Illegal online gambling advertising: Google pockets $20 million a year
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19 Mar 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes A recent study by Keurmerk Verantwoorde Affiliates (KVA) highlights the alarming growth in advertising for illegal platforms. These ads target gamers directly via search engines such as Google.
Today, in the Netherlands, the Standing Committee on Justice and Security is holding a round table on gambling. Discussions are taking place in four blocks with players from the health sector and the online and land-based gambling market.
20 million a year
During the round table, the KVA mentioned extensive research showing that Google earns large sums of money from advertising illegal gambling.
Frank Kastelijns, CEO of online casino Circus.nl, confirmed this. Based on various studies published by the KVA in recent years, he calculated that Google earns 20 million dollars a year from advertising for illegal online casinos.
These studies have not been published, but the KVA has shared its conclusions with the Kansspelautoriteit and our colleagues at CasinoNieuws.nl have had access to the figures quoted by Kastelijns.
Advertising campaigns dominated by foreigners
Analysis of the ads displayed on Google reveals a clear majority of foreign advertisers. Google’s Ad Transparency Centre provides details of each advertiser, including their name, country of origin and the funds invested to reach the Dutch audience. Of these, only one is based in the Netherlands, while the others operate from countries such as India, Ukraine, Poland and the United States.
The budgets allocated to advertising illegal gambling vary considerably. They range from $4 for the smallest advertiser to $179,384 for the largest. The latter, based in India, invested this sum to encourage more than 10,000 Dutch players to click on its ads.
According to the KVA, the total amount spent by the 85 advertisers on advertising on Google in February 2024 exceeded $1.6 million.
What about Belgium?
In Belgium, a study by Yield Sec, corroborated by an Ipsos survey, revealed that five of the top ten online gambling sites are illegal. This shows that Belgian players are also subjected to this intensive advertising.
Google’s measures to counter illegal advertising
In response to this proliferation, Google has tightened its restrictions on advertising for online gambling, whether online casinos or sports betting. Only advertisers operating in countries where these activities are legal can run their ads, provided they can demonstrate compliance with local laws and obtain the necessary authorisations. It has also drawn up a list of territories where such advertising is strictly prohibited, including countries such as Bulgaria, China and Egypt.The aim of this initiative is to adapt to local regulations with greater precision and avoid overly broad categorisations. This should help prevent the risks of excessive exposure, particularly for young people.