Recently, claims have emerged that the advertisement of cryptocurrency ventures is becoming difficult on Google. This follows a move by Facebook to ban all the cryptocurrency ads. People are wondering if Google wants to follow a similar route. There are sources saying Google has not announced any official changes concerning its policies for ICOs and cryptocurrencies. The worried voices that are coming from the marketing industry of cryptocurrencies, however, paint a different picture . Google is the chief of internet and looks like it wants to go after the fast-growing and prominent cryptocurrency industry.
Advertisers are already reporting challenges and difficulties in advertising products that are blockchain and cryptocurrency-oriented.In April 2018., Google bans all cryptocurrency mining extensions from Chrome Store. The channels which showcase content that is crypto-related are reporting that they have been banned from the platform of YouTube. The changes of policy by Google have not yet become official but many firms and PR agencies have reported a drop in the performance of customers who provide cryptocurrency services. There are even cases where the advertisers get their ads rejected and even suspension of their accounts. Some companies have also reported that they have witnessed a drop in AdWords performance by thousands in a day. The drop in the numbers coincided with the adverts that crypto-currency related being regarded as limited during submission.
The recent approach to cryptocurrency is not however limited to the realm of advertisement only. Some bloggers of cryptocurrency and shows have also reported that they have found out that their channels have been restricted or even suspended. Some of the restriction includes cancellation of the feature of Live Video and demonetizing. People are still trying to understand why it is all happening when Google has not made any official announcement of a change of its policies. People have come up with several theories whereby some are contradictory and overlapping at the same time.
One such theory is that this is an overreach by the policy of Google against malicious ads, crypto scams, and fake news. The other common interpretation is that Google is being meticulous in regard to advertisements that are coming from the cryptocurrency advertisers. There are claims that the policy of advertising is very clear by Google but when it comes to cryptocurrency firms, the approach gets a bit stricter and unforgiving as compared to the other industries.
The Prospects of a Ban
The other explanation being given by reliable sources and other forums of professionals is that it is an the intention and effort of Google to restrict advertisements related to cryptocurrency and even go to an extent of blocking them. According to a reliable source, the move of banning the cryptocurrency ads was raised by a Jason Roy, a Canadian regulator four months ago. The senior investigator said they were pleased by the move by Facebook to ban the ads and he hoped that Google enacted the same policy. The move was rejected at first by Google claiming that it did not want to prevent the whole industry from advertising as much as it was already dealing with fraudulent and misleading ads. However, it looks like it eventually changed its mind.
Sources have confirmed that Google is really intending to ban the ads which are related to cryptocurrency. Google is banning any advertising related to cryptocurrency. The update is said to go into effect starting June 2018 . The company is updating the ad policies that are related to finance to ban advertisements regarding content related to cryptocurrency including trading advice, wallets and the initial coin offerings. This means that even those firms with legit offerings of cryptocurrency will not be able to advertise through Google advertisements products. The company claims that they can’t know the future of cryptocurrencies but they have already seen potential harm and hurt to consumers that the business is causing and they want the matter to be approached with caution. As much as the boom of cryptocurrency has offered big wealth and excitement, it is a space that is still unregulated and this has given out numerous scams of high profile.
This comes after social media platforms like Facebook banned advertisements which are related to cryptocurrency so as to protect its viewers from Ponzi schemes, fraudulent sale of tokens and ICO scams. The move came with the report of “bad ads”, a review of the controversial, deceptive, malicious advertisements that Google scrubbed from its massive video, display and search network. However, this is contradictory to what the leaders of such platforms like Facebook think. The people who are responsible for creating platforms of social media like Facebook have praised cryptocurrency and the technology of blockchain underlying it. It somehow creates juxtaposition since the companies which they are responsible for have enacted policies which stifle the development and adoption of blockchain.
A representative of Facebook has said that the policy is broad intentionally as they work to detect the misleading and deceptive advertisements better. It is likely possible an advertisement from a cryptocurrency related company or business might not be allowed on Facebook even when it is not related to any aspect of cryptocurrency. Facebook is however committed to refining and revisiting the ban policy as the signals are enhanced to allow for the advertisement of services and products that are not related to cryptocurrency even from the crypto related companies. The innovative startups might have to go elsewhere if the financial watchdogs in the United States and other parts of the world do not develop clear rules for the market of cryptocurrency.
