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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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The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has taken action against Hutch Games Ltd (F1 Clash), Kabam Games Inc (Marvel Contest of Champions) and Nexters Global Ltd’s (Hero Wars: Alliance RPG) products for misleading disclosures over lootboxes.
The three rulings contained multiple detailed explanations of the council’s decisions, accompanied by stern warnings for the trident of mobile game providers for publishing statements such as “Free – Offers In-App Purchases,” without further detail.
Three mobile companies cautioned for disclosures over lootboxes
The ASA is the self-regulated arm that upholds advertising standards and compliance in the United Kingdom. As we reported, the watchdog has dished out penalties and warnings to leading names such as PokerStars for “trivialising gambling.”
Now the regulator has ruled on three game providers for the leading mobile titles F1 Clash, Marvel Contest of Champions, and Hero Wars: Alliance RPG.
Nexters Global were the first to face the ASA’s scrutiny as the spotlight was shone on Hero Wars: Alliance RPG by an academic games researcher. The investigation found that the game listing “omitted material information.”
The games company stated in response that the title’s description was updated to “indicate the presence of loot boxes and provide information on the probability of obtaining particular items from loot boxes.”
Academic researcher flags lootbox issues
F1 clash had been listed as containing a warning “PLEASE NOTE! […] Some in-game items can also be purchased for real money. F1 Clash includes loot boxes that drop the available items in randomised order”.
Again, an academic researcher was the reporting party who raised the issue with the ASA regarding the game’s listing.
The individual challenged that the attention given to lootboxes was not sufficiently clear, “misleadingly implied consumers had an equal chance of winning each prize,” and the advertisement reading “TRY NOW FOR UP TO X10 BETTER PRIZES” did not have sufficient explanation regarding this promotion.
Marvel Contest of Champions owner Kabam Games Inc. faced similar scrutiny and a similar reporting body, an academic games researcher.
It is not known whether this is the same person involved in the Nexters and Hutch Games complaints, but all three share a similar theme: an intellectual reporter.
All three games were seen to have misleading advertising, and the ASA ruled that the providers must now “ensure their ads made clear that games contained random item purchasing (loot boxes).”
Featured image: Kablam Games Inc. via Steam
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