This August 3, an update of Google’s financial services policies came into effect, through which the advertising of products and services related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is allowed, as long as certain requirements are met.
According to what a publication on the Google support page indicates, advertisers that offer services of exchange platforms and cryptocurrency wallets, oriented to the United States public, can be promoted in the platform.
Based on this fact, a significant increase is expected in the promotion of products of companies related to cryptocurrencies that operate in the US market. The media specifically mention the case of FTX and Binance US, which are in fierce competition to gain a share of the advertising market in that country.
It is also said that many exchanges are willing to invest enough money. However, in order to advertise on Google, interested parties must request the certification granted by the company to be admitted as advertisers .
Applicants have must be duly registered with the Financial Crime Control Office (FinCEN), as a regulated financial services company, supported by a money transmitting State, or a bank authorized by the federal government or some state authority in the US
The idea is that advertisers are regulated entities that comply with FinCEN rules, particularly those that require exchanges to apply “know your customer” (KYC) policies. This body aspires that the data will then be shared with the Treasury Office.
Companies that want to advertise on Google will also have to «comply with the relevant legal requirements, according to the location where they operate, either at the state or federal level. In addition, they must ensure that their ads and landing pages comply with all the policies of Google Ads »(its advertising program).
The note clarifies that the certifications that have been delivered, prior to the date of update of these policies, are revoked . For this reason, advertisers have to make a new request for certification of Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Wallets , completing an application form published last July.
ICO promotion is still prohibited on Google
With this update, the Internet giant reverses a decision it made in June 2018, when removed all advertising related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in your search engine. As reported by CriptoNoticias, the measure was intended to limit the promotion of initiatives that did not comply with the legal ordinances of their countries of origin.
Based on that goal, three years ago all ads linked to almost any edge of the cryptocurrency market were banned, since the measure vetoed the advertising of digital portfolios, exchange houses and investment advisory services. Although the main prohibition was focused on avoiding the promotion of initial coin offerings (ICO) -very in vogue in that year-, considering that they could cause harm to the consumer through of possible fraudulent messages.
Under this same premise, the update for this 2021 maintains the prohibition of advertising ICOs , but adds to Restricted Products Decentralized Finance Platforms (DeFi) and Decentralized Exchanges (DEX).
«Announcements of initial coin offerings, DeFi trading protocols or that promote the purchase, sale are not allowed or commercialization of cryptocurrencies or related products “, says the publication. This also prohibits the advertising of “cryptocurrency loans, initial DEX offerings, token liquidity pools, celebrity cryptocurrency endorsements, non-hosted (non-custodial) wallets, and non-regulated DApps (decentralized applications).”
Ad destinations are also not allowed to sites that add or compare issuers of cryptocurrencies or related products. In addition, to the prohibited messages, investment advice, and aggregators or affiliated sites with content or broker reviews.
These Google restrictions are similar to those that have been imposed in some social networks, as Facebook did in 2018. In June of that year the platform revoked the decision it had taken months before, to eliminate advertisements related to cryptocurrencies, maintaining the prohibition only with respect to ICOs.
More recently, the social network TikTok also banned its users from including commercial cryptocurrency ads and promotions in their posts.
