The lists overlap on purpose
Google’s banned crypto list includes ICO pre-sales, DeFi trading protocols, crypto loans, initial DEX offerings, liquidity pools, unhosted software wallets, and unregulated dApps. Meta’s prohibited financial products include ICOs and CFDs. YouTube inventory is Google Ads inventory: the same Google policy applies. There is no ‘YouTube-only ICO format’.
Why platforms do this
These products are easy to mis-sell: irreversible transfers, offshore entities, celebrity deepfakes, and landing pages that change after approval. Google’s misrepresentation policy already forbids ads that do not reflect the business. Token sales made that failure mode industrial. Bans are cheaper than case-by-case heroics.
What people try anyway
‘Education’ ads to a mint. Influencer seed that is still a paid ad. App-install campaigns for an unhosted wallet. Comparison sites. Every one of those is called out in Google’s aggregator and destination language or Meta’s in-scope review. If the job of the click is to fund a token, you are in the banned bucket.
Allowed adjacent work (narrow)
Education without advice, tax and legal services, blockchain infrastructure that does not sell a token, NFT games that sell consumed items, licensed exchanges in certified countries. Narrow means narrow. Stretching ‘infrastructure’ to cover a swap is how certifications die.
If you are a founder hearing ‘just run Telegram ads’
Ask who the advertiser of record is, which law applies, and what happens when the token is a security. Then talk to a lawyer who does not get paid in the token. Paid acquisition cannot precede that conversation.
Build the lawful product
If there is a real licensed exchange or a storage-only wallet, the path is certification plus a site that AdsBot can read. Related work at Kiwi: SaaS MVP design and development. We will not assemble a banned funnel.
Frequently asked questions
Are airdrop ads allowed?
If the airdrop is a distribution of a tradable token to acquire users, treat it as a crypto product. Google’s prohibited list is about purchase, sale, trade, and offerings — not a clever word. Get counsel.
What about a play-to-earn game?
Google distinguishes NFT items consumed in play from games that stake NFTs for real-world value. The second is prohibited. Design the economy before the media plan.
Can we advertise on YouTube if Search is banned?
YouTube ads run through Google Ads policies. A Search ban for the product is a YouTube ban for the product.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a reading of platform Help Centers as of September 2026. Laws differ by country. Hire a lawyer for the token.
Sources
- Google Ads policies — Cryptocurrencies and related products
- Meta Advertising Standards — Prohibited financial products
- Google Ads policies — Misrepresentation
Figures cited above are drawn from the linked publications and are the responsibility of their sources; we date and scope them rather than presenting them as universal guarantees.