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Google Will Ban All Cryptocurrency-related Advertising (cnbc.com)

Google is cracking down on cryptocurrency-related advertising. From a report: The company is updating its financial services-related ad policies to ban any advertising about cryptocurrency-related content, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), wallets, and trading advice, Google's director of sustainable ads, Scott Spencer, told CNBC. That means that even companies with legitimate cryptocurrency offerings won't be allowed to serve ads through any of Google's ad products, which place advertising on its own sites as well as third-party websites. This update will go into effect in June 2018, according to a company post. "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," Scott said.

45 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Let Google tell us about the other side too... by bogaboga · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "... 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,

    I would like Google to tell us whether they have seen any customer benefit at all.

    Or Slashdotters can tell us: Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

    1. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

      I would like Google to tell us whether they have seen any customer benefit at all.

      Beat that title:

      "Google's director of sustainable ads"

      I'm guessing that title gets him to the front of the line at restaurant queues in Silicon Valley:

      "I'm sorry, Madonna, but we have to serve the VIP Director of Sustainable Ads first."

      Actually, I would rather have a beer with Google's Director of Unsustainable Ads. He's probably more amusing and more fun at parties.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

      I can get a project funded without having PayPal/Visa/Mastcard/etc hold my funds "because reason".

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      There's always somebody at the top of each pyramid scheme. Plenty of benefits there.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    4. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      I personally don't recall having seen any ads for Cryptocurrency, but there again I don't pay attention to ads. When an app on my phone plays a video I always turn my phone away from my face to not watch it... I'd rather watch a wall.

      That said, don't see the harm in ads for Cryptocurrency. One's that mine from the ad... now those are bad.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    5. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by bickerdyke · · Score: 2

      Actually, I would rather have a beer with Google's Director of Unsustainable Ads. He's probably more amusing and more fun at parties.

      May I suggest Google's former Director of Search Quality? who else could give the Job Title of "porn cookie guy"....

      --
      bickerdyke
    6. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by supremebob · · Score: 1

      Well, if you were smart enough to mine a few hundred Bitcoin back in 2010 and held onto them, you would be a millionaire now.

      As an actual currency, though, it kind of sucks. The transaction fees are high, the confirmation time takes way too long, and the value of your "currency" can swing in value by over 30% in a week. That last statement alone is enough to prevent most "real" transactions being done with the before converting it to something like USD first.

      Personally, I think that Google is more worried about the sites forgoing advertising and using a crypto miner running in the background instead. That kind of kills their ad based revenue model.

    7. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "... 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,

      I would like Google to tell us whether they have seen any customer benefit at all.

      Or Slashdotters can tell us: Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

      Wat? They could easily use that same excuse for investing in Stock or Futures Markets, or precious metals. Bitcoin and others are fools games and a bubble waiting to burst, but risk equals potential for harm.

      It would be smarter to simply claim Bitcoin et al are dumb.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    8. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Also: If you'd bought shares in Apple when they were lowest, or any one of the thousands of investments that require 20:20 hindsight to work properly.

      Which part of "ICO" doesn't scream out "a bunch of guys have just invented a 'coin', kept a hoard for themselves and are now hoping people will be stupid enough to buy them"?

      --
      No sig today...
    9. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wat? They could easily use that same excuse for investing in Stock or Futures Markets, or precious metals.

      Except financial markets are regulated, requiring disclosure laws and other things you need to be doing (like monitoring suspicious transactions). Laws govern what can and can't be done.

      Bitcoin and others, by design apparently, reject that this is something that applies to them. Because they're special and smeared themselves with unicorn poop, and therefore exempt.

      Having done that, don't pretend to be a legitimate financial market and whine like a little girl when people point out that you aren't.

      You can't have it both ways; it's either exempt from regulation, and therefore completely unregulated and less trusted ... or it's regulated and subject to the same laws as everyone else in the financial industry.

