Search engine giant Google has said it will not review its current ban on gambling paid-search ads. This is in the wake of new advertising that that has successfully sidestepped Google’s own legislation.

The cause of this can be traced to a circumvention of Google’s rules by Sky, which has launched a search campaign that directs users to a Sky Poker-branded page on the Sky Poker TV channel.

This ad complies with Google regulations by not linking to a gambling site where people bet with actual money. However, the ad does show people gambling with real money.

Competing search engine Yahoo is taking the same route as Google. This, despite its entry into the UK poker sector. Yahoo told advertisers that it will no longer accept “advertisements that contain invitations to play, any mention of money (eg. GNB 1 000 jackpot), or any offers or incentives to take part in gaming (eg. bonus or benefit).

“Existing advertisements are currently being reviewed for compliance and we expect this process to be complete by mid June. If your advertisement is found to be non-compliant you will be notified by email and it will be suspended until the necessary changes are made.”

How does an industry win in such an environment, I ask you? With online bingo and online bingo halls already getting the short end of the stick thanks to UIGEA, this is just another example of the kind of difficulty facing this legitimate industry.

Written by John Witherspoon - Play bingo online at http://bingostreet.com/ and read celebrity gossip.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 14th, 2007 at 2:36 am and is filed under Online Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.