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Centre Directs Google To Drop Advertisements Of Betting Companies From Search Results & YouTube
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India, 8 Dec 2022 7:36 AM GMT
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Creatives : Jayali Wavhal
She writes about gender issues, human interest, and environment.
Earlier, the Ministry of Broadcast and Information of India had also asked TV channels and OTT (over-the-top) platforms to stop showing any indirect or surrogate ads for online betting firms.
The central government of India has directed the multinational technology giant Google to not display surrogate advertisements of overseas betting companies. The move comes in lieu of India wanting to regulate online gaming and prohibiting games of chance and promotion of online betting.
Centre Sends Letter To Google
The Ministry of Broadcast and Information of India sent a letter to Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company, last week. In the letter, the ministry asked the company to immediately stop all direct or indirect advertising from betting platforms like Fairplay, Betway, and PariMatch in search results and YouTube. The ads usually were displayed at the beginning and end of the YouTube video and on the search results page of the Google search engine.
Earlier, the ministry had also asked TV channels and OTT (over-the-top) platforms like Disney Hotstar, Voot, Zee5 and others to stop showing any indirect or surrogate ads for online betting firms.
A senior ministry official said, "After our last advisory on October 3, TV channels and OTT (Over-the-top) players stopped showing surrogate ads of online betting firms, but it was brought to our notice that many such ads are running on YouTube and Google. We have asked Google to stop this immediately," reported Business Standard. However, as of now, Google has not yet responded to the direct order.
India's Regulation Of Online Gaming
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) decided that all games of skill and games of chance (such as involving gambling or betting) will fall under the central government's jurisdiction as opposed to the earlier rule of individual states regulating games of chance. The decision was made after it was noted that differentiating between games of skill and chance will not be easier as there is no sufficient legal clarity and thus might lead to diverse court verdicts.
Consequently, in a bid to regulate betting and gambling games, not only did India start regulating online games, but it also asked broadcasters and streaming apps to drop advertisements that promote such games. Now, the regulation has been extended to tech giant Google and YouTube, whose reception is not yet clear.
Also Read: E-Gaming Federation To Challenge Tamil Nadu's Ordinance To Ban Poker & Rummy- Know More
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