Google will ban all adverts for cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs), as it seeks to “tackle emerging threats”.
The ad ban will come into force from June as part of a clampdown on unregulated financial products. Google’s director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer, said in a blogpost: “We updated several policies to address ads in unregulated or speculative financial products like binary options, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange markets and contracts for difference (or CFDs).”
Google said its ban includes cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. The company will also begin blocking some gambling ads, such as those for services using virtual items worth real-world money, known as , as it seeks to “combat new threats and improve the ads experience online”.
Bitcoin prices briefly fell below $8,000 on Wednesday following news that Google, the world's largest online ad provider, plans to ban cryptocurrency advertising.
Facebook, the second largest online ad provider, took similar action in January.
Tech giant Google announced an update Wednesday to its financial services policy that will restrict advertising for "cryptocurrencies and related content" starting in June.
Bitcoin fell 12 percent in late January after Facebook announced it would ban ads on "binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency." The social media giant said it would prohibit ads for financial products and services "that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices."
Google, the largest provider of digital advertising on the internet, announced on Tuesday that it plans to change its advertising policy for certain financial services, including cryptocurrencies, starting in June. The new restriction would apply both to space on Google’s platforms, like YouTube, and to third-party websites where Google sells advertising space.
Facebook announced in January that it would ban all ads for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in order to stop misleading and deceptive promotions. Together, Google and Facebook account for the majority of advertising on the internet in terms of revenue.
The short announcement on Google’s advertising policies page did not specify why Google planned to turn away that advertising. The company said the ban also applied to content related to cryptocurrencies “including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets and cryptocurrency trading advice.”
