[UPDATED on 7/1/2009 at 7:47 AM EST]

In a move that will have many concerns about Internet privacy issues raised, Google has started analyzing search behavior according to aggregated consumer credit information. Some worry that this could, in the future, lead to the company targeting specific ads toward consumers with high credit ratings, with custom ads.

Google has partnered with research firm Compete and together, they are testing the ability to gather aggregated consumer FICO scores (the most widely-known type of credit score) and analyze consumer behavior based on these scores.

The move could be no doubt beneficial to credit card companies, mortgage and loan companies, as well as luxury retailers and high-end hotel sites, who will be able to target only those customers they deem to have high credit ratings.


"Let's say we have an advertiser who wants to reach consumers with a high FICO [credit] score who applied for mortgages in the first quarter," Masha Korsunsky, senior industry marketing manager, financial services at Google said. "We can provide the advertiser with a list of websites on our Google content network that index against this segment."

 

Compete has been able to use the FICO data from consumers who applied for a credit card between February and March of this year. The study was done using an opt-in panel of two million US consumers.

 

Though personally-identifiable information was not delivered to either companies, Compete was able to use this data to analyze search behavior trends, to determine which searches led consumers to apply for these credit cards, which it then passed on to Google. The applicants were divided into three categories: Super-Prime (720 and up), Prime (600 to 719), and Sub-prime (600 and below), with the majority falling into the first category.

 

The data revealed that while

these high-end credit card consumers did not demonstrate desperation for credit, they were significantly more likely than the other categories to apply for a card. The data showed those with Super-Prime credit to be careful shoppers, though, often doing five or more queries while they shop for their most desirable credit card. They also were less likely to search for brand names in their queries, with 60 percent of the Super-Primers performing non-branded searches that specify the services the cards provide like ‘low rate’ and ‘rewards’.

 

Though nothing has been mentioned about studying the customers with low credit-scores, we can expect that this segment will not go untouched.

 

According to a person at Google public relations, “the research has given Google more insight into the demographics reached by [Google Content Network] sites, so we better can help our customers decide which sites are best for their advertising goals.”

 

She also stresses that Google will not use any personal information like credit scores, also explaining:  “There are no plans for Google to use FICO related targeting for any of its products or offerings.”

 

But the testing of the measure in itself has prompted many to suspect otherwise. While this type of ad targeting could prove helpful not only to companies looking to target these high-end credit customers, but helpful to those customers with good credit who are shown highly relevant ads, the issue of privacy must be addressed.

Even though privacy is highly important to Google, a good portion of the public might be bothered by this and we can expect that if Google does move from the testing to the implementation stage, there will be more than a few angry blog posts on the topic.