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Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

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11–20 of 151 posts

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#11

I think a time will come when these decisions will brigng lots of shame and bad PR for companies like google and facebook. I find it totally unacceptable for a third party to assume the role of babysitter for consenting adults.

It's not consenting adults if it's a scam, and Google can't analyze every ad to check for that. In a space where most ads are scams, this looks legit to me.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#12
As outraged as many folks might be this is just good business for Google and Facebook. Internet advertising, nay advertising at large, is dangerously close to becoming a regulated, or more regulated, industry in the wake of fake news and Russian troll farms etc. If they aren't proactive and people lose money they inch ever closer to requirements that can and will eat large chunks of their profit margins. This isn't even to mention that they're also getting pressure from the private side where a couple hundred companies control over half the world's advertising spend and are getting actively called out by consumer advocacy for where they advertise. The handful of dollars they will get from crypto ads (in comparison to their overall spend) pales in comparison to even one Coca Cola, Unilever, etc. pulling their ad spend. Advertising, and media for that matter, is not free and fair market. It is tightly controlled by a handful of players that will fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#13

It might look like censorship, but they probably realized that most ads where getting similar to penis enlargment ads and thought they didn't want to be associated with that.

Indeed, the crypto/ICO advertising along with multi-level-marketing schemes are a plague on social media. Guessing it's only getting attention because it's 'crypto' in the title rather than 'likely scams'.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#14

Google is a private business and they can do what they want, but this disappoints me. More and more Google seems to be thinking of themselves as content police (consider YouTube is owned by Google also), and I think that's a shame. Perhaps it will open up a market for dethroning them. A serious YouTube competitor that doesn't demonetize content they find disagreeable would be very healthy, IMHO.

A serious YouTube competitor that doesn't demonetize content doesn't have nearly as many advertisers.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#15
This is complete nonsense on the part of Google. I'm not sure when they thought they became God. Banning all ads for something that isn't even illegal and is a fresh new wave of tech and financial innovation is a sad day. Do no evil, sure sure.

This reminds me of when newspapers wouldn't run my ads for internet sites back in the day.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#16

Google is a private business and they can do what they want, but this disappoints me. More and more Google seems to be thinking of themselves as content police (consider YouTube is owned by Google also), and I think that's a shame. Perhaps it will open up a market for dethroning them. A serious YouTube competitor that doesn't demonetize content they find disagreeable would be very healthy, IMHO.

> Google is a private business and they can do what they want

No. They can't. Countries have laws that regulate what companies can and can't do. That's why so many companies have had to pay fines in the past. To assert that "private business ... can do what they want" deteriorates democracies and the rule of law.

update: My comment is not about if Google did right or wrong, or if it's legal or not for them to ban cryptocurrency ads. My comment it's just a response to the parent about how private companies "can do what they want". Sorry for writing a comment so open to misinterpretation. I hope this clarification helps.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#18
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the ICO/coin ads promising 49,000% returns that I see here in the UK, I’m glad that they’re putting the brakes on it.

Right but what else have they put the brakes on without you knowing.

You mean what ads have I been hungry to see, but mean old Google keeps them away from my eyes? None.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#19
post #16

Google is a private business and they can do what they want, but this disappoints me. More and more Google seems to be thinking of themselves as content police (consider YouTube is owned by Google also), and I think that's a shame. Perhaps it will open up a market for dethroning them. A serious YouTube competitor that doesn't demonetize content they find disagreeable would be very healthy, IMHO.

> Google is a private business and they can do what they want No. They can't. Countries have laws that regulate what companies can and can't do. That's why so many companies have had to pay fines in the past. To assert that "private business ... can do what they want" deteriorates democracies and the rule of law. update: My comment is not about if Google did right or wrong, or if it's legal or not for them to ban cry…

Please. Cryptocurrency advertising, the domain of “the next Bitcoin” and “100,000% return on ICO” scams, is an odd hill to die on in the pursuit of grandiose claims of “democracy and the rule of law”. Google can accept or deny any advertising they choose, and statehood and governments have nothing to do with it; I anticipate your “but First Amendment” reply and challenge you to think about to what relationship a Constitutional amendment applies. I don’t see people appealing to Westphalian sovereignty and The Rule of Law when Google doesn’t accept pornographic advertising, do you?

There is neither law nor regulation in the United States or California demanding that advertising be accepted and served outside of certain limited scenarios, such as elections. Anticompetitive concerns are handled via other means and do not apply. So, yes. They can. And their doing so doesn’t undermine democracy in any sense. If you believe this incorrect, the courts are at your disposal.

Do you have any idea how often the networks reject television advertising, by the way? One national spot I worked on took five tries to be accepted for air. Advertising media needs a rejection mechanism (else you’d get Bud Light ads on the Disney channel), and citing a civics lesson to lament it is just silly.

Re: Google will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising

#20
At first I expected this to be about JS-mining ads.

How the hell can these companies turn blind eyes to bogus advertising like [1] to the point that the FTC steps in - but suddenly have a conscience about cryptocurrency.

It would please me to no end for advertising to magically become 100% truthful and fact-based. But this is selective censorship for reasons I don't care to understand, the ads these companies serve will continue to be rife with lies and propaganda with or without cryptocurrency.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_weird_trick_advertisements

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