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Crypto Ads Are Coming Back to Google
Google is finally lifting the ban on crypto ads on its network. Will other ad platforms follow suit?
Wanted to say thanks to those of you who came up to say hi at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami this past week. Hope you were able to stay hydrated in that crazy Florida summer heat.
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When people talk about the 2017 crypto markets, they often think about the volume scams that came out of that period. The ICO boom created a decentralized and democratized way for people to raise money to build things. With that came bad actors who seized on the opportunity to, well, take people’s money and run.
As the craze escalated, the bad actors piled in. It was common to see ads for ICO projects on Facebook and Instagram. It was also common to see ads on Google Search, promising the next 100x token.
As the number of scammers grew, so did the list of scammees. Lawsuits were quickly filed against the ad platforms. Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the rest of the major ad networks quickly moved to ban Bitcoin, ICO, wallet, and all other crypto advertising, referring to this issue as an “emerging thread.”
Scott Spencer, Google’s director of sustainable ads, published a blog post saying:
“Digital advertising plays an important role in making the web what it is today—a forum where anyone with a good idea and good content can reach an audience and potentially make a living. In order for this ads-supported, free web to work, it needs to be a safe and effective place to learn, create and advertise. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Whether it's a one-off accident or a coordinated action by scammers trying to make money, a negative experience hurts the entire ecosystem.”
Google updated their advertising policies to address “unregulated or speculative financial products like binary options, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange markets and contracts for difference (or CFDs).”
Facebook followed suit, announcing a ban on “ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency.”
A few months later, Facebook updated their policy and introduced an “application process” for running crypto ads on the network. The reason I put those words in quotes is because this process was largely a farce. I can’t think of one company, even the major exchanges like Coinbase, who were able to get through this process. An Australian company eventually moved to sue the ads platforms to lift the ban, to no avail.
This saga left marketers without one of the most important tools in an advertising toolbox: paid media.
Fast forward to 2021: the crypto markets are back. Bitcoin has broken new highs. The Ethereum ecosystem is going nuts for NFTs. And most importantly, mainstream institutions and public companies are investing in Bitcoin.
On June 2, Google announced that it was preparing to let some crypto companies run ads on their platform.
This is great news, but it comes with a big asterisk…
It appears that Google will be allowing some crypto businesses to start advertising on its network in August. These businesses include crypto wallets and FinCen-registered money service businesses (MSBs).
It’s worth noting that DeFi platforms and crypto technical analysis providers are overtly excluded from this updated policy. Additionally, crypto lending services also appear to be banned.
Anyway you look at it, this announcement is huge for a number of reasons.
It’s clear that crypto has entered a new phase where it is no longer perceived as a scam or a threat
Google is very aware of organic search trends on their platform. The partial ban lift is an indication that there is enough demand from consumers that makes Google feel comfortable with this move.
Once Google lifts the ad ban, other platforms will follow
And most importantly, by allowing crypto ads, marketers are now empowered to spread the word about this emerging technology to groups that haven’t been reached previously
As the ban lifts and more companies start advertising, I plan to do more writing on paid media strategy and how to run a successful direct response campaign. For now, I’m looking forward to seeing how our industry rises to this opportunity to bring in the next wave of consumer adoption.
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