Rules around sports betting relaxed

Google has updated its gambling advertising policies following the success of sports betting in the United States. This is quite a turnaround given the strict sanctions enforced by the search giant just a few years ago.

Policies surrounding gambling advertisements have now been updated to allow promotional material in several US states alongside international markets.

This includes the states of Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Limited beta already launched

Google launched a limited beta program in June that allowed sports betting ads in the states of Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia following the Supreme Court ruling in favor of legal wagering.

free to create promotional material that can be featured in Google Ads, Google Display Network, YouTube, and AdMob

Approved operators are now free to create promotional material that can be featured in Google Ads, Google Display Network, YouTube, and AdMob. However, no gambling-related ads will be allowed through Google Ad Manager.

The relaxing of such rules also comes with a caveat that all advertisement must be sports betting related, and cannot include casino games or anything deemed enticing to potential underage gamblers.

Policies revamped

Google has been looking to review its gambling advertising policies ever since it allowed gambling apps that accepted real money bets in its Google Play store back in 2017.

While only available in a handful of countries, the search giant has started to gradually relent, allowing daily fantasy sports advertising in licensed US states from this August.

This means that gambling companies looking to run ads must have the permission of that country’s regulatory body before Google will allow ads to go live.

Attitudes changing

Interestingly, Kenya’s government tried to pass strict legislation that would prevent operators from advertising on social media. Despite this, Google has included the country in its latest policy update.

Kenya’s government tried to pass strict legislation that would prevent operators from advertising on social media

Despite regular updates from Google, it can be difficult for advertisers to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to following regulations.

Online operator Casumo recently fell out of favor with the UK advertising watchdog after their adverts appeared on Google under “how to unsubscribe from all gambling”.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld an individual complaint back in May after deciding that it was irresponsibly targeted. The operator later promised to take out the word ‘unsubscribe’ from all further adverts.