Google Play toughens anti-gambling stance
Google extends gambling policy to include all skill-based games, prohibits prizes "of other value"
Google has beefed-up its anti-gambling regulations by extending Google Play’s gambling policy to include all skill-based games offering both cash prizes and prizes of other value.
The changes were first announced in an email addressed to third-party Android developers, informing them all new apps must adhere to the changes and that existing apps would be given 30 days to comply or risk removal from the store.
The move is considered to be Google seeking uniformity in its approach to online gambling applications, closing loopholes that may have previously been exploited.
Plumbee CEO Raf Keustermans believes the amendments to be a case of Google keeping on the safe side of the law, labelling the European market a “nightmare” because of various countries maintaining differing interpretations of gambling laws.
Keustermans cited examples including the Netherlands and Belgium as countries that prohibit prizes of other value being awarded in conjunction with gaming.
The changes to Google Play’s gambling policy come as part of a wider tightening of its regulation, including forcing apps to use Google’s own payment system and a clamp down on interstitial and system notification adverts.
Google Play has consistently restricted apps from the egaming industry, despite Google permitting PPC ads for online gambling in a number of territories including the UK.
An initial ban on gambling ads introduced in 2004 was relaxed in 2008 when Google accepted gambling advertising from UK companies registered with the Gambling Commission and non-UK based companies in the European Economic Area.