Also, there is an irony to the move of Google. As much as the adverts regarding cryptocurrency will end, Google might be stiffing the development of companies that it has actually invested in which use cryptocurrencies directly. There are companies such as Storj, blockchain-based cloud storage and the platform of payment Veem that Google has financially backed which will be unable to make advertisements on the search engine as soon as the ban is brought into effect. The move of banning cryptocurrency advertisements comes less than a year later after Alphabet; the parent company of Google put investments in Blockchain.info online wallet which is based in London. It also remains a mystery how services like this will be in a position to advertise after the ban is brought into effect.
At that time, the partner of Alphabet Hulme Tom said that the company’s investment raised almost 72 million and the overall funding was necessary since the innovation pace in the space of digital currency is unmatched. Yet the wallet providers of cryptocurrency will not have access to the biggest internet search engine in the world in less than one month – New restricted financial products policy (June 2018).
Google said last year it took down over 3.4 billion advertisements which violated its standards and regulations and this was almost double the 1.8 billion ads that were taken down the year 2016. Alphabet, the parent company of Google makes almost 80 % of its revenue from ads and there it is important to convince advertisers the company’s ecosystem is effective and safe.
The Impact of the Ban
There are a few individuals who might mourn the advertisements barrage for the shady initial coin offerings which promise a return of 10 times and more. However, the space of cryptocurrency is a new economy that is booming and such a general ban may end up hurting other cryptocurrency businesses that are legitimate. Blockchain looks like the next financial big thing and Airbnb and Uber that are blockchain-based are being envisioned already. Actually, it is hard to get an industry that the startups related to blockchain are not threatening to disrupt. In the real sense, not all the crypto businesses are scams. So is the move to ban advertising from all these businesses on the major internet platforms good?
A Cryptocurrency Company’s CEO, Trevor Gerszt said he is not afraid of the move but he does not welcome it. It is a frustration for a legitimate business like Coin IRA which has done everything to comply with policies and offer legit investment products to be punished together with the scum ICO schemes (“Exclusive: Is Google Quietly Purging Cryptocurrency Ads and Content? | Finance Magnates,” 2018). However, the ban on ads may not affect the more reputable and established businesses of cryptocurrency as more as they are bound to impact the small businesses that want to use advertisements to gain brand recognition. For the startups, this means the ban will make it harder to get funds through an ICO. For the cryptocurrency related businesses like wallets and crypto exchanges, the move to ban such ads is definitely bad news. The startups which are blockchain based will be allowed to post their ads on Google as long as they do not include the aspects of crypto in them like wallets, tokens, ICOs, and others. The policy does not apply to technologies related to blockchain which do not have a relation with ICOs and cryptocurrency but the advertisements have to adhere to the company’s other policies.
The famous biggest digital currency in the world, Bitcoin has dropped to month low after this incident. The company slumped to its lowest level in a period of less than a month after the claims banning online advertisements that promote initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency. The industrial officials have said that these regulators are required to give greater clarity of the regulations. Bitcoin dropped by 9 % to $8367 which is the lowest it has reached since January when the company announced that the restriction will start working in June (“Google bans cryptocurrency advertising,”2018).
Some of the CEOs of crypto-related business have said that they do welcome the ban and the people that might be disappointed by the move are the con artists and the scammers. The large amounts of money which are earned in ICOs are based on relationships and most issuers who are legitimate have a good connection with blockchain and crypto funds. Some CEOs argue that the ban will bring a positive transformation to the industry and will assist in cleaning garbage (“Exclusive: Is Google Quietly Purging Cryptocurrency Ads and Content? | Finance Magnates,” 2018). The CEOs of Delta and CrowdfundX are not worried either. They say Google wants a better experience of advertisements for the viewers and the cryptocurrency community as a financial market also wants legitimacy. The restrictions are definitely part of the steps to filter the illicit businesses and activities from those which are genuine and have innovative products.
