Google's new rules clamp down on discriminatory housing, job and credit ads

Google and Facebook together account for just over half of internet ad sales globally, making their policy actions influential in the industry

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Thursday it was tackling unlawful discrimination by barring housing, employment and credit ads from being targeted to its users based on their postal code, gender, age, parental status or marital status.

The new policy, which will take effect by the end of the year in the United States and Canada, comes more than a year after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) charged Facebook Inc for selling discriminatory housing ads and said it was looking into similar concerns about Google and Twitter Inc.

Google and Facebook together account for just over half of internet