Google brands cryptocurrency adverts 'deceptive' and bans them from search results

Google has announced it will ban all advertising relating to cryptocurrency products and services from its search engine from June in a bid to tackle "emerging threats". The company said in a blog post it was cracking down on "deceptive content" including commercials for all and any speculative and unregulated financial products like cryptocurreny exchanges, wallets and initial coin offerings as well as binary options, foreign exchange trading platforms and spread betting sites in a bid to improve the "ad ecosystem" experienced by users. Facebook came to the same decision in January, snubbing crypto ads across the social media site plus Instagram and Audience Network. Cryptocurrencies have continued to make headlines this year after an explosion in the price of bitcoin, ether and their kind in the run-up to Christmas, with bitcoin's value spiking at $19,850 (£14,214) in mid-December. The market is currently valued at $352bn (£252bn), according to CoinMarketCap, with over 1,500 types of virtual coin in play.