Google Play Store Introduces New Policy Regarding Gambling Apps

As of March 1 this year, Android users located in one of the 19 countries to which Google has given access, will be able to download real-money betting apps.

The acceptance of gambling around the world, as well as its final regulation, is now closer with this new policy since until then it was only allowed in France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. As stated on Google’s support page, they now “allow real-money gambling apps, ads related to real-money gambling and daily fantasy sports apps that meet certain requirements.”

Which countries now have access to gambling apps?

There are 15 countries that join Google’s policy. Here is the complete list of which are: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the cases of countries where gaming applications are very popular, such as India, Google has reported that they are studying each case individually to provide the same access as the countries listed below.

What requirements do the apps need to meet to be available in the Play Store?

Developers interested in distributing their app through Google Play Store should now successfully complete an application process that can be found on Google’s support page.

In addition, the application must have the corresponding registration licenses to operate in a valid way, which will depend on the type of game offered. For example, lottery-related applications must be endorsed by a government entity. And most importantly, each of the registered applications must prevent underage users from playing these games.

In which cases would an app violate Google’s policy?

There are few cases that Google raises for an app to have serious problems and can be suspended, and they can be consulted in detail in its corresponding section. To give an example, some of the cases could be: if an application designed for minors shows advertisements about gambling services if an application that tracks sports odds encourages gambling with real money, as well as those that violate Google’s policy on misleading ads.

Conclusion

The number of applications related to casino games that already existed in the Google Play Store is large, however, to be considered a “gambling app” it must be directly or indirectly related to real money gambling. For this reason, Google is taking this step to clearly differentiate the nature of the app and so that the population can become aware and responsible about the world of gambling.