Google Ends Crypto Ad Ban Starting October

Google is following FaceBook in ending its ban on crypto ads. Moving forward advertisers from around the world will be able to run certain types of crypto ads in the US and Japan.

With that said, this is more of a loosening of a ban than a full reversal of policy.

There are still restrictions on what kind of companies can run ads.

Generally speaking, regulated crypto exchanges and some other crypto related companies will be able to run ads moving forward.

Here is the deal:

• Google banned crypto ads earlier in the year.
• The ban was mirrored by more than one internet / social media company, for example Facebook. The general idea of the ban was to protect consumers from all the scams that were popping up (like Bitconnect).
• A little bit later Google allowed a few ads on its platform with very specific criteria, however they kept the general ban. Around this time Facebook lifted its ban.
• Now Google too is lifting its general ban. Their support page says it is specifically lifted for “regulated cryptocurrency exchanges.”
• With that above noted, advertisers still have to follow Google’s general rule-set and that means not every crypto ad that meets the general criteria will be making it through quality control.

Read more at CNBC: Google ends cryptocurrency ad ban — but only for certain kinds of ads. For the official notice, see Google’s support page: Update to Financial products and services policy (October 2018).