Google will be revising its Gambling and Games advertising policy, with an official update coming on Monday, April 14. The company has already shared a preview of what these changes may look like, but the changes outlined are not the final document, which may undergo further scrutiny and changes.

Google to roll out stricter gambling ad policy come April

Google has been particularly sensitive to gambling ads and has taken painstaking steps to ensure that it keeps bad actors at bay. To help further tighten its ads rules, the company has said that it would now more clearly define "gambling" and "gambling-promoting content" as part of its updated policy, which should help clear up ambiguity.

Any content that provides links to gambling content will now be branded as "gambling-promoting" the company explained. This directly impacts affiliate and aggregator websites that will now have to focus on comparisons about licensed gambling products and services, with any other activity subject to restrictions.

Google seems to be up to date with global gambling regulation, expecting websites to not advertise in certain jurisdictions where gambling is completely forbidden, such as China, and the draft policy also outlines instances of social casino games and websites, and how they need to be clearly differentiated from real money casinos.

Google is also going after "mahjong" in the Asia-Pacific region, and the updated policy on online gambling will similarly feature all types of gambling, even if they use a sweepstakes model.

Particularly in the case of social casinos, which have been coming under a lot of scrutiny in the United States, any website that runs both a sweepstake and real money model, will need to differentiate between the two unambiguously.

Google has said that it would consider suspending accounts over breaches of social casino gaming policies, suggesting that the technology company is too toughening up its stance on sweepstakes models.

New types of online non-casino games also to be clearly defined

The company is similarly taking a look at skill-based games, and how such games should be presented to consumers. Ultimately, the company wants any advertiser to follow the specific local laws that allow or disallow the operation of such games.

Google has also reiterated that any company that wishes to advertise online gambling would need to have a registration, and be specifically authorized and licensed.

Google has faced pushback from national governments, especially in places such as Italy, where the company has been attacked by local watchdogs over letting gambling content slip through its feeds.

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