Google has announced that it is banning cryptocurrency-related ads as of June 2018. According to Scott Spencer, Google’s sustainable ads director, the search giant will update its financial product policy to prohibit any advertising to do with cryptocurrencies, including trading advice, wallets, and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Cryptocurrency Adverts Ban
The ban affects both Google’s affiliates and proprietary advertisement platforms. Following the announcement, bitcoin, which is the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world dropped by about 3%. Rival cryptos Ether and Ripple also recorded drops.
While no explanation has been given by the Alphabet, Inc owned search company as to why it has taken the decision, the move comes at a time when cryptocurrencies are under heightened scrutiny by regulators in the United States. In particular, the regulators are after cryptocurrency projects that promote themselves over the internet to investors, offering them unviable investment opportunities.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also been issuing numerous warnings concerning its growing effort in examining ICOs that the agency deems to be issuing unlicensed securities.
Google’s move to do away with cryptocurrency ads on its platforms follows a similar move by socialmedia giant Facebook, which also enforced a similar policy in January. Facebook banned ads involving ICOs and bitcoin in a bid to put a stop to promotions related to cryptocurrencies, which often hoodwink investors.
The latest decision by Facebook and Google – two of the biggest global advertising and internet platforms – are also in support of the efforts of American regulators at both federal and state levels, in launching a crackdown on initial coin offerings that seem suspicious.
The update will also affect businesses that offer legit cryptocurrency offerings, as they too will not be permitted to serve advertisements through any Google product, such as YouTube and Gmail. Scott said that the company cannot predict the future of the cryptocurrency world, but it has seen enough or possible consumer harm that Google wants to handle with cautiously.
Elsewhere, an official of the Japanese government gained attention after he said that he would raise a cryptocurrency debate during the upcoming G20 summit, which will be held next month in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The official said that it is important to debate on the speculation risks that are associated with cryptocurrencies considering their impact on the world’s financial system, as well as their explosive growth in the last few years.
Last year, Google said it took down more than 3.1 billion ads from the web. Out of that figure, 79 million ads were pulled for driving web users to sites that contained malware. The company also suspended 6,000 customer accounts for advertisements that impersonated news articles and blocked more than 13,000 sites for duplicating content from other websites.
Cryptocurrencies are popular and unregulated. As such, scam artists are using ICOs to generate millions of money, leaving investors miserable. Google also plans to tighten its policies for advertisements relating to other financial services/products, such as “contracts for difference” and spread betting.
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/google-bans-crypto-ads.html