      Bitcoin acts like you've set up a lemonade stand where anybody can put up a sign that says "Bob's Stock Market", and any idiot with no qualifications can build an exchange, an ICO, or whatever scam they can think of. And if that collapses, or gets hacked, you get no legal recourse.

      Stop fucking whining about it, and ether accept that by not being regulated these things have about as much security as dealing with crooks, or accept regulation.

      Nobody is forcing you to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But absolutely nobody promised you that you'd get to play in the same patch as everyone else and not be subject to laws.

      Take your pick, but please, shut the fuck up about it.

      Nobody cares that your self-decreed "free from government regulation" currency runs into problems precisely because it's not operating under government regulation.

      You want to have your own black market currency? Great, have fun -- good luck and be prepared to live with the consequences. You want the world to legitimise your black market currency? Too fucking bad.

    10. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      For this you could use something like Square Cash. Or you know a check.

    11. Re: Let Google tell us about the other side too... by houghi · · Score: 1

      It is like the sheppard who kills the wolf and tells the herd it is for their interest. Some will indeed live longer before being brought to the slsughter house. The sheppard did it for himself. Correlation is not causation.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    12. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by gnick · · Score: 3

      top of each pyramid

      Pump & dump for cryptocurrency is organized, profitable, and mostly legal. John Oliver did a good piece on cryptocurrencies over the weekend that touches on this and other misbehavior.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    13. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Square still relies on credit cards.

      As for checks, you expect someone with a kickstarter/etc to ask every backer to send him a check?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    14. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      You don't have to mail the check You can use ACH. And the transaction fees are way lower than Bitcoin.

    15. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Bitcoin and others, by design apparently, reject that this is something that applies to them. Because they're special and smeared themselves with unicorn poop, and therefore exempt.

      Actually...
      Bitcoin et al. were created to fill a gap, to fulfill a need in the world. It is the need to free oneself from the mostly unnecessary regulation. Now, this is at least what the theory is. In practice, the whole cryptocurrency thing is not yet mature. There are doors wide open for abuse, indeed, and there's risk, of course. It's a Wild West kind of thing.

      The good news is the market is slowly maturing and stabilizes. Most shitcoins are doing badly, their value dropping steadily, which is expected because they bring little-to-no value to the market. Bitcoin itself is amazingly stable, if you look at last 30 days valuation. I'd venture to say 2018 is the year of cryptocurrency maturation and interesting things will happen.

      Now, I generally see lots and lots of people talking out of their collective asses about cryptocurrencies, and they consistently have little to no clue what the fuck they are talking about. Their information comes from crappy mainstream news aggregators and they never bothered to properly investigate the subject; as such, invalid information is being propagated. I'll briefly address some of the most widely peddled:

      - "cryptocurrencies are used for illegal transaction" - used to be mostly true, nowadays it's mostly false. There are literally tens of thousands stores which legally accept Bitcoin, here's how you can look them up: https://coinmap.org/
      - "tulip bulbs" - there's very little overlap between a classic bubble and cryptobubble. Yes, I still believe there is a cryptobubble right now, and that Bitcoin and by extension all other coins are over-valuated as of now, but the overvaluation is far from being in the tens of thousands percent, as most people imply. My take, based on studying the market for the last year or so, is that BTC should stabilize at around 6K to 6.5K USD a piece, and then slowly creep up over time. Its value can't fall to zero by design: the fewer miners, the easier it is to mine, and the other way around. Most mineable coins are designed the same way, it's just some of them don't add any value for now.
      - "it's risky" - yeah, you bet it is. So is answering to a Nigerian Prince, or any other thing in life, really: if you don't keep your eyes peeled, you can become a victim. Taking a loan from the bank can do that to you just as well, only the bank loan has no chance of making you rich :)

      Alternatives to the establishment are always welcome in my opinion: they rock the boat and disturb the status quo. Revolution? Maybe, maybe not, but the world was built by those who weren't happy with the status quo.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    16. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Bitcoin is not the only game in town. Transaction fees in Dogecoin, for example, are about half a cent at most.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    17. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Wat? They could easily use that same excuse for investing in Stock or Futures Markets, or precious metals.

