Without audience targeting are Google Ads Dead? Think again…
Early this month Google announced new restrictions for targeting specific audiences. The restrictions apply to content related to housing, employment, credit, and those who are disproportionately affected by societal biases. The news of these restrictions created quite a stir among industry brokers and lenders who heavily rely upon targeted Google ad campaigns. All which may have you asking if these changes will kill future reverse mortgage advertising on the world’s most popular search engine. In just a moment we’ll hear from our online SEO expert Josh Johnson to find out.
Google’s restrictions are not necessarily novel nor unexpected. It was just over two years ago Facebook faced scrutiny from federal regulators for allowing those offering credit or housing finance to restrict ad audiences by race or religion among other questionable metrics that would violate HUD’s fair housing rules. An investigation by ProPublica broke this news in October 2016. It was nearly two years later in August 2018 that HUD filed a formal complaint against the social media giant for discriminatory advertising practices. Seven months after HUD’s complaint Facebook announced sweeping changes. Both Facebook and later Google, took a blunt approach much to the chagrin of lenders and service providers.
What ad filters are going away? In its official release Google revealed, “credit products or services can no longer be targeted to audiences based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code.”
Is this the end of Google ads for reverse mortgages? To answer that question I reached out to Josh Johnson who heads up Reverse Focus’ Online Dominance SEO program and Google marketing. Here’s his explanation.
Here’s what makes Google unique from other platforms and why reverse mortgage Google ads will continue to reach the intended audience.
To summarize, older homeowners are intentionally seeking out reverse mortgage information on Google which means, yes-your ads will be seen by your target audience, even though you can no longer target specific age groups.
A yield spread inversion often signals a coming recession. What it means for older Americans and retirees
Investors may have seen the dreaded check engine light flash. Last week the spread or difference between the 10-year Constant Maturity Treasury Rate or CMT and the 2-year CMT inverted. Last Tuesday the yield on the shorter-term 2-year Treasury was higher than the 10-year. That typically means investors don’t have confidence in long-term economic growth. It’s also a sign that a recession may be just around the corner.
Just how accurate of a recession indicator is an inverted yield curve?
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Pretty darn good it seems. Since 1955 an inverted yield curve has arrived before each recession, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. A strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network found 28 occurrences of a yield curve inversion since 1900, of which 22 or eighty percent were followed by a recession. A recession is typically defined as a decline in the nation’s GDP or gross domestic product for two consecutive quarters. So what’s driving the inversion? Many experts suspect it’s the Federal Reserve’s planned series of interest rate hikes beginning During its March 16th meeting the Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points from .25% to .50%. Just the fact that some Wall Street investors are resistant to the change shows you just how ridiculously low our rates are. Seriously, the Fed is going to fight inflation with a federal funds rate as high as only 2.8% two years from now? Something tells me that’s unlikely. Our nation’s central bank may find themselves forced to increase rates even higher to throw some water on the wildfire inflation that continues to spread. So what does this mean for those who may be eligible for a reverse mortgage? First, is if they are carrying credit card debt their cost of borrowing will significantly increase. Those with high balances may find themselves with a higher minimum payment as a result. Second, mortgage rates will go up. That reduces the purchasing power of potential borrowers and increases the starting or expected interest rate for federally-insured reverse mortgages. A higher rate means less money is available to the borrower. Case in point. Since March 1st the 10-year Constant Maturity Treasury rate has increased by 76 basis points by March 30th. Third, in addition to the surging costs of energy, food, and retail goods the increased cost of borrowing will tap the brakes on credit-driven purchases. Economic uncertainty is at its highest level in decades. Ironically, this is the time when many freeze and do nothing, when instead they should be considering what financial moves they can make today that are likely not to be available tomorrow. Resources: Reuters::Explainer: U.S. yield curve inversion – What is it telling us?
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