Google to end online casino advertising ban in 2020

Google is about to change their policies regarding online casino advertising, and it is in tune with the growing gambling landscape in the United States.

The giant search engine company is loosening their advertising policies and will lift their ban on online casino advertising. The changes are set to take place in the first quarter of 2020 with Google looking to get a foothold in the growing online gambling market in the US.

While online gambling was legalized in the states of Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey in 2012 and 2013, Google still disallowed online casino advertising in those three states. There is still a nationwide ban on internet casino ads even though Google recently changed their policies for sports betting ads in states where wagering on sporting events is now legal.

In early October, Google updated their terms for gambling and gaming to allow ads for sports betting services in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. They had already lifted the ban on gambling ads in Nevada, New Jersey and West Virginia. On an international level the ban on online gambling ads would also be lifted for the countries of Kenya, Nigeria and Colombia.

As of June 2019, licensed NJ sportsbooks and gaming operators can apply for Google AdWords. Chris Harrison, the Google Industry Head of Financial Trading and Egaming, said in an e-mail to Gambling.com in August that, “All who (had) been granted a license in New Jersey and are operating (applied).”

Harrison made it clear that Google did not want to become a gambling company and would continue as a partner for the industry in technology and advertising. In April he said that Google was in the process of exploring options for their new advertising policy, which was a major challenge for them considering the state-by-state legislation that was not consistent.

“For us, regulation is a huge signal and will be the building block of anything we do,” Harrison said.

“We also take into consideration the norms and acceptance of gambling in any given state. We have to recognize customer concerns and face those as well.

“So it’s far from black or white in terms of opening up and allowing advertisers to use Google’s products and platforms.”

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