Google announces revisions to gambling and games policy

Google has announced a revision to its Gambling and Games advertising policy, which will take effect on April 14. The company shared a preview of the new guidelines before it is introduced formally.

As per media reports, the Finance Ministry has invited stakeholders from the RMG industry to discuss issues like money laundering in online gaming. The meeting is expected to take up challenges faced by the industry, including GST and offshore gambling companies in India.

“The update will include revisions to country specific guidelines and provide more detailed explanations of the different gambling categories,” said Google.

As per the new guidelines, Google will categorise any content that provides direct links to online gambling or promoting online gaming services as “gambling promoting”.

“We support responsible gambling advertising and require that advertisers abide by local gambling laws and industry standards. Check local regulations for the areas you want to target.

“The below policy covers online gambling, offline gambling and online gambling-promoting content. Each section of this policy sets out what we allow within each category. We only allow advertising of gambling and gambling-promoting content where the criteria set out in the relevant sections below are met. Gambling and online gambling-promoting content ads and destinations must also: only target approved countries; have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling and; never target minors,” said the company.

As per the updated policy, Google will allow “Online casinos or bookmakers, online bingo or slots sites or apps, online lottery ticket or online scratch card purchase, online sports betting, online gambling games played with virtual currencies or items that have real-world value” and “Aggregator or affiliate sites that provide information about, or a comparison of, other gambling services.”

However, Google specified that it doesn't support online gambling promoting content other than aggregator or affiliate sites that provide information about, or a comparison of, other gambling services is not allowed.

“Google doesn't allow the promotion of Mahjong involving the exchange of money in the Asia-Pacific region,” it specified.