Google To Drop The Banhammer On Cryptocurrency Ads As Bitcoin Crashes Towards $8,000
"We don't have a crystal ball to know where the future is going to go with cryptocurrencies, but we've seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm that it's an area that we want to approach with extreme caution," said Scott Spencer, Google's Director of Sustainable Ads, in an interview with CNBC.
In addition, Google will add the following to its "restricted" list with respect to advertising: Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting. Once June rolls around, advertisers will have to be certified by Google to serve ads through AdWords. Advertisers will be able to apply for certification (which must be done in each country that they operate) later this month.
Facebook introduced a similar ad ban on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum back in late January. "There are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith," said Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern earlier this year. "This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices, and enforcement will begin to ramp up across our platforms including Facebook, Audience Network and Instagram.
"We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve."
Once news of Google's new policy began making the rounds, cryptocurrency markets didn't react very favorably. Bitcoin stated the day trading at around $9,200, but then tanked, falling to its current level of roughly $8,300. Likewise, Ethereum has also fallen over 9 percent from a 24-hour high of $703.27 to its current standing at $618.
