Google to allow gambling PPC ads!!!

[Casino_Man]

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Hi Everyone,

Just picked up on this, and a little birdy tells me that they are going to do it. I think there will be some very happy affiliates!!!


Rumours are circulating around the internet that Google will start accepting Gambling related pay-per-click adverts as of Friday 17th October. It comes after weeks of complete turmoil in the financial trading markets, where companies like Google saw millions of dollars wiped off their share value in a matter of days.

Although the rumours remain unconfirmed, several powerful industry insiders believe that Google will make an announcement 6am EST, that they will start accepting Gambling and Betting adverts on their search engine again.

Google, who trade by several motto’s, such as “Do no evil”, banned adverts related to Gambling completely from its search last year and up until recently have not shown any interest in re-introducing them. However their recent share price looks like it may have forced their hand and allowed them back into the world most popular search engine.

This will be welcome news to hundreds of Gaming businesses, who rely heavily on internet traffic for their profits.

[gaving]

does that mean we can all give up on natural SEO....

[Mitchy]

Yep, its on.

gambling site - Google Search

Expect to see ads on terms like poker, casino and betting tomorrow.

[tomj]

Further validation in NMA:

News | Google performs U-turn on gambling terms in the UK - NMA

YAY :tup

[DioBach]

It will be interesting to see what they allow - whether it's the old newsletter swizz like before, or straight to a full on gambling related page. Damn, and I'd completely weaned myself off tho gambling ppc as well.

Given you can advertise gambling on the TV in the UK, their stance on gambling has always seemed a bit twee.

[arcticsunrise]

Will it allow affiliates to bid though - I notice that the NMA article says "The search giant is to allow all licensed UK gambling and gaming companies to run AdWords campaigns"

[djbarker]

oddly timed to coincide with the Queen's visit to their offices today.

They already have their "Permission to Advertise Gambling Site in the UK" form up:

Contacting Support - AdWords Help Center

[3wdl]

I think I broke the news first last night

Gambling PPC on google from Friday | Affiliate Marketing blog by James Little

It's good news for gaming affiliates!

[voucherz]

Ironic, in that PPC to me seems very much like gambling :-)

[DioBach]

Is it just me, or do you actually need to be Gaming site for this to work, rather than just an affiliate site?

[Aspirin]

I dont see this as good for affiliates, first there is no way you can compete with the CPC that will now go on and second, all the hard work that we do on SEO to get on them first pages will now be covered in ads from merchants.

[haynesey]

Do any affiliates here have a UK gambling license?

Looks like it will only be actual sites competing against each other rather then affiliates....

[Casino_Man]

I think Asprin has a good point there!

This will create issues for the affiliates that have invested alot of time and effort in getting their sites to rank in Google. I think this is purely a reflex action by Google to whip up cash because the share price is falling. Will be interesting to see if they call a halt to it again when the economy picks up again.

[Dave@Profitistic]

I can't quite work this out.

Does it mean that gambling ads will also be displayed through the content network and on (keyword related) websites using Adsense, or is it purely the allowed again for search-engine placement only?

[prk]

100% right Rob, it looks like bidding will only be allowed for UK white listed gaming companies. If that's the case, it will most certainly affect SEO affiliates who've been working hard to achieve top SERPs for selected keywords, as PPC ads will automatically top theirs.

Contacting Support - AdWords Help Center

Google reintroduces gambling ads for users in Great Britain | Media | guardian.co.uk