Google Serving Scam Ads On Student Loan Relief Searches

Searching Google for information about student loan forgiveness surfaces advertisements that either appear to violate content policies or lead people to scams, according to a watchdog group.

The Tech Transparency Project, a research arm of the nonprofit Campaign for Accountability, reviewed top searches related to student loans, such as “student loan forgiveness” and “cancel student debt,” to track the ads Google serves up. Of the 242 ads the group reviewed, TTP determined that 29 breached Google’s policies or displayed “scam characteristics,” representing almost 12% of the total.