According to several media reports, American search engine giant Google is set to further relax its policy towards gambling advertising and allow affiliated firms without a UK gaming license to bid on its AdWords service.

The California firm lifted a ban on the use of gambling search terms in October for companies with a valid UK license and looks set to allow any company with a valid gaming connection to run a Google AdWords campaign subject to approval.

According to marketing and media news website Mad.co.uk, the changes will apply to any third-party company including affiliates without a license that drive traffic to gambling sites or betting odds comparison sites.

The move by Mountain View-based Google could see revenues from its AdWords service skyrocket with some predicting the u-turn could generate up to an additional $435 million.
“Over the last few months we been reviewing our gambling advertising policy in Great Britain to ensure it is as consistent as possible with local business practices,'' James Cashmore from Google UK told The Guardian newspaper in October.

''Following the review, we decided to amend our policy to allow text ads to appear against search queries related to gambling in Great Britain.”


Source: iGamingBusiness.com