The market will become stable eventually and the activities which mislead will be removed. The companies that are going through ICOS should concentrate on showing their value through evidence and creating innovative and great products. In a way, it is not strange that the legit startups which are blockchain-based are not worried about the ban. Several startups have to fend off investors like Gems and Theta that have canceled ICOs recently because they raise too much revenue in the private pre-sales . As much as some startups that are unlucky though will be hurt by being unable to advertise their sales of tokens, it looks like the blockchain space has become so hot that even the general ban will not kill or even hinder it. It may just make it slow for some time.Some experts see The Cryptocurrency Industry Might Actually Benefit From an Ad Ban
Where To ?
This is a question that cannot be answered for some time. The entire world is waiting for regulatory rules and guidelines that are clear on ICOs and cryptocurrency. As much as the likes of SEC are pioneers in this space, we might experience constant apathy towards promoting cryptocurrencies and ICOs on several online platforms for a period of time. Unless there are guidelines and firm rules that will protect may viewers and users from misleading opportunities of investments and ICO scams, the extreme sanctions will still remain. Otherwise, the efforts to ban these advertisements will go to waste if the guidelines are not very clear and strict.
What is Blockchain technology ?
Blockchain definition
Blockchain technology explained simply: “A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions.” It consists of blocks – bitcoin blockchain blocks. Blocks are the most recent transactions and they are recorded and added to it in chronological order.Blocks keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping.
Blockchain explained
IBM made excellent free ebook “Blockchain for dummies” and important informations you can see in this video:
Blockchain is a new type of internet which allows information to be distributed without being copied. With the continuous evolution of the world through globalization, technology has also not been left behind. It is bringing along ways that are fast enough for people to comprehend systems behind their easier and quicker way of transacting, especially online. Blockchain technology, however, is not a new phenomenon. Surprisingly, its existence dates back to the year 1991. Stuart Haber and his colleague Scott Stornetta explained in theory at first, of how they were to develop a system, whereby the documents would get time-stamped to avoid backdating and tampering. The following year, they were joined by another colleague, which saw them improve on their earlier designs and concepts to enable several documents to be collected and eventually stored in one block. Blocks are typically storage centres of data or information. Various blocks are joined together to create a Blockchain. For the blocks to be tamper proof, each one is secured using the cryptography system. These imply that every block contains a cryptographic hash, which is a unique identifier such as a fingerprint or a specific code. For security and prevention of a possible hacking, no cryptographic hash of any block is similar to the other.
The first of the Blockchain technology prominent use was witnessed in 2008 when its usage by Satoshi Nakamoto in cryptocurrency revolutionized his company- Bitcoin. Dealing with digital currency, Bitcoin needed a foul proof public ledger that recorded transactions between parties in a permanently efficient and verifiable way. This revolutionary- Blockchain technology- is open and managed on a peer to peer network for verifiability through internode communication and block validation. Due to its permanence and ability to record events, as well as its impenetrably nature, the technology is viable for use in other areas such as health record management, voting, processing transactions, managing identities and storage of classified documents. This is because once an event is recorded, the ability to delete or alter is barely impossible without interfering with other blocks in the chain attached. Even then, the time required to do so is too much that the system will have detected the breach.
Essential Characteristics of the Blockchain Technology
Anonymity is where a person’s identity does not get revealed at any given time. This feature is critical since people require privacy, especially in transactions. As for Blockchain technology, every user is allowed an opportunity to interact via a generated address. This is where their real identity is not unmasked, and this reveals one of the Blockchains unique features that has made it popular and enabling its extensive use. On the other hand, lack of a centralized protocol is also another essential component of this technology. When data is in a central location, for example the central or federal reserves, every transaction performed needs authentication and validation by a statutory body such as the central bank. This background check leads to increase in operating costs and subjects the user to many hurdles before approval of payments. This process is tedious, frustrating and takes time to process sometimes extending to days. However, a decentralized system does not require oversight from a third party. Therefore, it is not a requirement for one to report or even inform the authorities when transactions occur. This makes the Blockchain technology fast and reliable in cases where instant or quick exchanges are needed.
