Google has recently announced an expansion of its Gambling and Games policy on Wednesday (November 19). It comes only weeks after the tech giant changed how it classified sweepstakes casino games, which are no longer considered social games. As a result, new rules now apply.

Restrictions on offline gaming advertisements will come into effect for 35 countries where these promotions violate the local laws.

In its updated policy, Google states that “promotion of offline gambling is prohibited in locations where it is illegal to advertise offline gambling.”

These locations include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bulgaria, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Maldives, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen.

These changes will come into effect immediately, which suggests Google advertisers must be wary when checking their geographic targets in the coming days and weeks.

This isn’t the first time Google has updated its ad policy in 2025 to become more stringent regarding gambling advertisements.

Google has announced several Gambling Policy updates throughout 2025

Earlier this year, Google announced a major update to its Gambling and Games advertising policy, which was to come into effect from April 11.

That update was introduced to clarify exactly what constitutes gambling-related content, as well as to further improve enforcement methods that prevent potential violations.

With repeated violations of the gambling advertisement policy, permanent bans would come into operation as Google looked to crack down on those failing to comply with the new regulations.

There were further updates regarding the Gambling and Games policy in countries such as Angola, the Philippines and in specific US states, with ads being accepted for online horse racing across states including:  Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington.

All of these previous updates were announced in February 2025, and the latest one could be the final policy change of the calendar year.

Featured image: Google / Canva

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