Will a good credit score change the advertising you see?

07.16.09
By Nicholas Storie

A good credit score can lead to a lot of positives in a person's life, but apparently it's also going to lead to companies deciding what ads you see when you're surfing online.

In a recent interview with MediaPost, Masha Korsunsky, senior industry marketing manager of financial services for Google, said that the search engine giant has been looking into ways that businesses can market specific products based on a person's FICO score.

While Google has already entered into the targeted advertising market through its search engine and email platform Gmail, this appears to be the first time ads will be geared toward people with certain credit scores.

"Let's say we have an advertiser who wants to reach consumers with a high FICO score who applied for mortgages in the first quarter," Korsunsky told the website. "We can provide the advertiser with a list of web sites on our Google content network that index against this segment."

However, it's unlikely that just anyone will see these ads.

According to the report, the plan Google has undertaken with web analytics firm Compete looks to give advertisers a better understanding of the more than 2 million consumers in Compete's database who have agreed to be part of the project.

Although the information could initially be helpful for companies looking to provide credit cards, mortgage loans and other products for low-risk consumers, MediaPost points out that luxury retailers would likely want to be involved in the process as well.

It would appear that most Americans are not overly concerned about their credit score, despite recent reports that credit card debt defaults are on the rise. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that people were feeling more positive about their debt levels with almost half (47 percent) saying they rarely or never feel stressed about their debt.

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A plan from Google may cause some to see advertising based on their credit score