What’s more, Auditability and persistence are among other reasons why the Blockchain technology is well embraced in cryptocurrency transactions. Due to the multiple nodes verifying information, it is critical to note that data gets verified instantly and reliably in the shortest time possible. This ensures that invalid transactions are immediately discovered and therefore, do not get admitted. Their strict protocol provides that deletion of operations, as well as roll backing them, is impossible, ensuring everything is above board.
Blockchain Technology Usage
Various sectors continue embracing the technology due to the various inventions it possesses. For instance, Blockchain technology is developing into a game changer in enhancing healthcare systems. For every healthcare provider, quality service delivery is top of their agenda. Through this technology, it is evident their chances of success are more likely to occur. It is clear that patient care management is directly in line with the achievement of quality care. Various institutions have set up rules and regulations in ensuring that this area is not subject to neglect by health care providers. In this case, Blockchain plays a significant role here in that; it allows alteration of data to get done by community users and various professionals. It is mainly through authentication of the persons. Through the private key cryptography, a digital identity gets created, and the changes added to reflect on the system within seconds. In the medical field, this is crucial as any combined data helps in decision making.
From Visually.
The distribution of ledgers is also a revolutionary technique in this industry. The open system guarantees access to experts while serving as a storage facility for data. Additionally, this data is verified, signed digitally and authenticated in real time. The safety of the information is an added assurance that since all members keep a copy of the data, no single user can alter the data. These systems are not entirely new, hence it is easy to transfer and pick up during an introduction. It is also worth noting that the healthcare industry too is a business like any other. Hence, when Blockchain technology enhances transactions in firms, several are healthcare related.
In the business industry, specifically the financial service providers, insurance companies, asset managers and banks, they are all set to benefit more from Blockchain technology. Access to a whole range of well-interconnected databases and cryptography has continually allowed such institution to gain unlimited access to tamper-proof digital ledgers simultaneously. Earlier the institutions mentioned above ignored this idea, assuming its failure. However, the Blockchain usefulness in the industry led to the consistent growth of these industries venture capital. Areas such as clearing and settlement of trades and loans in financial institutions are set to gain much. Saving of wastages accruing to $10 billion has been projected across the industry on an annual basis when Blockchain is integrated into the system. This proves that the technology is not only efficient, but provides an opportunity for businesses to control leakages that sometimes run them dry financially.
The Australian securities exchange, for instance, seeks to migrate all its post-trading operations and settlements on to a Blockchain system. Payments too, especially by central banks in various regions are set to move, and this is due to the realization of the advantages technology brings especially when it comes to fraud prevention and data security. The reluctance by the Switzerland Central Bank to embrace the technology after several calls from local financial players has led to some commercial banks within Switzerland to go it alone to a point where they are raising their own digital currency. Additionally, many central banks across the globe intend to raise digital currencies to curb the growing challenges that Bitcoin possesses on their monetary policies.
Moreover, the Blockchain technology can also get used in identifying clients and immigrants, especially in cross-border trades and entries. As it continues to enhance trade, various sectors too are mainly benefiting who include the agriculture industry, music industry and smart appliances, where in particular, users continue enjoying more control over their devices.
We can a lot of articles and case studies related to blockchain. For example this technology could help reduce the big internet companies’ influence and return the web to his original vision.
Blockchain technology could solve the internet privacy problem, Social Media’s Biggest Problems or Revolutionize the Healthcare Sector, solve whiskey counterfeiting; Ssolve the Water Management Crisis etc.
The Demerits of Blockchain Technology
Although Blockchain has been termed a revolutionary in the business and tech world, there are several challenges affecting the effectiveness of this technology. With the growing movement to cryptocurrencies and the continuous growth of Digital Coins, transactions are increasingly becoming bulky. It is, in turn, hindering effective service delivery due to the restrictions on the optimum time to generate a new block. With the speeds of processing transactions set at seven transactions per second per block, it is increasingly becoming a challenge to transact effectively, especially those with low transaction fees. This is because data miners prefer sales generating higher prices as opposed to those with lower fees.
