For many years, the advertising of sports betting in the US has been a strict no-no with Google.
But that’s about to change. Following trial runs in New Jersey and then in Nevada and West Virginia, five more states are to get the go-ahead to advertise on Google.
According to an announcement by Google this week, they are Rhode Island, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Montana.
Internationally, Google, one of the Globe’s largest advertising platforms, has tended to be sportsbook-friendly. It is already an advertising medium for sports betting in some 30 countries.
However, at home in the US, this has not been the case, almost certainly because of the PASPA law which for decades had forbidden sports betting.
However, since PASPA was tossed out by the Supreme Court and New Jersey’s seamless and untroubled entry into sports betting, Google seems to have had a mindset change.
Sports-betting’s expansion speeding up
No doubt this was reinforced by sports betting’s rapid expansion into other states.
Along with Nevada, New Jersey, West Virginia and Google’s latest five, they include New York, Illinois, New Mexico, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.
Debut dates for adverts for the five new Google qualifiers will depend on their gaming regulators. However, first ads there could appear as soon as this week.
Google does not take the acceptance of sportsbooks and sports betting lightly.
Legal Sportsbooks in the US have to conform to strict requirements set by their licensing authorities. Google, however, requires its own proof that its betting advertisers are legal and focused on appropriate markets.
And it is precisely because they are seen as an ethical company, the campus-based San Francisco trendsetters could be path-finders for further sports-betting advertisers following in their footsteps.
Advertising sports betting on Google should benefit US sports betting bookmakers in numerous ways.
First and foremost, it will enable the New Kids on the Block in a fast-expanding industry to tell potential clients about themselves. Who they are, where they are and why you should do business with them.
Most US sportsbooks worth their salt offer attractive sign-up and first-deposit bonuses. They also use on-going but ever-changing marketing promotions to get the betting public’s attention. Google advertisements will enable them to strongly highlight these draw-cards.
