Taking a cue from Facebook, Google has announced that it will ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and other "speculative financial products" across its ad platforms.
"In June 2018, Google will update the financial services policy to restrict the advertisement of contracts for difference, rolling spot forex and financial spread betting," the company wrote in a blog post.
Updating its financial services-related ad policies to ban any advertising about cryptocurrency-related content, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), wallets and trading advice, the Alphabet-owned company said that this policy will apply globally to all accounts that advertise these financial products.
"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 Spencer, Director of Sustainable Ads, Google, was quoted as saying by CNBC on Tuesday.
Scammers are using "crypto-jacking" or putting lines of code in websites or ads to surreptitiously harness the computing power of the web surfers who look at them.
The power is used to mine cryptocurrency -- a digital form of money that has no government or central-bank printing it or standing behind it.
In January, social media giant Facebook banned all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.
The new policy prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, Facebook said in a statement.
"We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception.
"That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith," said Rob Leathern, Product Management Director at Facebook.
The enforcement will begin to ramp up across Facebook platforms.
(IANS)