Another major demerit is privacy. Blockchain can only preserve a small amount of private information on both the public key and the private key. Recent studies show that since transaction amounts and balances are publicly visible, it is not possible to guarantee ultimate privacy to a user. For instance, in Bitcoin trading and mining, transactions can get linked to reveal user details. This is through classification of buying behaviour and narrowing it down to given specific information such as the user’s age, gender, and area of residence. Therefore, in some cases, the user complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
Conclusion
Technological advances continue to improve the world in various ways of life. It is important to embrace these technologies as agents of change and simplified ways of doing things. Blockchain technology as witnessed is a promising product, especially in improving businesses and promises to offer a lot in other crucial sectors such as immigration and health care system, especially with medical health management. Central banks in New York, China, and Sweden among others, continue to evaluate the usefulness of this technology in their business models and how they affect their monetary policies. With the enhanced security protocols, its wide range use and reliability will attract many businesses into its adoption. The Blockchain technology is the modern world tech revolution and change to its adoption specifically in the financial sector seems inevitable.
George Soros Biography
Introduction
George Soros was born in the year 1930, August 12 in Budapest, Hungary. Soros is an American-Hungarian author, political activist, philanthropist, business magnate and investor. He is among the most successful investors in the world. He had a network of $7.6 billion as of 2017 February after donating $17 billion to the Open Society Foundations, his philanthropic agency. George Soros Net worth was $25.2 billion as of Mar 22, 2017. In 2018., George Soros net worth is 8 billion USD.
George Soros became popular in the year 1992, during the time that he made $10 billion from one bet that was against the British pound. The speculation of the currency gave the investor profits that added up to $1 billion in the first day and more than $2 billion afterward. He even was given the “the man that broke the Back of England” nickname.
Main facts:
Father:Tivadar Schwartz
Mother: Erzebet Szucz
Brother: Paul
Ex-spouse: Annaliese Witschak and Susan Weber
George Soros children are: Alexander, Andrea, Gregory, Jonathan, Robert
George Soros is married to Tamiko Bolton, who’s 42 years younger than him from 2018.
Where is George Soros ? – He lives in New York, Katonah, USA
Education and Career
He attended the School of Economics in London where he earned a bachelor of science in philosophy and Master of Science in philosophy in the years 1951 and 1954 respectively (“George Soros,” 2018). Soros could not find any jobs after he graduated and therefore he decided to settle for employment as a traveling salesman for wholesaler f of fancy gods that sold to retailers in the resort’s seaside. The individual described this moment as one of the lowest in his life. He wrote interview letters too many banks that ignored him and also humiliated him in the process of the interview (Soros, 2010). He worked as a clear at Singer and Friedlander, a bank in London. He also employed as an arbitrage trader in the years 1956 to 1969 at F.M Mayer. Here he was specializing in European stocks that were popular with the United States investors because of the formation of steel community that later transformed to the common market. Thereafter, he worked in an investment bank in the place. He later left for the US in the year 1956 where he was employed as an investment manager and an analyst for various firms.
Soros’s Philosophy of Investment
George Soros had an ability to synchronize world economic trend with leveraged and highly detailed strategy in currencies and bonds. He operated as a speculator shortly and was able to make bets on the trends of financial markets. He had a belief that the financial markets tended to depend on the amateur and professional traders and the people that purchase or sell assets on the market. Soros aimed at capitalizing on the emotional or human capacity of the influencers of the market to transform the investment decisions and opinions of others . The man was always looking for a way to stand out or be unique from the crowd as much as followed investment trends. This was one of the greatest paydays. He trusted his reaction regarding busing and selling and this made his strategy hard to emulate.
How did George Soros make his money ?
He left work in 1073 to look for his personal hedge fund, the Soros Management Fund. The fund turned to the Quantum Fund and eventually Soros was able to develop the company to a highly successful and aggressive hedge fund which made annual returns of 30% annually. There are two occasions when the fund posted profits that exceeded 100%. In the early 1990s, Soros was declared among the richest individuals on earth.
