Google has announced that it will be blocking all advertisements relating to Cryptocurrencies and related content in an update to it’s advertising policy. The child company of Alphabet Inc. is the latest to adopt this policy after Facebook announced a similar stance on Cryptocurrency advertising. Though the policy change doesn’t explicitly state a reason for the ban, it comes after an increase in Cryptocurrency popularity, and it’s adoption by scammers using online ads to promote fraudulent Cryptocurrency schemes.
This is just the latest in a number of crypto-related crimes and schemes including the infamous “The Pirate Bay” using browser’s CPU power to secretly mine Monero (a popular Cryptocurrency) using a javascript-based plugin provided by a website called CoinHive (don’t try browsing to it for obvious reasons). Another more worrying case of Cryptocurrency related crime is the recent influx of Cryptocurrency related ransomware, and the hacking of large Cryptocurrency exchanges, redirecting the efforts of mining pools, read more. Google’s motives in protecting it’s advertising revenue become a little more clear, in light of this information, given that it reportedly accounts for roughly 84% of it’s revenue.
This reflect’s a statement by Google’s director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer, that the policy decision was made to prevent consumer harm. This reflect’s uncertainty for the future of the Cryptocurrency market, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly warning that Cryptocurrency exchanges risk becoming illegal because the don’t disclose how they determine what currencies can be bought and sold on their sites. Google added in it’s most recent ad report that it had recently taken down more than 3.2 billion ads in violation of their wider policies in 2017, equalling about 100 dangerous links a second.