Google is banning adverts for payday lenders from its search results, adding the short-term loan industry to a blacklist that includes guns, tobacco and drugs, and dealing a bitter blow to the industry. The internet giant announced that from mid-July it would ban payday loans from its AdWords system that displays adverts at the top of search results. The move cuts off a crucial channel for many online-only lenders. Google’s dominant search engine is a key online storefront, with lenders bidding fiercely against each other for a prime position at the top of its results. The announcement added to a series of setbacks to the industry, which has been criticised for extortionate interest rates and predatory behaviour. Since 2014 lenders have been limited in the interest rates and additional fees they are allowed to charge, and the number of short term loans has subsequently slumped.....Read more here