Market and Major Trades
Soros was contacted by Georges Pebereau a financier in France in the year 1988 that wanted him to take part in an effort of assembling a team of investors to buy a big number of shares in a French bank which was part of a program of privatization. Soros, however, decided not to participate in the effort and opted to move forward personally with the strategy of putting shares in four companies in France which included Paribas, Suez, and Societe Generale. In the year 1989, a French regulatory authority of stock exchange performed an investigation to know if the transaction of Soros in Societe Generale was inside trading. Soros got no information from the company and had no information of the business insider but he knew that there was a group of investors which was planning a takeover . The first investigation proved that Soros was innocent and there were no charges against him. The case was later reopened after a few years and he was convicted in the year 2006 by the French Supreme court. Soros, however, declined the charges and said that the takeover news was public knowledge and the document said that the intent of the individual to have the company shares showed that he was aware of the takeover.
George Soros Versus the British Pound – How Did George Soros Get Rich in one day ?
Soros is remembered by the “the man that broke the Back of England” nickname. He is also a known speculator of currency and does not limit his efforts to a specific area geographically but considers the whole world when looking for opportunities. The man borrowed billions of dollars in the year 192 which were worth British pound then changed them to German Marks. When the pound crashed, George Soros had to repay his lenders on the basis of the lower new pound value. He pocketed an excess of around $1 billion that is the difference between the pound value and the mark value in a one-day trading
George Soros made the same move with the Asian currency during the Asian Financial Crisis of the year 1997. He took part in a frenzy which led to the collapse of the Thailand currency. The trades became so effective since those national currencies that speculators bet against mostly got pegged to other currencies. This means that there were agreements to prop up those currencies to ensure that they were able to trade in a particular ratio against that currency which they got pegged.
As the speculators placed bets, the issuers of currency got forced to try and maintain the ratio by purchasing their currency on the open market. The government later ran out of money and was pushed to abandon the effort and this made the value of the currency to plummet. The governments feared that George Soros would start having an interest in their currency. When he did, the other speculators could ion in the fray, this was described as a group of wolves on a group of elk (“George Soros,” 2018). The big amounts of money that those speculators borrowed and leveraged made it hard for the governments to handle the assault or withstand it.
Despite the success of George Soros, it is not every Bet that he placed worked in his favor. For instance, in the year 1988, he made a prediction that the markets of the United States would rise continuously. His fund, as a result, lost $300 million in the crash process even though there were lower double digits delivered returns that year. In 1999, Soros also took a hit of $2 billion in the Russian debt crisis and lost $750 million during a technology bubble where he placed a decline bet (“Investopedia, n.d.”). He was stung by this loss and as a result, bought anticipation big in of a rise and lost about $2.9 million when the market crashed finally.
Soros’s family office has trimmed the stake in the Broadband Corp. during the first quarter, the management fund holdings of Broadband Corp reduced by seventy-four thousand shares to around 8000 million. The filing also shows the disclosed Soros’s stake of around 22 million in Vice Properties Inc. which the second biggest holding of the firm. George Soros also increased the stake by 330, 00 in Aetna and made the holdings of Baxter International by around 340,000 shares.
According to the recent news, the billionaire is weighing moves into cryptocurrencies. A member of the of office family got an internal permission to trade on cryptocurrencies which is an asset that several money managers avoid because of the track record of the sector which is limited and lack of volatility and regulation. The Soros Management Fund head of macro investing, Adam Fisher got the approval but has not made any bets yet on cryptocurrencies. The green light of the fund for cryptocurrencies came after the Bitcoin price that has served as a signal to several other cryptocurrencies. Recently, regulators have begun paying special attention to cryptocurrencies and this has scared investors off (“George Soros,” 2018). The interest in bitcoin is beginning to wan with the amounts of searches falling slowly since the start of this year.
George Soros current life
George Soros is Founder/Co-Founder of Quantum Fund . He lives in large estate, located in the Bedford Hills suburb of New York, Katonah, USA.
Conclusion
Trading like Soros is not for those with a light wallet or the faint-hearted. The drawbacks of the winning big and betting big is that betting big means losing big. If one cannot afford the loss, then definitely they can’t afford to resemble George Soros. While the macro hedge traders are the quite types and avoid spotlight as they earn a fortune, George Soros is taking and has been taking public stances on several political and economic issues. His success as a speculator and public stance has put Soros in a unique personal class. During a period of more than four decades, he made the correct moves almost every time and generated a large number of fans among investors and traders and detractors among the ones on the other end of losing for his speculative activities.
