Modi-led government of India has asked technology giant Google not to display surrogate ads for foreign betting companies, according to a quote in an article in Mint newspaper.
It urged Google India (GOOGL.O) to halt all advertising in search results and YouTube from betting platforms such as Fairplay, PariMatch, Betway, the report stated.
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a government document and three sources said India will regulate online gaming for all real-money games following the prime minister’s office overruling a proposal to only regulate skill games.
“After our last advisory on 3 October, 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,” said a senior ministry official to Mint. When reached for comment by Reuters, Google did not provide a statement.
According to the Indian government, online games should be classified according to how much of the game is based on skill or how much is based on chance, gambling websites should be subject to stricter rules, and a regulatory body should be established in India to make all these policies happen.