      Except financial markets are regulated, requiring disclosure laws and other things you need to be doing (like monitoring suspicious transactions).

      Most Bolshy whooshes to you, citizen. For all of your rather long winded reply, it wasn't related to what I wrote. My response was to Google's screed about people losing money. Specifically

      "... 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,"

      Which applies to both bitcoin, stock market, precious metals, and futures. People can and do lose money in each - every day. regulations or no regulations. Its pretty lame when Google is sooooooo concerned about people losing money on bitcoin, while apparently it is no issue at all in any other investment.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    18. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by Sir+Holo · · Score: 1

      "... 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,

      I would like Google to tell us whether they have seen any customer benefit at all.

      Or Slashdotters can tell us: Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

      Benefits? When has customer benefit EVER been involved in the Marketing Department's thought process? It's sell it at whatever price the market will bear, not on a fixed margin or sustainable growth curve.

      QUESTION: Does Google ban ads for guns?

    19. Re:Let Google tell us about the other side too... by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

      You can transmit value around the world without first getting a third-party's approval.

      The unbanked can transmit and receive value using their cellphones.

      Court judgments can't seize your coins/tokens without your permission unlike your bank and investment accounts, home, cars, etc.

  2. Team Google World Police by SmaryJerry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, can they please just be a carrier of information again rather than policing the entire web already. YouTube already requires you have a childrenâ(TM)s show or you get demonetized, now they decide what is risky for you. They need to stop assuming everyone online has an IQ of 5 and let people think for themselves.

  3. Google pay anti-trust lawsuit. by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    Nah its not even that misguidedly altruistic. Simply put it competes with google pay.

    Next they will ban paypal and visa

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Google pay anti-trust lawsuit. by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Two things. Government is nagging at them behind the scenes through unofficial channels AND it is a great opportunity in the midst of that to eliminate the competition.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    2. Re:Google pay anti-trust lawsuit. by SirSlud · · Score: 1

      Next they will ban paypal and visa

      They've had a decade plus to do that, and they haven't. Anyone can say something will happen if they don't have to be around when they're wrong.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
  4. Prediction by Teppy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I take this to mean that Google will release their own cryptocurrency in about 6 months.

    1. Re:Prediction by GregMmm · · Score: 1

      Exactly.

      Sir, that will cost you 5 Googs. Sorry we don't advertise for the competition, I mean the bad cryptocurrency. You can trust Google...

  5. Re:Oh, darn... by datavirtue · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They are probably acting on behalf of the US government. This sounds really weasel-like. If they were serious about consumer harm there should be an announcement like this twice a day. Most scams don't get any attention.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  6. Fahrenheit 0b111000011 by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sanitizing content is the digital equivalent of burning books.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Fahrenheit 0b111000011 by bickerdyke · · Score: 2

      It's about ads, not content. That's the difference.

      No one wants books to be burnt or otherwise destroyed, as you never know if you may need it and want to get your hands on it.

      Ads on the other hands... like garbage, that should be burnt. And if I have it thrown at me against my will, it better should be sanitized.

      --
      bickerdyke
    2. Re:Fahrenheit 0b111000011 by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      So an article about an ICO might be shown, but an 'ad' for the ICO not?

      Really. This is stupid. Can Google please stop censoring the Internet, or offer a reasonable explanation why ICO ads aren't allowed? Like SEC violations?

      As if Kickstarter hasn't actually been used for what, in every so slightly different form, would be an improper public offering.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    3. Re:Fahrenheit 0b111000011 by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Oh, and while I'm ranting, the radio ads hear for refi offers that includes, among other reasons you might want to 'cash out' on your home's equity, 'cash in on the Bitcoin slump'.

