Finance marketing
Google Ads for
mortgage brokers.
Before any finance ad runs in Australia, Google needs to verify the advertiser against ASIC and ABN records. Brokers with their own credit licence can verify directly. Credit representatives are usually approved as a third party by their verified licensee. After that, search ads on what borrowers type work well. Personal loans have extra disclosure rules, and debt-focused products may lose access to your own audience lists.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Verification
comes first.
Google has enforced financial services verification in Australia since 30 August 2022, checking against ASIC, AFSA and ABN Lookup. Google lists five types of advertiser. Approved third parties, such as brokers, affiliates and lead generation agencies, don't verify themselves: a verified licensee approves them and submits their domains, and the details must match ASIC's records exactly.
A common cause of delay is a small mismatch: a trading name on the site that isn't on the register, or a different ABN. Line them up before you apply.
Which searches
to pay for.
Borrowers search by place, situation and loan type. Sort the searches before you bid.
| Search type | Example | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Broker and place | 'mortgage broker Gosford' | Bid here first, with your location and reviews in the ad. |
| Situation | 'self employed home loan', 'first home buyer broker' | Strong intent and less crowded. Send each to a page about that situation. |
| Refinance | 'refinance home loan' | Good intent, crowded with lenders. Lead with the review of their current loan. |
| Rate shopping | 'best home loan rates' | Expensive, often from people comparing lenders directly. Test small. |
| Not borrowers | 'mortgage broker jobs', 'how to become a broker' | Add as negative keywords. |
The rules
by product.
Personal loans carry their own Google rules: the loan must allow 61 days or longer to repay, and the landing page must show the minimum and maximum repayment periods, the maximum APR and a representative example of the total cost.
'Negative financial status' is a sensitive category for debt-focused products. Ads in it can't use Customer Match, your data segments, lookalikes or audience expansion. Google's list is examples only, so treat debt consolidation and 'bad credit' loans as likely to be in it.
The US and Canadian limits on targeting housing and credit ads by age, gender or postcode don't apply in Australia. Australian law still applies to what the ad says.
Policy pre-flight
Which Google rules
will this hit?
Pick what you're advertising and who you want to reach. You'll get the Google Ads policies that apply in Australia, each linked. Checked 2 November 2026.
Policies that apply
Measure settled
loans, not forms.
A form fill costs the same whether it's a tyre-kicker or a $900,000 refinance. Mark each lead in your CRM as it progresses, then import the stages that matter back into Google Ads, so the bidding learns which searches bring loans that settle.
Customer Match can also exclude existing clients from prospecting campaigns. Exclusions are open to any account with a good policy record. Targeting with it needs 90 days of history and more than USD 50,000 lifetime spend.
What I see most often
What I see
most often.
- 1
Rate-shopping searches eating the budget
'Lowest home loan rate' clicks from people who'll go straight to a lender.
- 2
Every lead counted the same
Form fills reported as success, with no link to which ones settled.
- 3
One landing page for every situation
First home buyers, investors and refinancers all sent to the same generic page.
- 4
Verification details that don't match
The trading name on the site differs from the ASIC register, and approval stalls.
The honest bit. Google Ads works for brokers when there's a clear situation you're good at and a page that speaks to it. Bidding on 'home loan' and hoping is an expensive way to learn that.
Questions
people ask.
Do mortgage brokers need to verify with Google Ads?
Yes. Finance ads in Australia need financial services verification. Brokers with their own credit licence can verify directly. Credit representatives are usually approved by their verified licensee as a third party.
Can brokers use Customer Match in Google Ads?
For excluding existing clients, yes. For targeting, only once the account has 90 days of history and more than USD 50,000 lifetime spend. Not at all for debt-focused products in the negative financial status category.
Why was my finance ad disapproved?
Common reasons are missing verification, details that don't match ASIC's records, or personal loan pages missing the required repayment and cost details.
Do US housing and credit ad targeting limits apply in Australia?
No. Google's limits on targeting housing, employment and credit ads apply to the US and Canada.
Related
Keep
going.
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Google Ads audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.