and the product's target market. For regulated products, the advertising and distribution process should be considered alongside the business's obligations under Australia's financial services framework.
Investment-related searches cover a broad range of intent, from people researching shares and trading platforms to people looking for an adviser.
For financial advisers, credibility and regulatory status are particularly important. Where relevant, prospective clients can verify an adviser through ASIC's Financial Advisers Register.
Campaigns should distinguish between general information about an investment service and anything that could be interpreted as personal financial advice.
Financial services advertisers in Australia may need to complete Google's financial services verification before their ads can run.
The process is designed to establish that the advertiser is authorised to promote the relevant financial products or services, or qualifies for an applicable exemption.
That makes the setup of the account important.
Business details, websites, licences, authorisations and the entity actually running the advertising all need to line up.
We set campaigns up with the verification process in mind rather than treating it as something to deal with after the account has been built.
Google applies additional requirements to financial products and services.
Depending on the product and advertiser, these can include:
Advertisers may need to complete Google's verification process before running financial services advertising in Australia.
Certain personal loan advertising may need to provide information about repayment periods, costs and representative examples.
Certain short-term lending products are restricted from advertising.
Products such as CFDs, forex and some cryptocurrency-related services have additional eligibility and approval requirements.
Some financial products are not permitted to advertise on Google.
The exact requirements depend on the product, business and market, so we check the relevant Google policy before building campaigns around a financial product.
Google's approval does not replace the business's Australian regulatory obligations.
Financial advertising also needs to be considered in the context of ASIC requirements and the rules that apply to the specific product.
That can include areas such as:
Benefits, costs, risks and important conditions should be presented appropriately rather than highlighting only the attractive parts of a product.
Credit advertising can have specific disclosure requirements, including comparison rates where applicable.
For products covered by the design and distribution obligations, campaign targeting and distribution should be considered alongside the product's target market.
Advertising should not imply that a general advertisement is personalised financial advice.
Advertising should accurately represent the business, its licences and the services it is authorised to provide.
Financial services advertising is subject to requirements that vary by product, business and circumstances. Those requirements are considered when setting up campaigns, but the business remains responsible for its own legal and regulatory obligations.
Sources: Google's financial products and services policy ↗ · Google financial services verification ↗ · ASIC RG 234 ↗
Your Google Ads account should reflect the actual business responsible for the advertising. For financial services businesses, this is particularly important because verification can involve the relationship between the advertiser, its website and its Australian financial services or credit authorisation.
One issue we've seen with financial advertisers is the tendency to open another Google Ads account when verification fails. That can create a bigger problem rather than solving the original one.
The new account may still need to satisfy the same underlying checks, while historical data, campaign structure and conversion information can become fragmented across multiple accounts.
A better approach is to understand why verification failed, make sure the business details and authorisations are correctly represented, and resolve the underlying issue. We work within your existing business structure rather than creating unnecessary accounts or entities simply to get around verification issues.
If there are five accounts because nobody knows which one is the real account, the problem isn't a lack of accounts. It's a lack of control over the advertising setup.
Read: Financial services, Google Ads & the verification queue →
Loans, insurance and investment-related searches can be highly competitive.
The answer isn't always to bid more aggressively. Better campaign structure, search-term control, geographic targeting and landing-page relevance can be more useful than simply increasing bids.
A campaign can produce a healthy number of enquiries while generating very few applications that meet the business's actual criteria.
That usually means the account is optimising for the wrong conversion.
Where the data is available, we want to understand what happens after the initial lead — not just how many forms were submitted.
We work with financial businesses where there is a clear product to advertise, an identifiable market and a way to measure what happens after the initial enquiry.
This can include:
We set up the advertising account and website with Google's verification requirements in mind and help identify what information needs to align.
The verification itself is completed by the business because it relies on your own licence, authorisation, exemption and business details.
Yes.
Competitive markets are often where campaign structure and conversion tracking matter most.
We look at the commercial value of the search, the likelihood of an application and what happens after the lead rather than judging a keyword purely by its cost per click.
No.
Google Ads management is a marketing service, not personal financial advice.
Advertising copy and campaign strategy should remain within the information and services the business is authorised to provide.
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Platapode specialises in Google Ads.
Based in Sydney, NSW, Australia, working with businesses worldwide.