      This is nearly criminal. Nearly.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    4. Re: Fahrenheit 0b111000011 by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Curating. Like they're curating ads for AR-15 anything.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  7. Ad Network vs Searches by sqorbit · · Score: 2

    They didn't say they were going to ban or filter searches for info on cryptocurrencies. They just don't want it in the ad network. I don't really see the problem here. The ad network is there business and they need to adjust to what they see is good for business.

    --
    Sent from my TARDIS
  8. This is great news by TheSimkin · · Score: 1

    This is great news. The "ads" for cyrptocurrencies and bitcoin and exchanges have been overwhelmed with phishing scams and missinformation. The organic results will be much better than any ads in this space!

  9. No benefit to almost everyone by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Or Slashdotters can tell us: Anyone know of any benefit related to cryptocurrencies?

    No. Next question.

    Seriously, most of them are rather transparent pyramid schemes or similar scams designed to separate the gullible from their "real" money. The few that aren't are just an answer to a problem nobody has except criminals.

  10. Not a question of smarts by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Well, if you were smart enough to mine a few hundred Bitcoin back in 2010 and held onto them, you would be a millionaire now.

    Lucky is the word you are looking for. There was no logic that would have lead you to believe that mining bitcoin would result in vast riches. Therefore smart doesn't play into it. It was a gamble that paid off for a lucky few, barely different than having a winning lottery ticket.

    As an actual currency, though, it kind of sucks.

    You don't need the "kind of" qualifier. It sucks. It's expensive, volatile, risky, awkward, not accepted many places, slow, and did I mention expensive? Transaction costs for bitcoin are WAY higher than for dollar transactions in almost all cases. (except those where jail time is a concern)

  11. Re:Oh, darn... by eth1 · · Score: 1

    They are probably acting on behalf of the US government. This sounds really weasel-like. If they were serious about consumer harm there should be an announcement like this twice a day. Most scams don't get any attention.

    Surprisingly, I kinda have to side with Google on this one. A *currency* shouldn't need advertising - it's not a product, but a medium of exchange. If someone's advertising it, it means they're trying to gain something, and with a currency, almost by definition, if someone else is gaining, you're losing.

  12. obCasablanca by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    I am shocked, shocked that Google would want to disassociate itself from solid businesses like pyramid scheme phony currencies!

    {your bitcoin winnings sir}

    Thank you.

  13. Re: APK Hosts File Engine already does... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Warning: APK hosts file engine contains a miner built in that eats your resources while making APK some coin.

    When confronted APK replied with "can Adblock mine coins? No? APK can."

    To which the reporter replied with: "what?"

    Moral of the story: don't trust a random stranger on the internet spamming shit.

  14. Gambling is fine though by Maelwryth · · Score: 1

    It seems a little strange that Google will ban cryptocurrency advertising but still allow gambling.

    --
    I reserve the write to mangle english.
  15. All hail the return of retard APK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    All hail the return of retarded Alexander Peter Kowalski

    Always at the ready to spam his ineffective security wares that will never stop an unknown threat

    His work is just as effective as an AV scanner that matches based only off of file names for the most well known viruses from last week

    We can all look forward to his piss poor arguments, lack of basic math comprehension, inability to read, and petty name calling

  16. Re: You from the first world... by suman28 · · Score: 1

    Don't you get it? He surely must mean he lives in America

  17. Re:Oh, darn... by Sir+Holo · · Score: 1

    They are probably acting on behalf of the US government. ...

    B I N G O !

  18. Not loving google censorship & search manipula by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    I don't care about cryptocurrencies.

    No happy about google's insane censorship, and manipulation of search results.

    JMHO.

  19. Smart money by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    is going to have to create a new search engine soon.
    No ads is the first step to big brand censorship?
    All the activist party political US brands trying to push their political view onto search results?
    Whats next? No search results?
    Deranking comments and content that mention term like crytocurrency? The math and academic papers too?
    How deep with the big brand crypto ban go?
    Time for a new search engine that actually finds results without having to guess at how a big brands political views will alter the search results.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"