Google Bans Ads for CFDs and Forex affiliates – New Restricted Financial Products Policy in June 2018
Overview
Google is the worlds leading search Engine Company and the second largest public traded entity globally. With the rising call for more accountability of institutions that deal with the general public in ensuring fair, ethical and open dealings, Google is not left behind in complying with these elements. In the recent past, there has been an uproar on the rising deceptive adverts running online, with a clear aim of confusing unsuspecting potential investors, and when they fall into the trap, they are ripped off their hard earned money. Google, being a world leader in the advertising sector through its AdWord platform has seen it necessary to exercise accountability through enabling only the certified financial advertisers on its platform. In its announcement, Google has cited ban in its platforms the advertisement relating to the initial coin offering (ICO), cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges, as well as trading advice. The ban also extends on other financial products such as binary options and spread betting. Forex advertising network will change after new Google restriction to forex trading ads.
In the past google banned search terms for lot of products. All these have to do with investor protection initiatives due to the rising fraudulent cases involving unauthorized brokers taking advantage of the high wave for quick cash in these unregulated financial products. With concerns mostly emanating from the US exchange commission concerning the ban on ICO advertisements, Google’s move is seen as a precaution to avoid a future clash with the authorities on its role in consumer data and protection. On the same note, other major players in the advertisement world such as Twitter, Facebook, Yandex have taken measures to control the same types of adverts on their sites, either by pre-approval or by total ban, due to concerns they have raised over legitimacy and also because of maintaining the overall image of these sites.
What Does Google Ban Entail – Google Bans Forex Ads ?
Google’s annual earnings in financial adverts of cryptocurrency and related products have been estimated to be over $25 million. Nevertheless, Google has mounted to the pressure of axing most of these adverts due to the security of its clients, consumer protection obligation, as well as the future accountability and company image. This is largely due to fraudulent cases associated with the unregulated cryptocurrency sector and the looming security and exchange commission rules on protection of cryptocurrency investors. Canada and the U.S. have been in the forefront leading the war on ban for adverts on ICO and calling for the establishment of regulations in the online financial sector, especially cryptocurrency which in the recent past has hit the world by storm. Many investors have lost billions of dollars, mostly emanating from deceiving adverts which unsuspecting traders fall into the prey. With. This has come to the attention of the Google as a main player in the advert world.
Financial Services: New restricted financial products policy (June 2018)
In June 2018, Google will update the Financial services policy to restrict the advertisement of Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting. In addition, ads for the following will no longer be allowed to serve:
Binary options and synonymous products
Cryptocurrencies and related content (including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice)Ads for aggregators and affiliates for the following will no longer be allowed to serve:
Contracts for Difference
Rolling spot forex
Financial spread betting
Binary options and synonymous products
Cryptocurrencies and related content.Advertisers offering Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting will be required to be certified by Google before they can advertise through AdWords. Certification is only available in certain countries.
To be certified by Google, advertisers will need to:
Be licensed by the relevant financial services authority in the country or countries they are targeting
Ensure their ads and landing pages comply with all AdWords policies
Comply with relevant legal requirements, including those related to complex speculative financial productsAdvertisers can request certification with Google starting April 2018 when the application form is published.
This policy will apply globally to all accounts that advertise these financial products. For more details, see About restricted financial products certification.
(Posted March 2018)
The force on the ban will come to effect on this June 2018. Brokers in the mentioned financial areas will be undergoing a thorough scrutiny before they get approval for placing the adverts. This will eliminate unscrupulous brokers who sell unregistered securities or who pose as genuine brokers only to run away with investors’ money. After scrutiny of the broker information, Google will either reject or approve the specific broker. When approved, the broker will be issued with special certification to allow them to advertise for their product in their requested target region. Nevertheless, for one to qualify for certification by Google, the firms they represent must have acquired the necessary licensing to operate in the regions they intend their adverts to target. On the other hand, they must have conformed with various laws and regulations regarding their business in order to meet the AdWord requirements for the specific geographical area.
