Google has updated its gambling and games ad policy on May 4 to allow operators licensed by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) to run online gambling...
Google removes 270 million illegal gambling ads in 2025
Google’s Ads Safety Report has revealed that more than 270 million gambling ads were removed in 2025, as part of the global fight against illegal betting content.
The report shows that gambling was the eighth biggest category of banned ads and the third biggest category for restricted ads, with 123.9 million. Google stated that over 99% of ads that were violating any policy were removed.
The vice president and general manager of ads privacy and safety at Google, Keerat Sharma, commented:
“Our teams have long used advanced AI to identify and stop scammers, and Gemini takes that work even further. Our models analyze hundreds of billions of signals, including account age, behavioural cues, and campaign patterns, to stop threats before they reach people. Unlike earlier keyword-based systems, our latest models better understand intent, helping us spot malicious content and preemptively block it, even when it’s designed to evade detection.”
Sharma also added that the company was able to notably improve its ability to detect and stop harmful ads with Gemini, as Google restricted 24.9 million advertiser accounts in 2025, while 602 million scam-related ads were removed. Additionally, 9.7 million gambling and gaming publisher page violations were detected during the year.
Google is already enforcing stricter controls on ads globally, as governments are paying more attention to the illegal gambling content that is spreading online.
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