Users with good FICO scores might soon start seeing ads for more expensive luxury goods and services than those with lower scores, as Google (Google) has started to experiment with targeting ads based on usersâ?? credit score. According to Googleâ??s senior industry marketing manager for financial services, Masha Korsunsky, this is one of the initiatives Google has been launching together with Compete, which has a database of about 2 million users who agreed to give info on their credit score when they applied for a new credit card. Korsunsky tells the story: â??Letâ??s say we have an advertiser who wants to reach consumers with a high FICO score who applied for mortgages in the first quarter. We can provide the advertiser with a list of Web sites on our Google content network that index against this segment.â? Of course, this data will primarily be used to target users looking for a credit card (especially those within the Super Prime segment, who have a FICO score of 720 or more). However, naturally any company that sells luxury goods or services might be interested in displaying ads only to customers with a high credit score. Sound cruel? Well, itâ??s only business. Ad providers will usually make sure they donâ??t display ads based on race or religious beliefs, but when it comes to whether youâ??re poor or rich, itâ??s simple common sense. Maybe so, but what to do when you hate all forms of advertising regardless of it's source? How to stop that kind of spam?
