Google blocked and removed more than 270 million gambling-related adverts in 2025, according to its latest Ads Safety Report, exposing the scale of policy violations across one of the most closely watched sectors online.
According to the report, the tech giant saw a total of 8.3 billion adverts taken down over the year. The company also suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, as the investigation of online content intensified across multiple markets.
Gambling and gaming ranked as the eighth-largest category of removed adverts, with 270.7 million ads classified as prohibited. A further 123.9 million were restricted, making the sector the third largest in that category.
AI deletions dominate mechanism
As per Google, most of the advertising and moderation is now being handled by its artificial intelligence system, Gemini, which is designed to detect harmful or non-compliant adverts before they are shown to users.
“Our models analyse hundreds of billions of signals, including account age, behavioural patterns and campaign activity, to stop threats before they reach people,” said Keerat Sharma, Vice President and General Manager for Ads Privacy and Safety at Google.
He added that newer systems focus on identifying intent rather than relying solely on keywords, allowing the company to detect adverts designed to evade traditional filters. According to Google, more than 99 per cent of policy-violating ads were blocked before being served.
The scale of enforcement also shows growing concern among regulators and policymakers over the visibility of gambling content online. Questions have been raised in several jurisdictions, including the UK, Brazil, the Netherlands and Australia, particularly around the promotion of unlicenced operators.
In response, Google has tightened its advertising policies in certain regions. Its European arm, Google Ireland, introduced stricter requirements from March 2026, warning that advertisers who repeatedly breach rules could face permanent loss of certification or rejection from future applications.
Despite these measures, uncertainty remains over the nature of many of the adverts flagged in the report. Google has not specified whether the gambling promotions removed or restricted were linked to licensed operators, unlicenced platforms, or both.
Legal challenges in several countries
This distinction has become increasingly important as regulators place greater responsibility on technology platforms to prevent illegal gambling activity. In some markets, concerns have centred on how easily unlicenced operators can still reach users through digital channels.
Brazil has emerged as a key example. Authorities there have formally approached Google and Apple, seeking clarification over the presence of unlicenced betting applications on their platforms. Officials have requested details on internal screening processes, enforcement measures, and the steps taken to prevent illegal content from appearing.
More broadly, pressure is mounting on large technology firms, including social media platforms, to limit the spread of gambling-related advertising that may fall outside regulatory frameworks.
Google maintains that its systems are becoming more effective, particularly with the expanded use of artificial intelligence. However, as enforcement activity increases and regulatory expectations continue to evolve, the challenge of monitoring gambling advertising at scale is unlikely to ease in the near term.
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