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Google Call Screen promises to help you deal with calls from unknown numbers or people you'd rather avoid. The service works by answering incoming calls, asks the person for more information and offers options throughout the screening process to better handle the call. To promote the feature, the tech giant released an advert starring The Daily Show comedians Dulcé Sloan and Ronny Chieng, dressed as Google employees, screening calls. The minute-long advert ridicules bitcoin mining, stating the activity costs more in energy than the profit it earns, and even describes cryptocurrencies as “money that isn’t real”.

It is surprising that a company of Google’s standing would publicly show this level of skepticism towards crypto Stefania Barbaglio, the founder of Cassiopeia Services

But a cryptocurrency expert believes Google has again shown a lack of understanding about the sector, by failing to grasp how they are evolving and becoming more efficient. Stefania Barbaglio, the founder of Cassiopeia Services, said: “It is surprising that a company of Google’s standing would publicly show this level of skepticism towards crypto and blockchain. “It demonstrates superficial knowledge of the crypto space, showing that Google is clueless about the potential behind crypto.” A major criticism of bitcoin is that it consumes vast amounts of power to keep it running around the world. Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of energy, with a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimating that it takes 2.55 gigawatts to run bitcoin’s software globally.

Google Call Screen: The new service helps you deal with calls from unknown numbers

The crypto market is however filled with alternative currencies such as litecoin and ethereum, which are designed differently from bitcoin. These newer generations of coins employ proof-of-stake (PoS), which consumes less energy. Ethereum, for example, is set to move to its Casper PoS model which will reduce mining competition and the like substantially. And NEO and Hyperledger are the next-generation coins with even lower electricity costs and related carbon footprints. So Ms Barbaglio believes taking Bitcoin as the flagship cryptocurrency shows little knowledge of and disregard for today’s fast-growing, diverse crypto market. Despite its expense, Bitcoin cryptocurrency mining is overall much cheaper than the traditional banking system as a whole.

The blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies has disrupted the financial system, by challenging the established way of doing business and transactions and decentralising power from big institutions. Ms Barbaglio said: “Google is a centralised system: it wants to protect themselves or show that its centralised worldwide data system is still the leader. “Unfortunately, we have reached a tipping point with blockchain shifting the power paradigm of centralisation to decentralisation. “What smart tech companies should do is to adopt forward-thinking, inclusive strategies to integrate these new technologies into their systems." Ms Barbaglio also highlighted how Google’s stand on blockchain and crypto does not affect the crypto community.

Bitcoin news: Cryptocurrencies have been ridiculed by a Google advert

She said: “If anything, it shows Google’s limited knowledge of the crypto space and its opportunities. “Crypto people do not care about what Google says." Google banned all cryptocurrency ads from its platform earlier this year with the aim of protecting its customers from potential scams and misleading services that could be found in the crypto space. A new policy in action from October 2018 is reversing part of this ban on cryptocurrency-related advertising allowing regulated crypto exchanges to buy ads in the United States and Japan.