A recent court ruling said that video hosting giant YouTube is not responsible for cryptocurrency-related scams posted on its platform. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak failed to support his lawsuit against YouTube over an advert using his image to promote a fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway, Bloomberg reports. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil Kulkarnia said in a tentative ruling Wednesday that YouTube and its parent firm Google are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a federal law shielding internet platforms from responsibility for content posted by users. Wozniak sued YouTube in July last year over a …

In a surprise move on Wednesday, online advertising behemoth Google lifted a nearly three-year-old policy banning cryptocurrency exchanges from using its ad services. “Beginning August 3, advertisers offering Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Wallets targeting the United States may advertise those products and services when they meet the following requirements and are certified by Google,” reads a policy update on the company’s support page. Requirements exchanges have to pass include needing to be either registered with “FinCEN as a Money Services Business and with at least one state as a money transmitter” or “a federal or state chartered bank entity,” potentially opening …

A major advertising industry organization in the United Kingdom has ruled on an ad campaign telling people “it’s time to buy” Bitcoin (BTC). The Advertising Standards Authority, a self-regulating ad organization, officially halted an advertising campaign by cryptocurrency exchange Luno for being misleading and irresponsible. “The ads must not appear again in the form complained about,” the ASA said Wednesday, noting that ads like this should mention that Bitcoin investment is highly risky due to its extremely volatile nature. Shown across the London Underground network and on London buses this year, Luno’s ad posters contained an image of Bitcoin saying: …

Programmatic advertising is big business — bringing in billions of dollars in revenue every year. Now, a decentralized marketplace is connecting publishers and brands over the blockchain, enabling them to make direct deals. Adshares says that its platform offers crucial advantages over mainstream rivals such as Google Ads, and crypto-focused alternatives including Coinzilla and Cointraffic. As well as delivering lower fees, its servers are decentralized — and innovative systems help to minimize the possibility of ad blocking, something that starves websites of revenue. A simple onboarding process makes it easy for all parties to start using its service, and the …

A new crypto plugin will allow WordPress publishers to receive ad earnings directly into their Ether (ETH) wallets, according to a Dec. 10 plugin description posted on the WordPress’ official website. Called “EthereumAds,” the plugin will enable content publishers to auction advertisement space for ETH using smart contracts. “After you inserted our widget your ad space is automatically openly auctioned off using our smart contract every two weeks to the highest bidder,” the official description reads. According to the EthereumAds website, the WordPress plugin plans to compete with Google AdSense, allowing publishers to earn ETH through banner ads. EthereumAds specifically …

The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, a major local alliance promoting crypto awareness and education, is launching the “Bitcoin Tram” ad campaign in Hong Kong; one of the world’s main global financial centres. According to a Sept. 11 announcement, the new ad campaign composes three double-decker trams fully covered with Bitcoin logos and ads alongside 20 similarly-designed billboards across the city. Hong Kong’s Bitcoin Association said in the announcement that the “educational campaign” was initiated by the Hong Kong Bitcoin community and is coordinated by the association. The campaign is financed with donations from the community, the non-profit added. A …

In modern business, there are no areas left where blockchain enthusiasts will not try to use the technology. Distributed ledger technology is used in logistics, manufacturing, games and in facial recognition services. And although many projects cannot offer anything qualitatively new except for the principle of using blockchain, some projects manage to prove their practical benefits. Despite the illusion that marketing/advertising and blockchain tech are completely unconnected, some startups manage to use some of the advantages of blockchain technology in solving marketing problems. Babs Rangaiah, who leads global marketing solutions for the Interactive Experience unit of IBM, said: “Blockchain is …

While Google’s subsidiary, YouTube, is facing a lawsuit for promoting cryptocurrency scams, Google’s advertising platform continues to display fraudulent crypto ads through its advertising network. According to a report by Bitcoin (BTC) crypto exchange, CoinCorner, Google Ads was running an ad for CoinCorner’s phishing clone website, CoinCornerr.com. The issue was reported by CoinCorner’s marketing manager, Molly Spiers, on April 30. Google Ads promotes a crypto scam but doesn’t want to promote a real firm Spiers told Cointelegraph that CoinCorner’s team first noticed the fraudulent ad on Thursday morning after searching for “CoinCorner” on Google.com and Google.co.uk. According to the executive, …

A company that aims to change advertising through blockchain announced its decentralized application is now functional across several social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The Atayen-owned Smart Advertising Transaction Token, known as SaTT, claims it upgrades the advertising transaction process thanks to blockchain while removing the high costs associated with launching a campaign, reducing payment delays for publishers that rely on ad revenue, and injecting some much-needed transparency into the industry with performance-based payments. At the same time, this helps remove from the process third parties that inflate costs for everyone, achieves automation and allows brands to assess …

Major cryptocurrency hardware wallet supplier Ledger has warned its users about another phishing attack trying to steal their crypto — this one using a Google Chrome extension. In a March 5 tweet, the French crypto company specified that there is a fake extension on Google Chrome browser that attempts to steal users’ crypto by asking them to enter their 24-word recovery phrase to access their wallet. Ledger Live gets removed from the Chrome Web Store The phishing attack was reported by Catalin Cimpanu, a cybersecurity reporter at business technology news website ZDNet on March 4. According to Cimpanu, the malicious …

Authorities in Texas have issued a cease and desist order against an alleged crypto scammer operating on Craigslist. According to an Aug. 7 announcement, the Texas State Securities Board (SSB) enforced an emergency action against New York-based purported investment provider Forex and Bitcoin Trader. The SSB states that this is the fourth such action since the regulator started a second investigative sweep of suspect fraudulent crypto offerings in late June. Purported investment returns of 900% According to the Emergency Cease and Desist Order, Forex and Bitcoin Trader was advertising its investment scheme on Craigslist Dallas, promising a 900% return in …

McDonald's, Nestlé and Virgin Media have joined a new blockchain pilot seeking to increase transparency in advertising online. Developed by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) — a British United digital ad trading standards body — the new initiative aims to assess the potential of blockchain in the digital ad supply chain, as business media outlet Campaign reports on July 16. First announced in May 2019, the JICWEBS blockchain-powered pilot is now joined by global industry giants’ respective media agencies, Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD, who will evaluate blockchain’s capabilities in the digital ad industry for …