advertising

According to The Block, the New York State Department of Financial Services has issued new guidelines for advertising and marketing requirements for licensed cryptocurrency entities in the state, which include avoiding misleading or deceptive content. Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow stated in a press release that today's guidelines reinforce the commitment to protecting New York residents and ensure that advertising and marketing practices in the virtual currency space are clear, comprehensive, and accessible.The New York State Department of Financial Services announced on the same day that these guidelines apply to virtual currency entities licensed or chartered by the department, requiring them to establish and implement policies and procedures for advertising and marketing materials related to virtual currency products, services, and activities, with a focus on content accuracy, clear disclosures, and governance and review processes. Relevant entities must update their policies and procedures according to the guidelines by May 10, 2027, review them at least once a year, and maintain records for regulatory inspection. The Department of Financial Services will assess the implementation and effectiveness of these policies and procedures through examinations and ongoing supervision.Common practices listed in the guidelines include: reviewing marketing claims to ensure they fairly present products, services, or activities, are supported by evidence and verifiable, and do not contain exaggerated or false statements about performance or regulatory status; customer disclosures should be clear, prominent, easily understandable to the general audience, and clearly identify the entity providing the products, services, or activities; establishing governance review processes for advertising and marketing materials, designating responsible parties, conducting due diligence on third-party promoters, and promptly monitoring and addressing instances of fraudulent or improper use of their name or brand by others.

Alphabet (GOOG.O) executives stated that they are expanding AI-based advertising to international markets.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, payment company Block has launched its first Bitcoin advertising campaign aimed at the general consumer, titled "Bitcoin Does," targeting approximately 60 million American users who are curious about Bitcoin but have yet to take the first step. The campaign is led by Maria Pesce, Block's head of Bitcoin marketing, who is responsible for Bitcoin-related marketing across three business lines: Cash App, Square, and Proto.Maria Pesce stated that the advertisements intentionally skip over the science of mining and blockchain principles, directly showcasing how Bitcoin can be used in real-life scenarios. She mentioned that the related creative ideas came from customer research: one Square merchant referred to Bitcoin as "a more honest currency," while topics such as inflation, relief, and private equity formed the narrative backdrop of the advertisement films. Additionally, fixed supply, self-custody, and the choices of younger users are also key points of communication.Block also set up an interactive installation called "Lightning Lake" at the ComplexCon event, where participants could fish for Bitcoin and complete payments through the Lightning Network. Square currently charges a 0% processing fee for Bitcoin transactions, and Block hopes to make the experience of using Bitcoin as commonplace as sending an email.

The super political action committee Digital Freedom Fund, initiated by Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss in 2025, submitted documents to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, reporting for the first time advertising expenses exceeding $81,000 to support Republican candidate Ken Paxton's campaign for the Texas Senate seat, while opposing Democratic candidate James Talarico. Early voting in Texas began on October 19, with Election Day on November 3.As of September 30, the PAC has raised approximately $34 million, and its expenditures are not limited to Texas. Documents show its involvement in the Ohio Senate race between Republican candidate Jon Husted and Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, bringing its total support for Husted to about $7 million. Another crypto industry PAC, Fairshake, also reported over $13 million in direct mail advertising expenditures this week, with approximately $9 million supporting Husted and over $4 million opposing independent candidate Dan Osborn in the Nebraska Senate election.These expenditures indicate potential support for candidates who favor crypto policies and legislation. Prediction contracts from Kalshi and Polymarket suggest that Democrats are favored to regain majority control of the House and Senate by 2027, and the majority party in both chambers will influence the legislative process for bills like the Digital Asset Market Structure Act, which failed to pass procedural voting in the Senate last month. Paxton previously defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the May Republican primary, receiving over $500,000 in advertising support from the Fellowship PAC, backed by Anchorage Digital and Cantor Fitzgerald, with the funds executed through the Nxum Group co-founded by Bo Hines.

Netflix's U.S. stock fell 6.1% in pre-market trading after its fourth-quarter profit forecast fell short of expectations, and the company lowered its full-year advertising revenue forecast.

Google's advertising policy announcement indicates that starting from October 21, 2026, advertisers targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and software wallets in the UAE must obtain permission from one of the designated local regulatory authorities and be certified by Google.Acceptable licensing authorities include the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Advertisers must also comply with other local legal requirements, and this policy applies to all accounts globally that target the aforementioned advertisements in the UAE.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Jack Dorsey's payment company Block has announced the launch of its first Bitcoin consumer advertising campaign, aimed at encouraging people to use Bitcoin as a medium of exchange and to make Bitcoin "everyday currency." The campaign slogan is "Some things don't make sense. Bitcoin does." The advertisements depict scenes of Americans complaining about rising living costs and Wall Street bankers receiving government bailouts.Miles Suter, head of Block's Bitcoin business, stated that the company focuses on creating financial products that make everyday life more convenient, and this advertising campaign is the first large-scale showcase of a centralized financial system for Bitcoin. The campaign will run from Thursday on YouTube, X, Meta, Instagram, and Fox Sports television channels until December 31, and will be aired before select screenings of "Avengers: Endgame" and "Dune Part 3."Dorsey left Twitter in 2021 to focus on payment business and Bitcoin adoption, and has expressed a desire for Bitcoin to become a global currency. Block's Cash App allows users to buy, sell, and send Bitcoin, while Square accepts Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network. The company also launched a modular Bitcoin mining machine last year to reduce costs for miners in maintenance and equipment replacement.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating prediction markets, focusing on the compliance of their incentive programs and expressing concerns about misleading promotional practices present in the market.

