Google partially u-turns on cryptocurrency ad ban
Tech giant Google has partially u-turned on a decision to ban cryptocurrency related advertising.
In an effort to protect consumers from the high risk of fraudulent marketing related to crypto-currencies, Google earlier this year said it would ban all advertising promoting cryptocurrencies and crypto firms.
But now it has rowed back on the ban, and has said regulated crypto exchanges will be able to buy ad space in the US and Japan from October. It means advertisers around the world can now run campaigns, but only in those two countries.
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However, Google said it will still not permit ads for initial coin offerings, wallets and trading advice.
A number of other major tech firms have implemented similar advertising bans. Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have all banned cryptocurrency firms from advertising on their platforms.
Google parent company Alphabet takes 86 per cent of its total revenue from advertising, and made $54bn from ad revenue in the first half of 2018 alone.
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