Google has reinstated price charts for Bitcoin and Ethereum in its search results after a brief suspension that left users without immediate access to cryptocurrency price data.
The removal, which occurred over the weekend, had sparked discussions and speculations within the crypto community. Previously, when users searched for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin or Ethereum, Google provided real-time or near-real-time charts displaying the current price directly in the search results.
This feature allowed users to quickly check prices without navigating to another platform. However, over the weekend, users noticed that searching for Bitcoin no longer yielded these charts, while searches for stock prices continued to display them. Interestingly, searches for "DOGE" still showed Dogecoin's price chart, and Google’s Ethereum Name Service (ENS) balances feature remained functional.
A Google spokesperson told Decrypt that the firm sources "finance data from third parties, and in instances where we receive inaccurate data, we temporarily remove that information from Search.” Their response suggests that Google’s Bitcoin pricing data prior to its suspension was found to be unreliable and was reinstated after the issue was resolved.
When the price charts were first suspended, netizens shared their frustrations and theories about why Google had removed Bitcoin’s price data and charts from its results. Many believed—incorrectly, in retrospect—that it was an instance of corporate censorship.
“Google has really started to suck. This is censorship and it doesn't even make sense. I can still easily access the price so what's the point,” wrote one Reddit user. Bitcoin influencer The Bitcoin Therapist suggested in a tweet that “rumors are circulating that Google may be attempting to suppress the Bitcoin bull market by removing the price chart during searches.”
“Google is run by radical leftists,” one user responded.
Another user argued that Google had removed crypto price data by suggesting that it was “because Trump endorsed Bitcoin.”