SEO consultant Ivana Flynn breaks down how affiliates can navigate search marketing now that Google has retired using FAQ code.
In the online gambling and sports betting industry, using FAQ code (also known as FAQ schema mark-up) is just as common and important as using code for organisation info, site navigation, game details, star ratings, and betting offers to help sites rank better.
However, on 7 May Google decided to discontinue FAQ schema, so what does this mean for this industry?
For igaming affiliates, this is another clear signal that Google is continuing to reduce ‘SERP manipulation’ (search engine results pages) opportunities and prioritise authority, trust, and real content value over technical mark-up tricks.
FAQs rich results were sadly manipulated and served spammy data.
What has changed?
For years, affiliates used FAQ page schema to generate expandable question-and-answer dropdowns directly in Google search results to fight for visibility across SERPs. These rich snippets increased SERP real estate, boosted click-through rates (CTR), and helped pages stand out in highly competitive verticals like casino and sportsbook SEO.
That is now gone. Google confirmed that:
- FAQ rich results no longer appear in search;
- FAQ reporting in Google Search Console will be removed;
- Rich results test support for FAQ mark-up will disappear; and
- Search Console API support for FAQ rich results will also be retired later in 2026.
What affiliates must understand is the FAQ schema itself is not ‘penalised’ or invalid. The mark-up can still exist on the pages – Google simply will not display FAQ dropdowns in SERPs anymore for standard websites.
Why does this matter for iGaming affiliates?
For casino affiliates, FAQ schema was heavily used on all types of pages such as casino reviews, bonus pages, slots reviews and betting guides.
The goal was obvious: occupy as much space in SERPs as possible and improve CTR. Naturally the CTR will drop as the space occupied by affiliates will shrink.
I would recommend running an audit, find all your FAQ schema. Keep in mind that FAQs are still a popular content format, so take the content out of the structured data, reoptimise it and keep them live on your pages.
I’d also suggest not placing them in crawlable accordions as according to a study by SearchPilot, tests showed a 12% uplift in organic sessions.
What should iGaming affiliates do now?
Well, stop treating FAQ schema as an SEO hack and start doing proper SEO. FAQ sections should now exist primarily for users.
Make sure you research and optimise to answer real user concerns, improve conversions and support E-E-A-T signals. You want to clean up as well, make sure to remove duplicate FAQs, and thin ‘SEO fluff’ questions.
Focus on providing real information – Google increasingly rewards pages that provide unique value.
Instead of generic FAQs like – ‘is casino x safe?’ or ‘does casino x have slots?’ – create high quality content with real testing insights, payment speed comparisons, bonus abuse warnings, country-specific details, withdrawal proof and player experience data.
This creates differentiation Google can actually reward.
Work on improving CTR without manipulating rich snippets. Since FAQ dropdowns are gone, affiliates must improve organic CTR differently. Focus on good SEO work, such as stronger titles, brand recognition and review freshness. Winning clicks now depends more on brand trust and messaging than SERP enhancements.
While Google removing FAQ rich results marks the end of a major SEO tactic that affiliates relied on for years, it’s not the end for affiliates in igaming.
Ivana Flynn is an SEO consultant working predominantly within the igaming industry.
