Ahead of the reworking of online gambling advertisement laws in Ontario on April 4th, Google has reworked and released its updated guidelines on advertising gambling services in Canada.
What’s happening in Canada?
Canada is has allowed online gambling to previously be legalized in the country, authorized in Ontario by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, however, there has been an amendment that will be put in place from April 4th that will “allow with limitations” advertising online gambling.
As a result, Google has, in turn, reworked its rules around online gambling in Canada. Google previously did not allow any iGaming or sports betting activity to be advertised in Canada.
What changes will be made?
It can be imagined that Canada’s advertising guidelines might follow other countries’ advertising of gambling, such as only on certain channels, after a certain time of day, and never to children.
Google seems to confirm this with a statement. On its Advertising Policies page, Google states: “We support responsible gambling advertising and abide by local gambling laws and industry standards, so we don’t allow certain kinds of gambling-related advertising. Gambling-related ads are allowed if they comply with the policies below and the advertiser has received the proper Google Ads certification.”
“Gambling ads must target approved countries, have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling, and never target minors.”
The full statement can be found here.
Why is this important?
This can be beneficial for marketers in iGaming who will have much more room to breathe when it comes to gambling advertising. There will no longer be a need to rely on word of mouth and marketing material can be broadcast to a large, targeted audience.
The International Betting Integrity Association has partnered with the Canadian Gaming Association in order to ensure adherence to anti-corruption policies and betting integrity.
