Facebook has taken the decision to ban advertisements on all virtual coins, trying to combat scams and fraud, according to Mediafax. Thus "Bitcoin & Co." joins a rather long list of services and products for which you are not allowed to buy ads on Facebook. Even so, the company posted $ 12 billion in advertising revenue in the last quarter of 2017.
Returning to the Prohibited Ads list, here's what you are not allowed to promote through Facebook Ads:
- cryptocurrencies, trading platforms for them and any other cryptocurrency related services
- drugs
- Tobacco
- Weapons, ammunition and explosive materials
- adult products and services (sex toys, video chat, etc.); ads promoting contraceptives are accepted
- content for adults other than adult sites (eg a woman eating a banana in a way that mimics a sexual act)
- the sensational content
- misleading or false content; formulations like "Learn how to get rid of fat on the stomach", but not "Three incredible ways to get rid of fat on your stomach"
- controversial content; for example, you can not exploit a commercial scandal for commercial purposes
- Surveillance equipment such as spy cameras, hidden or GPS tracking sensors
- ads that include grammatical and punctuation errors, but also those that include gestures or profane messages
- nonexistent functionality; for example, you are not allowed to leave the impression that a picture is a video player
- Many ads that promote personal health; it is forbidden those that might make some people feel bad
- spyware and malware
Now, why they have included cryptocurrencies in this list it just beats me. Current times proved the benefits of blockchain and the use of cryptocurrencies and it contradicts what Facebook tries to achieve here. Indeed, Facebook is a company that controls the people, while the cryptocurrencies are made by the people and for the people. Are they afraid of this? Of course they are, but it just shows weakness from Facebook to forbid an increasing industry which cannot be stopped. I believe that they will lose more than they will win with this approach and this can be only the beginning of the end...