Google is set to tighten the net around gambling ads, shifting the requirements to obtain a certificate to advertise on its platform.
According to an email from Google shared on LinkedIn by digital marketer Adriaan Dekker, beginning 23 March, certification will not be granted to sites hosted on free website services or using a sub-domain whose root domain is a third-party platform host, such as wordpress.com or wixsite.com.
Furthermore, those applying for certification must own the main part of a website’s address, known as the second-level domain. Additionally, websites that have “no real association with gambling” will not be granted a certificate for advertising gambling services.
These new requirements for Google’s gambling and games policy represent the most significant changes since the company extended its restriction on offline gambling ads to 35 countries.
However, the tech giant has also brought in country-specific changes to reflect the latest updates to regulatory frameworks. Most recently, Google confirmed it would be adjusting its advertising policy for India following the prohibition of online real-money gaming in the country.
A wider problem
By making such significant changes, Google is seeking to ensure that gambling sites are run by the advertisers and reduce the chance of scams and misleading ads being allowed to gain visibility across its platforms.
The move comes as companies like Google and Meta are continuing to face increasing scrutiny over the proliferation of adverts for illicit operators.
Earlier this week, UK Gambling Commission chief executive Tim Miller accused the latter of being happy to “turn a blind eye” to advertisements for operators working outside of the UK’s gambling self-exclusion programme, GamStop.
Speaking at ICE Barcelona, he said: “Companies like Meta will tell you that they don’t tolerate the advertising of illegal sites and will remove them if they are notified about them. But that approach suggests that they don’t know about those ads unless alerted. That is simply false.”
“I would be very surprised if Meta, as one of the world’s largest tech companies, is incapable of proactively using their own keyword facility to prevent the advertising of illegal gambling.”
Previously, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was accused of cashing in on such ads after a Reuters investigation revealed that the company internally projected that 10% of its overall annual revenue for 2024 – roughly $16bn – came from running ads for scams and banned goods.
Leaked documents seen by Reuters revealed that over the last three years, Meta “failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads” that exposed billions of users across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to “fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products”.
In response, a Meta spokesperson told iGaming Expert that the report presented a “selective view that distorts Meta’s approach to fraud and scams”.
While the move by Google to get tough on potentially illicit operators may go some way to stemming the flow of advertising for the unregulated sector, a simple Google search for non GamStop casinos brings up a slew of affiliate sites offering guides to such operators, demonstrating the mountain that Google still has to climb in the fight against illegal promotions.
This story was first published on Affiliate Leaders’ sister title, iGaming Expert.