A federal judge in the United States ruled on the antitrust case against Google's advertising technology business, rejecting the U.S. Department of Justice's proposal to "break up Google's advertising technology business."

According to a report by Reuters, Apple Inc. is facing a class-action lawsuit in London, with claims amounting to £2 billion (approximately $2.7 billion). The lawsuit was filed today in the London Competition Appeal Tribunal by Ann Pope, a former senior official of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, representing app developers.The core allegation is that Apple's "App Tracking Transparency" (ATT) feature, launched in 2021, imposes stricter restrictions on third-party developers than on its own services, giving Apple's own advertising ecosystem an unfair competitive advantage. Ann Pope stated that Apple's policies "have caused very significant harm to businesses that rely on Apple as a gatekeeper."Since its launch, the ATT feature has been a focal point of concern for global regulators for several years. Apple's official stance is that the feature is designed to allow users to control whether to permit apps to track their activities across other companies and websites.However, the plaintiffs argue that the actual enforcement of this rule has a double standard—tracking requests from third-party apps require strict pop-up authorization, while Apple's own personalized ads and services can bypass the same restrictions. This lawsuit represents the latest legal challenge Apple faces regarding its ATT policy and is the first large-scale private antitrust lawsuit initiated in the UK market against Apple's app ecosystem rules following scrutiny from regulators in the EU, the US, and several other countries.

On September 1, 2026, TCL filed a lawsuit against Samsung in the federal court in Los Angeles, accusing it of false advertising regarding some televisions using Mini LED technology. The lawsuit claims that Samsung marketed its M series televisions as Mini LED products, but these televisions actually come from a recycled standard LED product line and do not contain Mini LED-related technological advancements.TCL stated that it surpassed Samsung in Mini LED television sales in the United States between 2023 and 2025, while Samsung launched the M series at prices below TCL's lowest price and falsely labeled them, resulting in damage to TCL's market share. TCL seeks an injunction to prevent Samsung from using the Mini LED designation and unspecified monetary damages.Samsung stated that it will vigorously defend itself and insists on the quality and accuracy of its product descriptions. The report was written by Blake Brittain.

OpenAI announced on Monday that its advertising business has reached an annual revenue run rate of $1 billion (approximately 6.736 billion RMB), stating that this is proof of the effectiveness of its "diversified business model."This business has developed over approximately 200 days and is another growth engine following enterprise services, consumer subscriptions, and APIs. Currently, ChatGPT Ads has been launched in over 40 countries and regions, primarily targeting OpenAI Go subscribers and free version users.

Market news indicates that Apple will implement several adjustments across the EU, including changes to the advertising transparency consent tool, which was previously reviewed by the German competition regulator.

FlashRescue co-founder @DarcyAri posted on the X platform that the Hyperliquid-related Google paid advertising phishing incident has resulted in approximately $550,000 in financial losses.The addresses related to the attackers have been disclosed, and users need to be vigilant about the phishing risks associated with Google paid advertisements and pay attention to protecting their asset security.

According to reports from American media, the New York City Council is investigating the advertising practices of the four major prediction market platforms, opening a new battleground for the legal controversies facing this rapidly growing industry.New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin sent an inquiry letter containing numerous questions to Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase Global Inc., and the prediction market platform Titan under Gemini Space Station, as part of a so-called legislative investigation aimed at examining whether existing city laws are sufficient to protect residents from false or deceptive marketing by these emerging platforms.The City Council is also studying the development of relevant policies to address products that may lead users to "engage in compulsive betting on event contracts." In a letter to Polymarket, the City Council stated: "The City Council is investigating allegations related to Polymarket, and more importantly, is examining the prevalence of similar marketing practices in the broader prediction market industry, as well as the associated social harms caused to New York City residents."

In response to rumors on social media about "Doubao recommending hotels for a fee," Liu Xing, the head of public affairs for Doubao at ByteDance, stated on the evening of August 10 that the related statements are inaccurate. He indicated that Doubao's life service business currently does not have paid promotions, and Doubao does not charge advertising fees for hotel recommendations; merchants cannot influence recommendations or rankings through payment, and only pay channel service fees after an order is completed.Liu Xing pointed out that some platforms adopt a "commission + advertising" charging model, while Doubao primarily charges based on completed transactions at this stage, making direct comparisons inappropriate. For merchants, the actual channel costs and the effects of new orders are more meaningful references. He also mentioned that Doubao's life service business is still in a very early exploratory stage.

Google announces the addition of artificial intelligence and agent features to Google Ads and Google Analytics.

According to the Wall Street Journal, several U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the prediction market platform Polymarket, as its advertising is alleged to potentially contain misleading content.It is reported that the lawmakers believe Polymarket may not clearly disclose the nature of its products and associated risks in its marketing, which could mislead users. Some legislators have requested regulatory agencies to intervene and assess the compliance of its advertising and information disclosure standards.

The law firm Burwick Law has filed a federal class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against the creators of AI16Z and ELIZAOS, including defendant Walters, accusing them of violating consumer protection laws, false advertising, and unjust enrichment. Legal documents show that the defendants are accused of leveraging the brand reputation of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to package the project and issued the AI16Z token on Solana on October 24, 2024, later renamed ELIZAOS. The complaint alleges that the project claimed to have self-investing AI agents, which were actually operated manually, and did not generate revenue during the lawsuit period.On January 2, 2025, the token price reached a historical high of approximately $2.47, with a market capitalization exceeding $2.6 billion, and subsequently collapsed due to large holders reducing their positions. On-chain data shows that the most profitable traders realized approximately $39 million in profits.