Google created a new policy that will allow gambling apps to be circulated in 15 countries. The new rules will be enacted on March 1, 2021. In time, each country will have its own restrictions regarding the types of online gambling that are legal.
Launching The Verge on Friday (29/1/2021), Google allows gambling applications in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. .
Meanwhile, some states will allow online casinos, sports betting, lotteries and daily fantasy sports. Currently, gambling apps are only permitted by Google in four countries: Brazil, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The restrictions are also complex. Most countries only allow lotteries if they are run by the government, but some, like the UK, don’t have that limit. And as is often the case, what is allowed in the US varies by state.
Long Rules for Gambling App Legality
Anyone wishing to release a gambling app must complete the long process regarding their legality first. Especially given the patchwork of laws and regulations that allow certain types of online gambling in the US.
The changes will not open the floodgates for just anyone to release slot machine apps. Currently, Google requires developers to go through the application process. In order to get their gambling app on the Play Store, and the new policy will not remove that requirement. The application ensures that the developer who uploaded the application has a license to run gambling operations in the country.
Prior to this change, users who wanted to use gambling apps on their Android phones must download apps outside the PlayStore. For some users this is certainly very troublesome. Especially when seeing iPhone users being allowed to download it directly from the App Store.
Of course, it can be said that many of the games and applications currently on the Play Store include gambling mechanisms such as casino games and lotteries. Unlike the apps that will be allowed under this policy, the apps will allow apps that are purely made for gambling, using real money.
Until this news was published, there was no response from Google regarding this policy change.
Read now: GameStop Shares Soar, US Brokers Limit Trading Activities
