GERMANY: GGL changes course on success of Google Ads partnership

The German gambling regulator has scaled back its assessment of the success of a partnership with Google to crack down on illegal gambling advertising.

Ronald Benter, CEO of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL), admitted at a conference in Berlin this week that efforts to tackle unlicensed operators must be improved.

He called for the roll-out of "a new standard" of IP blocking to tackle illegal websites “as quickly as possible.”

What’s more, the GGL said that, despite initial success, “challenges remain” in its collaboration with Google and Google Ads to cut the number of adverts for unlicensed operators.

That is a change of rhetoric from November 2024, two months into the partnership, when Benter insisted the GGL’s collaboration with Google was “clearly having an impact.”

“Regular checks have revealed that no paid or ‘sponsored’ ads for illegal online gambling are currently appearing on Google’s search results pages in Germany,” the regulator said in November upon the release of its report on the partnership.

“Additionally, ads from comparison portals linking to illegal providers are no longer displayed.”

Speaking at the Congress of the German Gaming Industry 2025, organised by German commercial gaming trade association Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft eV (DAW), the GGL said Benter noted techniques such as cloaking are helping illegal operators circumvent the ads crackdown and “increase their visibility.”

Christian Heins, the director of igaming at Tipico, a prominent licensed German online gaming operator, had noted the impact cloaking was having before the turn of the year in various posts on LinkedIn.

“Benter emphasised that the fight against illegal gambling is a long-term process that requires effective enforcement tools and a sufficient legal framework, for example, for law enforcement agencies,” the GGL added in its report of the conference.

“At the same time, this fight requires close cooperation with international partners. Equally crucial are clear and uniform frameworks for the legal market that ensure the protection of players and apply equally to all permitted providers.”

Germany’s black market is among the headline online gaming regulatory concerns across Europe.

The (GGL), academic scholars and industry representatives have published different opinions on the channelisation rate and the scale of illegal gaming in Germany.

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