All these processes are aimed at bringing in some sanity in the cryptocurrency sector by offering protection to the investors, especially from deceiving adverts being run by fraudulent brokers posing as legit traders. The cryptocurrency craze, especially the one witnessed by Etherium and Bitcoin has seen hundreds of other digital coins emerge, with fraudulent traders taking this advantage and floating offers in terms of advertisement for unregistered securities, which has seen either a total market collapse of the specific securities, or marginal shift in value for a short period. In this process, billions of dollars have been lost and hence the call for regularization, especially in the adverts concerning this sector as it acts as the backbone of the whole process.
A good example of a fraudulent case concerns a California based tech company Tezos, which conducted an ICO in July 2017 and got a staggering $232 million, which later would emerge that it was a fraudulent deal based on a lawsuit filed at a superior court in San Francisco, alleging violation of U.S securities law. In such a case, Google and other social media players who are more involved in advertisement of such nature have seen the need of regulating the advert content. This is amid a growing concern of the investor protection following a huge amount of losses due to reluctance in streamlining the advertising sector, as well as that of the digital currencies.
The Effects of the Ban on Google, Brokers and the Investors
Google through its platform Adwords lakes in billions of dollars in terms of advertisement revenues. In the recent past, one of its most lucrative sectors for the advertisement has been cryptocurrency related adverts. It is estimated that from this sector alone, Google earned an estimated $25 million annually in terms of advertisement revenues. Nonetheless, Google is concerned more by reputation, consumer protection and future accountability, more than revenues for now. In 2017, in a move to safeguard investors and consumers in its platforms, Google pulled down an estimated 3.2 billion ads that violated their terms of use. Through its annual report, Google indicated that it was more concerned about the user experience rather than the advertisements. Therefore, in the long run, the gain will be higher than the estimated loss in revenue for now, as more consumers gain confidence when dealing with the platform and increase their spending and advertisement due to the legitimacy of the site. This news was one of the biggest news on Bloomberg such as Bloomberg video about Google financial restriction and Bloomberg news about bitcoin drop and CNBC news about google bans cryptocurrency
For the brokers, the best time to make a difference is now. All is not lost. In fact, this is the time for those who offer genuine adverts to take the advantage and get certification as the unscrupulous brokers get scared. For the genuine brokers, this is the time for the right push for their products. As the Google positions itself as an open and genuine platform, the brokers have the opportunity to associate with these attributes now and in the future to gain investor confidence. On the other hand, as the market penetration will now become difficult, brokers can explore other options such as optimization of the Google search ranking, operating genuine websites and performing offline marketing. On the same note, trading companies can increase their social media presence, as well as increase traditional advertising such as below the line marketing and Radio or TV advertisements. This will ensure that even when they face the ban effects over the Google AdWords, their presence is still felt on the other platforms, and they are able to maintain their clientele informed.
On the investor side, the Google ban means more than ‘just a ban’. This will increase client confidence and user experience which is good for the company also. The users will feel safe and valued and therefore, giving them the confidence to transact over the platform. The ban is also a sort of assurance that the adverts which appear on the AdWords are genuine and have been verified by Google, creating a responsible environment where users can feel secure with whoever they will be dealing with. Investors are always concerned about how secure their payment will be and therefore, having a notion that the existing brokers are certified and the adverts thus are genuine, this in turn provides confidence in the choice of investment. The move will also ensure that fraudulent cases are reduced and in cases where they appear, Google is aware of how to hold accountable as it will have already verified the user and known them more.
Without consumers, organizations can barely survive and thus the need to be more vigilant in protecting them whenever possible. The move by Google can be termed as a broad move for the interest of its users and to avert future troubles of being held accountable for the damages or losses which may emanate from a non-regulated advert sector. This move has also seen other big players extend the same measures, and sooner or later, it’s the hope of many investors that they will operate in a world where deceiving adverts will be a thing of the past and where brokers will be responsible. This reality is not way too far considering the measures being taken presently to attain a free fair and genuine advertisement world.