Google Will Allow Online Casino Advertisements in Four States Starting This Month

Posted on: December 6, 2019, 09:23h. 

Last updated on: December 6, 2019, 11:33h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More

Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Google, the world’s largest provider of internet search services, will permit advertisements from operators of online casinos in the four states that allow those offerings later this month, the latest sign the search giant is liberalizing its views on gambling-related content.

The ads will be allowed to run in Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – the states currently permitting online casinos. In the Silver State, the largest US gaming market, operators aren’t allowed to offer games such as blackjack, craps, and other standard casino fare online. But internet-based poker is permitted.

We support responsible gambling advertising and abide by local gambling laws and industry standards, so we don’t allow certain kinds of gambling-related advertising,” according to Google’s advertising policies.

The California-based company was originally expected to greenlight the online casino policy sometime early next year, indicating it’s accelerating the time frame by saying the ads can appear later this month.

Google Ad Manager isn’t yet open to online gaming operators, but companies in the aforementioned quartet of states will have access to platforms such as AdMob, Google Ads, Google Display Network, and YouTube.

Advertising Additions

News that Google is moving up the timeline for online casino ads comes less than two months after the company announced an expansion of its internet sports betting advertising policy.

In June, the search provider commenced a test, allowing sports wagering ads to be seen in New Jersey, but rapidly added Nevada and West Virginia to the mix. In October, Google signed-off on sports betting-related ads appearing in Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Acceptable ad formats can vary depending on factors such as the platform you’re using, the status of your ad, and whether a publisher or partner has opted to show such ads,” said Google.

The company prohibits gambling-related ads – sports betting, online casinos and otherwise – from appearing in venues such as Gmail, customer review forums, shopping advertisements, and ads run by gaming property operators used to solicit reservations from would-be visitors.

A Potential Money Maker

Expanding its roster of online advertisers, even it’s in just four states, makes financial sense for Google. The sprawling online ad market is lucrative and dominated by the company. Google controls 37 percent of the global online advertising market, well ahead of second-place Facebook, which commands 22 percent.

Last year, the company generated $116.32 billion in revenue from online advertisements, meaning that figure more than doubled in just six years.

Although Google’s relaxation of gambling ad content is a more recent phenomenon, the company has long made money from the gaming industry. In a typical year, travel and tourism, the industry in which casino operators dwell, is one of the biggest spenders on Google AdWords.

In 2018, only the financial services and retail industries spent more on Google ads than travel and leisure.