We don't promote gambling adverts, says Google

New Delhi: On receiving the Centre's direction to refrain from showing the adverts of betting companies, tech giant Google on Wednesday said that it does not allow any advertisement that promote online gambling.

"In line with our advertisement policies, and with the local laws and regulations applicable, we do not allow any advertisements that promote online gambling," Google's spokesperson said.

"Across our ads systems, we have strict policies in place to stop violations, and we take quick action if we are informed about violative ads."

Previously, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had sent a letter directing Google to immediately drop all advertising, direct or surrogate, from betting platforms in search results and YouTube.

Earlier, the Ministry had issued an advisory in this respect and according to sources, TV channels and OTT (Over-the-top) players stopped showing surrogate advertisements of online betting firms.

However, it was brought to the notice that many such ads were running on YouTube and Google.

As per the draft report by a government panel, a regulatory body is to be created in order to classify online games as based on skill or chance, introduce rules to block prohibited formats and take a stricter stance on gambling websites.

The Consumer Affairs Department has notified the ministry that online betting platforms are advertising themselves as professional sports blogs and sports news websites, along with a list of those platforms which are using news for surrogate advertising.

According to a senior Ministry official's statement to the media after the last advisory on October 3, TV channels and OTT platforms stopped showing surrogate ads of online betting apps.

-IANS Inputs