The growth of the online betting industry in the US has been impressive through 2025, despite many locations still prohibiting specific markets. While 38 states and Washington, D.C. have licensed online sports betting operations, only seven currently offer online casino betting.
This has resulted in a spike in new crypto casino operators operating offshore being accessed by US consumers. Players can access these sites online without breaking laws, and the rising number of online searches for betting operators has resulted in a boom in paid ads. Now, Google has moved to prohibit affiliate ads for horse racing in the US.
Google’s Horse Racing Affiliate Ad Ban
A decision by Google to enact a Gambling and Games policy update took place on December 1st, immediately prohibiting tipster platforms, aggregators, and third-party promoters from promoting online horse race betting markets via Google Ads.
Google implemented the change immediately, stopping affiliates from using paid advertising to direct traffic to sites. Licensed operators have not been affected by the change, and could benefit from there being less competition.
Google implemented these changes as a drive to minimise affiliate referral promotions that are deemed to be high risk. By limiting who can promote gambling ads, Google aims to enhance accountability and minimise the risk of misleading promotional material being accessed by consumers.
While this change came into immediate effect, it was not completely out of the blue after changes in February requiring strict documentation standards and a crackdown on affiliate-related advertising campaigns.
The Impact of Google’s New Regulations on Operators and Affiliates
Affiliate marketing can be a lucrative operation, and a mix of organic traffic and paid ad strategies has helped many of them create competitive models. This change could have a detrimental effect on how many of these sites perform over the short term, and will likely spark changes in how they operate moving forward.
Licensed operators are likely to be the big winners from this change, with advertising limited to their content. The weakening of smaller affiliates could see a major shift in new techniques, with other avenues being explored to make up the shortfall of traffic.
This could include an influx of content designed to drive traffic, as well as a push across social media channels. Gambling ads have been under scrutiny in the US, with a federal judge’s ruling in California affecting how major tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Apple, allow gambling promotions.
This decision to limit the US market comes after policy updates affecting gambling promotions across 42 other countries. Most of these changes relate to countries like Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria, where local regulations prohibit the advertising of gambling venues.
Conclusion
While the decision by Google will have an immediate impact on how horse racing affiliates operate, it is not yet known what long-term repercussions this will come from it. Affiliates will not simply down tools, and consumers can expect changes to follow over the coming months.
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