Google crypto ads ban comes under fire

In March, Google announced the ban of ads of “cryptocurrencies and related content, including but not limited to initial coin offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets and trading advice”.

Recently, Vitalik Buterin, CEO and Founder of Ethereum (ETH), announced Google had offered him a job, although it was not clear whether he would help the internet giant with blockchain or cryptocurrency.

“I suspect the ban has been implemented to fit in with potential plans to introduce their own cryptocurrency to the market in the near future and therefore removing other crypto adverts allows them to do it on their own terms,” Blackmore Group CEO Phillip Nunn, told The Independent.

Gareth Malna, a FinTech solicitor for UK law firm Burges Salmon, said: “The decision by Google to act as a quasi-regulator in this context is a potentially troubling development given its vast commercial power. For Google to step in and block that market may sound like consumer protection, but is potentially overstepping its perceived role as gatekeeper to information.”