Google has just come out to announce that they, like Facebook before them, are cracking down on crypto related advertising. Effective this June, they will not allow any ads to promote cryptocurrency related content. This adds crypto to the list of other ‘high risk’ financial options that Google won’t advertise for, including financial spread betting, rolling spot forex, and others.
The section related to this in their updated policy says, “Cryptocurrencies and related content (including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice).” Are all going to be stopped from appearing on Google’s service.
Google’s director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer, said, “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.”
Marketers who were promoting crypto-related products will need to quickly reevaluate their strategies in order to avoid a significant downturn in their business. A growing number of cryptocurrencies and related services were beginning to offer affiliate marketing options as well, and having this ban on Google ads will certainly impact many of these people.
Google said it took down more than 3.2 billion ads in 2017 that violated its policies, which is nearly double the 1.7 billion it removed the year before.
