Google updated its support pages recently to reflect the fact that it’ll be banning cryptocurrencies and other unregulated financial products, beginning in June. This includes binary options and financial spread betting as well as a few other products. Google has been taking down many ads that violate its advertising policies as of late. To make the web a better place for advertisers, publishers and viewers of content that have these ads alongside them. In 2017, Google said it removed 3.2 billion ads that violated its policies, and that was about double what it removed in 2016.
This move follows Facebook, who announced in January that it would be banning unregulated financial products, which does also include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as well as initial coin offerings or ICO’s. Facebook said it was banning these ads on all of its platforms, which includes Facebook, Audience Network and Instagram. Now that Google is also banning ads for these products, it’s going to be a big blow to those looking to advertise these products, seeing as Google and Facebook are the two largest advertisers out there. Though, it likely won’t be long until other advertisers do decide to block these products from advertising on its sites as well.
Google’s director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer noted that “improving the ads experience across the web, whether that’s removing harmful ads or intrusive ads, will continue to be a top priority for us.” And it should be. Users that see harmful and intrusive ads are more likely to use ad blockers, or not even visit those sites, which not only hurt Google, but also hurt those publishers that are using Google’s ads to drive in revenue. It’s important for Google to block these ads, as it makes the web a better place, even if it does cost them some cash in the long run. For more information on what exactly Google is banning, you can check out their support page explaining it all, at the link below.