Google Runs Coinbase Ads, Is the Tech Giant Taking a Cue from Facebook?

In January of this year, Facebook was the leading tech company to ban advertisements relating to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs). But barely five months after the ban went into effect, the tech giant has reversed the ban on cryptocurrency adverts but sustained the one on ICOs.

ICOs became an important avenue for raising funding for cryptocurrency projects in 2017 and increased in popularity in 2018. Statistics show that startups raised an estimated $13.7 billion in the first five months of 2018 - an amount that is more than double what was raised in all of 2017.

But not all ICO campaigns have been genuine. A report released recently by Statis Group, an ICO advisory company, shows that at least 80% of ICOs launched in 2017 were scams. This is precisely why tech companies decided to ban cryptocurrency and ICO related ads on their platform in an effort to protect their customers from getting scammed.

Though the cryptocurrency industry may be flooded with fake ICOs, there are credible ICOs that solve real issues and are deserving of investor support. Such ICOs include BlockVest which makes it easier for investors to manage their digital asset portfolios, AnthemGold which enables investors to trade precious metals with ease, and Bank52 which enhances collaboration and networking in the banking sectors.

A Genuine Step?

In its recent communication, Facebook said that during the period when its cryptocurrency ad ban was effective, it explored the best way to refine the blanket ban to enable some ads to run on its platform while ensuring the safety of its customers.

Under the revised ads policy, the company requires cryptocurrency firms that wish to run ads on its platform to submit an application for vetting. The company has also created a blockchain engineering department and appointed Evan Chen as its director. These recent steps taken by Facebook point to a possibility that the tech giant is looking to do more with blockchain.

But based on the company's history, some players in the cryptocurrency industry are already questioning its motive.

Jose Merino, Chairman of SID Limited, says, "At this stage in the Facebook history of continuous user privacy violations on a mass-scale and decision taking as centralized as it can get, it is hard to get the masses to believe in the ethical focus they are giving for such a negative stance against blockchain startup companies, who are trying to raise funds."

Tagging Along

But soon after Facebook restored cryptocurrency ads on its platform, Alphabet seems to be doing the same too. Towards the end of July, the cryptocurrency community got a good surprise when Alphabet ran ads that promoted Coinbase. But it remains to be seen whether the tech giant will reverse its policy on cryptocurrency ads like Facebook . Alphabet announced the ban on cryptocurrencies less than three months after Facebook .

Sally Khudairi, chief marketing officer at OptDyn, says, "Social media channels following suit will help protect user identity and reduce inflammatory content by ensuring that their data sources are credible. Facebook ’s attempt 18 months ago to curb the spread of false content amongst its billions of users has not yielded the desired results, reinforcing the challenge of taking responsibility and control without veering into censorship. At the end of the day, innovation is essential to sustainability.”

OptDyn are the makers of Subutai, the world's first intelligent, blockchain-driven Peer-to-Peer Cloud Computing platform that brings Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, and cryptocurrency mining to everyone.