Google backtracks on three-year-old crypto ad ban

Google’s new policy will allow cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to place targeted ads on its platform.

In a rather surprising move on Wednesday, Google disclosed that it was lifting its nearly three-year-old ban that prevented crypto exchanges from using its ad services. A policy update on the company’s support page said:

Beginning August 3, advertisers offering Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Wallets targeting the United States may advertise those products and services when they meet the following requirements and are certified by Google.

However, there is a catch to the Greek gift. Crypto services will have to scale through rigorous regulatory hurdles to advertise on Google. For a start, they have to be either registered with “FinCEN as a Money Services Business and with at least one state as a money transmitter” or “a federal or state-chartered bank entity.”

That being said, a significant percentage of crypto businesses will still not be able to advertise on Google as “ads for initial coin offerings, DeFi trading protocols, or otherwise promoting the purchase, sale, or trade of cryptocurrencies or related products” are still prohibited. Furthermore, news and chart aggregators, signals, and analysis services are also on the ad blacklist.