In January of this year, Facebook announced a ban on cryptocurrency and ICO related advertisements. This announcement came as a shock for many. However, an even bigger shock was to follow once Google announced their ban on cryptocurrency ads last week. However, this was already being speculated for some time before the announcement came. Amid all this hype of social media platforms, what many tend to overlook is the fact that these are not the first names to ban crypto-ads!
Reddit was the first platform to ban cryptocurrency ads - and they did it years before anywhere else! Cryptocurrency and ICO related advertisements are banned on Reddit since 2016. Reddit has had these ads banned for a while now, but they never really announced it out loud in a press release. Reddit has now banned cryptocurrency related Google cached ads too.
This may seem a little odd to many users - because Reddit is one of the leading platforms for cryptocurrency related discussions. Reddit’s cryptocurrency related subreddits such as r/Bitcoin and r/Cryptocurrency boast of 500,000 users! There are a number of other cryptocurrency related subreddits on the platform - each of which showcases news snippets, interviews and statistics related to various cryptocurrencies. For more details on how Reddit helps you stay up-to-date with all crypto-updates, you can check out Cryptoground’s list of the best Reddit Cryptocurrency subreddits!
Reddit has rapidly become the biggest cryptocurrency discussion forum online. The number of cryptocurrency discussions on this platform are so high that the official Reddit app has actually updated its name on the Google Play Store to ‘Reddit: Top News, Trending Memes and Crypto Updates’. Not only are the users interested in discussing cryptocurrencies on this platform, but this is something Reddit is actively promoting.
However, while discussions on Reddit involve ICO-related talks - the platform does not allow promoted posts talking about cryptocurrencies or ICOs, which are strictly banned since the past two years. However, Reddit imposed this ban without the pomp and show of Facebook and Google. Moreover, when Reddit imposed this ban on cryptocurrency advertising, cryptocurrencies were far from being mainstream.
The Crypto-craze hit fever pitch in late 2017 when Bitcoin prices shot to a high of almost $20,000! It was at this time that other cryptocurrencies too, peaked. Ripple recorded a growth of 36,000% over the past year, Ethereum managed to record a gain of 9,000% over the year - and Bitcoin prices shot from $970 to $19000+
Reddit revealed in a statement to The Verge that “Ads for cryptocurrencies and ICOs have not been allowed on Reddit since early 2016...Sections II.5 and II.6 of our advertising policy prohibit ‘improbable, or unsubstantiated financial products and services’ and ‘the promotion or advertisement of single securities or other tradable financial assets.’”
However, Reddit also displays certain Google cached ads. Basically, if a user has been browsing a lot of cryptocurrency or ICO related content, they would be displayed certain ads relating to these searches based on the information saved in the cookies. However, following this new update, even these ads will no longer be displayed.