Google’s latest update to its gambling advertising policies, set to take effect on April 14, 2025, represents a significant shift in the iGaming landscape. While these changes impose stricter requirements on advertisers, they also allow savvy marketers to refine their strategies and explore alternative traffic sources.
If you’re an iGaming advertiser, casino operator, or affiliate marketer, this is the time to rethink your strategy and use this as an opportunity to grow when others struggle. Let’s explore the impact of these new rules and how you can leverage them to your advantage.
Understanding the Policy Changes
Here’s everything that Google announced regarding their iGaming advertising policy.
Gambling ads will be limited to 55 approved countries
This means that some countries that previously could be targeted with these kinds of ads will no longer be allowed to see them. Additionally, you still can only legally promote games that have a license from an appropriate regulatory body in a given country.
Online gambling and social casino advertisers must obtain Google certification
Separate certifications are required for online gambling and social casinos.
Social casinos resemble standard gambling but with no actual money involved. They promote entertainment and social factors and don’t present themselves as an opportunity to win anything valuable. Social casinos have been serving as a kind of gateway to real casinos, but from now on, they cannot be associated with real online casinos in any way.
Separate accounts for social casinos are needed for countries from specific groups
Because of technical and legal reasons, Google has divided countries where social casino ads are allowed into two groups. You need to create separate ad accounts for each country group.
Affiliates are restricted to providing informational content only, meaning direct promotion of gambling sites is no longer allowed.
Google allows for two types of content regarding iGaming ads:
- Online gambling sites
- Offer aggregators
The content may promote online gambling but cannot contain direct links to iGaming offers or services. Moreover, the content needs to contain information on responsible gambling.
How Advertisers Can Adapt and Thrive
Don’t let this crisis go to waste – rework your strategy, adapt faster, and scale up. iGaming is still growing globally, and this change only reflects its growing significance.
1. Prioritize SEO for Long-Term Visibility
With stricter ad policies in place, organic search optimization is more important than ever. A strong SEO strategy can help gambling businesses maintain visibility without relying on paid ads.
Optimize for High-Intent Keywords:
Target terms that gamblers frequently search for, such as ‘game guides’, ‘betting strategies’, and ‘operator reviews’.
Invest in Content Marketing:
Publish in-depth blogs, industry insights, and expert reviews to establish authority. They need to include actual value to the reader. Focus on developing educational materials and tools:
Create engaging content:
Develop interactive tools, such as betting calculators and game tutorials.
Offer video content that educates players about responsible gambling.
Build Quality Backlinks: Partner with authoritative websites to improve domain authority and search rankings.
Enhance Local SEO: If you operate in approved markets, optimize your site for geo-targeted searches. So if you operate in the US, focus on being discoverable by people searching for iGaming services in that GEO.
2. Diversify Traffic Sources Beyond Google Ads
Google may not be enough to reach growing global audiences. Expanding your reach beyond Google’s ecosystem is essential. Consider these alternative channels:
- Social Media & Influencer Marketing: Engage with audiences on platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok using influencer partnerships.
- Email Marketing: Build a subscriber base and send exclusive offers, guides, and insights directly to users.
- Programmatic advertising: Plenty of ad platforms allow advertisers to promote iGaming. These include:
Adcash – A global ad network offering high-quality traffic for iGaming and other industries, with advanced AI-driven optimization and multiple ad formats, including push, native, and pop-under ads.
Adsterra: A leading global ad network known for its wide range of ad formats and advanced targeting options tailored for industries like iGaming.
Clickadu – A performance-based ad network specializing in high-volume traffic for iGaming, featuring diverse ad formats like push, in-page, pop, and video ads to maximize conversions.
ExoClick: An established ad network focusing on adult and iGaming advertising, offering various ad formats such as native, display, and video ads.
PropellerAds: A versatile advertising network providing a wide range of ad formats suitable for iGaming, with advanced targeting options and robust fraud detection measures.
RichAds – A premium ad network focused on push and pop traffic, providing advanced targeting, automated optimization, and high-converting traffic for iGaming and gambling advertisers.
Taboola – A leading native advertising platform that helps iGaming brands drive engagement through content-based recommendations on high-authority publisher sites worldwide.
TrafficJunky: A premium advertising network specializing in high-traffic adult and iGaming placements, offering advanced targeting and competitive bidding options for maximum ROI.
3. Strengthen Compliance and Transparency
The last way to go is to be fully compliant with new Google’s requirements. The competition may be smaller, and a piece of cake for each compliant advertiser may be bigger.
- Obtain Google certification before running gambling-related campaigns.
- Clearly display licensing information and responsible gaming disclaimers on all promotional content.
- Maintain transparency with advertorial labeling to avoid misleading users.
Increase the effectiveness of each ad dollar spend with tracking
With tighter restrictions, it’s crucial to get the most out of your ad dollars. In this new landscape, quality will beat quantity.
The best way to achieve that is to track, optimize, and automate all your iGaming efforts with an ad tracker such as Voluum. Build for both paid and organic traffic, it gives you an in-depth look into what works: which placements, audience segments, landers and offers bring the most profit and which only drain your budget.
With Voluum, you can:
- Track more than 30 data points on each user-generated event to unlock optimization opportunities
- Track conversions with postbacks in real-time for the complete picture of profitability
- Automate your campaign management to save time and reduce workload
- Automatically A/B test the most optimal campaign flow
Voluum is an ROI-boosting tool capable of working with Google Ads, with programmatic ad networks and SEO-driven traffic.
Check what Voluum can do for iGaming advertisers
Turning Policy Changes Into Competitive Advantages
Why this is a great opportunity to reinvent your iGaming strategy? Because you can simply develop a more sustainable way to grow. No matter if you completely follow Google’s requirements or try different channels, you can focus on building brand awareness, engaging audiences, gathering quality leads, and generally doing everything that will pay off in the long term.
By adapting early and embracing new acquisition channels and tracking, you will thrive where others will struggle.
Facebook
Telegram
