Google Continues to Crack Down on Sweepstakes and Casino Affiliates in Latest Ad Policy Update
Google announced a global update to its gambling and games advertising policy effective August 26.
The update includes tightening certification requirements for online gambling operators, social casino games, and affiliates across all jurisdictions where gambling advertising is permitted. The changes affect how operators prove licensing compliance, how affiliates disclose their relationships to licensed operators, and how accounts are structured when targeting multiple markets or product categories.
From August 26, affiliates and aggregators promoting gambling content must link exclusively to fully licensed and authorized gambling entities in the targeted geographic region, and must display a footer statement on the advertised domain confirming that all outbound links go only to licensed operators. This is a meaningful tightening for the affiliate sector, which has historically operated with more flexibility about which operators it promotes and how that relationship is disclosed. An affiliate linking to an unlicensed offshore operator while running Google Ads, a common practice in gray market gambling advertising, becomes directly non-compliant under the new language.
The update also prohibits a single Google Ads account from holding both an online gambling certification and a social casino game certification simultaneously, requiring separate accounts for those distinct categories. Operators who run both a licensed sportsbook and a sweepstakes product will need to restructure their Google Ads account architecture to comply.
The recertification requirement is the most operationally demanding change. Advertisers must recertify immediately if any material change occurs to the information provided in their application; failure to do so risks account suspension. For operators in markets with active regulatory change, including the numerous US states currently processing new licenses or modifying existing ones, that requirement creates an ongoing compliance obligation rather than a one-time approval.
Google’s Prediction Market Policy Is Now Following the Courts
Separately from the August global update, Google’s prediction market advertising policy has undergone three changes in 2026 alone, and the pattern is analytically revealing.
In January, Google permitted prediction market advertising in the United States for the first time, restricting eligibility to CFTC-licensed Designated Contract Markets and NFA-registered brokerages. That update opened the door, with a federal licensing requirement as the condition of entry.
In June, Google prohibited prediction market advertising in Ohio, effective June 2. In July, Google added Michigan and New York to the prohibited list, effective July 13.
The three dates correspond almost exactly to the enforcement timeline in those states. Ohio’s federal district court ruled against Kalshi’s preliminary injunction motion in March, with the Sixth Circuit subsequently declining to stay Ohio’s enforcement while the appeal proceeds. Michigan’s Ingham Circuit Court issued its temporary restraining order against Kalshi on June 29. New York secured its own enforcement order around the same period. In each case, Google’s policy update followed the state court action rather than preceding it.
That pattern suggests Google is not making independent judgments about where prediction market advertising should be permitted. It is tracking which states have active court orders against the platforms and updating its advertising policy to match. The CFTC’s preemption argument, the position that federal licensing shields the platforms from state restrictions, does not appear to have carried weight with Google’s policy team. The policy follows the enforcement map, not the regulatory theory.
The Impact on Google’s Affiliate Sector
The requirement to link exclusively to licensed operators sounds straightforward but creates compliance complexity in markets where licensing is partial or contested. The US sweepstakes casino market, for example, operates in most states without a state gaming license, relying instead on the promotional currency theory that exempts sweepstakes products from gambling licensing requirements.
An affiliate promoting sweepstakes casino products through Google Ads now faces a direct question: does the sweepstakes operator qualify as a “fully licensed and authorized gambling entity” in the targeted geographic region, or does its non-licensed status make the affiliate non-compliant under the new policy?
Google has not answered that question in the policy update, and it’s a big one. The social casino certification track, which applies to sweepstakes-style products, remains available through a separate application process. But the global language about linking exclusively to licensed operators, combined with the prohibition on mixing social casino and online gambling certifications in the same account, suggests Google is drawing a firmer line between regulated gambling products and gambling-adjacent products than its prior policy did.
The affiliate sector has long operated in the space between those two categories. The August update makes that space narrower.
Players trust our reporting due to our commitment to unbiased and professional evaluations of the iGaming sector. We track hundreds of platforms and industry updates daily to ensure our news feed and leaderboards reflect the most recent market shifts. With nearly two decades of experience within iGaming, our team provides a wealth of expert knowledge. This long-standing expertise enables us to deliver thorough, reliable news and guidance to our readers.
Latest News
