Google is updating its policies to allow gambling and betting apps in 15 more countries, including the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, and more. It will allow developers to make real-money gaming apps. They will be enabled to add in-app ads related to real-money gambling, and daily fantasy sports apps available on Google Play in the eligible countries. Up until now, Google allowed gambling and betting apps in four countries. These regions are Brazil, France, Ireland, and the UK.
The new policies will come into effect starting March 1. It will allow the addition of gambling apps on Google Play Store in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the US. However, they are limited to some parts of the US as these apps must be “an approved governmental operator” and must have a “valid operating license in the specified country for the type of online gambling product they want to offer.”
“We’re updating our Real-Money Gambling, Games, and Contests policy so more developers around the world can build sustainable businesses, and in a way that helps keep consumers safe,” said Google.
Developers do need to go through a prior application process and do some legal work. This process will be different from the usual process of allowing developers to list apps on the Play Store. Their application must fall under online casino games, lotteries, sports betting or daily fantasy sports. Plus, the developers are required to implement safeguards to keep underage users out of their apps and must prevent access from countries/regions not covered by their license.
Here are the types of games allowed in the US and the states where they’ll be available:
- Online casino games (permitted in Delaware, Nevada (poker only), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)
- Sports betting (permitted in Colorado, District of Columbia (governmental operators only), Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Montana (governmental operators only), Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon (governmental operators only), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and West Virginia)
- Lotteries (state-run operators or affiliated contracted operators only in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia)
- Depending on the state, daily fantasy sports may be regulated as gambling in the U.S, and all daily fantasy sports apps published in the United States are subject to the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) Apps requirements below.