Google announced that it is updating its advertising policies to "further improve access to housing, employment, and credit opportunities."  Google said that it regularly evaluates and evolves its advertising policies "to ensure they are protecting users from behaviors like unlawful discrimination."

Under Google's new policy, housing, employment, and credit advertisers will not be allowed to target or exclude ads based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code.  Google said it plans to implement this update in the United States and Canada as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the year. 

Google said that it had worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on these changes.  In addition, Google said that it will be providing housing advertisers with additional information about fair housing "to help ensure they are acting in ways that support access to housing opportunities." 

In addition, Google said that it will continue to work with the government, civil rights and housing experts, and others "to address concerns around discrimination in ad targeting." 

Google's policies currently prohibit ad targeting based on a person's identity, beliefs, sexuality, or personal hardships, which means that an advertiser may not target ads based on categories such as race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.