The crackdown on illicit gambling operators in the Netherlands continues, with two lawmakers applying pressure on Google.
Mikal Tseggai of the Dutch Labor Party and Willem Koops of the New Social Contract Party filed a motion requesting that the big tech giant should take preventative steps so that ads from unlicensed remote operators are not visible to Dutch residents when using Google search.
“The House of Representatives heard the deliberation…requesting the government to include a ban on advertising and making gambling websites findable in search engines in the new gambling law, unless the Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit) has exceptionally certified a provider as a reliable organisation, the so-called whitelisting, on the basis of a careful review.”
The motion attempted to make clear that Google should not provide advertising space to any gambling operators unless they have already been approved by the Kansspelautoriteit with the award of an operating license in the Netherlands.
However, in response to CasinoNieuws.nl, the US multinational has stated that the desired measures are already in place with the policy obligating that the ad space can only be granted to entities cleared by the relevant authority regulators in specific jurisdictions.
Game of cat and mouse
The pressure from the lawmakers comes after the Kansspelautoriteit launched enforcement action against Starscream, in the latest example of the Dutch gambling regulator targeting unapproved activity.
The Saint Lucia-based operator has been ordered to immediately cease offering unlicensed gambling in the Netherlands, or face a weekly penalty of €280,000 ($317,000, up to a maximum of €840,000 ($953,000).
That followed a landmark €734,000 ($833,248) fine to another, unnamed operator for failing to protect young adults from gambling harm and excessive losses.
Despite the ongoing punitive action against unapproved operators, there is no end in sight to the game of cat and mouse, with illegal websites finding ways to flout Google’s search framework to target new customers.
The extent of the challenge is highlighted after a massive 5.5 billion ads were removed because they violated Google’s guidelines in 2023, with 192.7 million emanating from the ‘Gambling and Games’ category, according to the Ads Safety Report 2023.
The Dutch Quality Mark Responsible Affiliates (KVA) body had contacted Google’s EU headquarters in Ireland to report issues with terms being used to find unapproved domains.
These underground sites are said to be responsible for the loss of around one million Dutch bettors to the regulated market, according to the KVA.
The overall issue of gambling regulation and oversight in the Netherlands is a fluid one, with pressure being applied to the industry by the Kansspelautoriteit regulator, while the government is considering potential amendments to the 2021 Remote Gaming Act.
Image credit: Grok/X
