Google is partly lifting the ban on cryptocurrency ads next month

Earlier this year in June, Google had updated its Financial services policy and restricted the ability to show ads for cryptocurrencies and related content. Now the company is reverting its policy and will allow few cyptocurrency exchanges to advertise.

The ban on cryptocurrency was including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cyptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice.

According to Google’s ad policy the following is not allowed:

• Ads for cryptocurrencies and related content. Example: Ads for initial coin offerings, ads promoting the purchase or sale of cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency wallets, cryptocurrency trading advice.
• Ad destinations that aggregate or compare issuers of cryptocurrencies or related products. Example: Cryptocurrency trading signals or investment advice; aggregators or affiliate sites containing related content or broker reviews.

Also read: Where to buy Bitcoin? 3 ways to buy Bitcoin

“In June 2018, Google will update the Financial services policy to restrict the advertisement of Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting,” read Google’s announcement.

The company has updated its Financial products and services policy, and starting October 2018 will now allow only regulated cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise in the United States and Japan.

Google follows in the footsteps of Facebook who had withdrawn the restrictions that they had put on cryptocurrency advertisement on their platform earlier this year.

If you’re looking to advertise related to cryptocurrency, now you’ll need to get certified with Google for the specific country where your ads will be served. You can learn more about the requirements for certification in different regions here.

Applications for certification will be open once its Financial products and services policy is changed in October. This change will be applied globally to all those accounts that advertise such financial products.

By design, bans by Facebook and Google were meant to deter cryptocurrency related scams but since both of these platforms rely on ads for a chunk of their revenue, a blanket ban on one of the most popular global currencies in the present time doesn’t seem wise.

Also read: What is Cryptocurrency? And 3 other Cryptocurrency questions answered

Source 1 | Source 2 | Featured image by Sarah Pflug