Google Ads bans rummy and fantasy sports advertisements in India
Google Ads has tightened its India-focused gambling and games advertising rules, confirming that ads for rummy and daily fantasy sports will not be permitted from January 21, 2026.
The restriction will be applied across Google’s entire advertising network for campaigns directed at Indian audiences.
The evolving Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, is a piece of legislation that introduces new classifications for gaming activities under Indian law. The recent policy update was added to align Google Ads with domestic regulatory expectations.
Under the revised rules, rummy and daily fantasy sports were removed from the list of gambling-related formats approved for advertising in India. From the effective date, operators, affiliates, and publishers promoting those products were barred from running paid campaigns through Google Ads.
The change is expected to affect fantasy sports platforms, real-money gaming operators, affiliate websites, and digital agencies that depend on Google Ads for user acquisition and brand exposure.
Several industry executives anticipated increased pressure on alternative marketing channels as a result.
Google said its gambling and gaming advertising policies are reviewed regularly and applied only in jurisdictions where local laws explicitly permit such activity. The company added that approved ads must meet strict conditions, including responsible gambling messaging and safeguards to prevent exposure to minors.
In November, Google tightened its rules on advertisements for social gaming casinos. It announced a ban on marketing sweepstakes casinos as they would be reclassified as outside the scope of its “social gaming” category.
Abi Bray brings strong researching skills to the forefront of all of her writing, whether it’s the newest slots, industry trends or the ever changing legislation across the U.S, Asia and Australia, she maintains a keen eye for detail and a passion for reporting.
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The Backstory
How Google’s policy turn fits India’s fast-changing rulebook
Google’s move to bar ads for rummy and daily fantasy sports across India from Jan. 21, 2026 lands squarely in the slipstream of a rapidly hardening legal climate. Parliament last year advanced sweeping restrictions through the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, which prohibits most real-money formats — including card games, poker and fantasy sports — with criminal penalties for those who offer or promote them. The government framed the law as a response to addiction, financial harm and social distress. Read more about the scope and intent of India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill and its near-total ban on igaming platforms.
Google typically aligns advertising rules with local law and licensing regimes. By removing rummy and fantasy sports from the list of permissible gambling-related formats in India, the company is essentially harmonizing its policy with Delhi’s new guardrails — and shielding itself and advertisers from enforcement risk as ministries and agencies step up oversight. The decision also narrows the path for real-money gaming brands that long relied on performance marketing via search, display and app-install campaigns to acquire users at scale.
The shock will be felt beyond operators. Affiliates, agencies and media firms that sell traffic for fantasy sports and real-money card games face a sudden gap in the funnel. With paid placements off Google’s network, those players will have to tilt toward owned media, influencer marketing, OEM app stores, connected TV and sports sponsorships — channels that are costlier, harder to measure or increasingly scrutinized by regulators themselves.
Enforcement momentum and tech platforms under scrutiny
The ad ban comes as Indian authorities intensify probes into how unlawful betting platforms reach users. The Enforcement Directorate recently summoned Google and Meta executives in a money-laundering investigation tied to illegal ibetting promotions, after officials alleged that banned operators rebrand and resurface while leaning on celebrities and influencers to push apps. The agency plans to take statements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, signaling a broader focus on the ad-tech pipes and social channels that can amplify prohibited content.
That scrutiny sits atop repeated warnings from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting against hosting or carrying advertising for outlawed platforms, as well as tax and foreign exchange probes around some operators. The prospect of regulatory liability for intermediaries — not just the betting firms — has forced platforms to reassess risk exposure and tighten compliance. For Big Tech, the calculus is straightforward: when laws are explicit and the enforcement mood is hawkish, the safest course is to exit contentious categories rather than parse edge cases.
The stakes are considerable. India’s gaming market is large and growing, but much of the commercial heat has been in real-money formats. An analysis cited by the Economic Times projects that online gaming in India could exceed $9 billion by 2029, a figure that will test how much growth can shift to compliant segments like esports and skill-based entertainment as advertising corridors close for legacy cash games.
A broader tightening of Google’s gambling playbook
Google’s India update echoes a pattern of global recalibration on gambling-ad adjacency. Late last year, the company reclassified sweepstakes casinos as outside its “social gaming” category and banned their ads, foreclosing a loophole that some operators used to market dual-currency products capable of cash redemption. The change put social casino advertisers on notice with stricter disclaimers, age-gating and fast suspensions for violations.
Taken with the India-specific prohibition on rummy and fantasy sports promotions, the sweepstakes move illustrates how Google is narrowing categories that sit near the line between simulated play and real-money wagering. The company’s rulebook now more clearly distinguishes allowed entertainment from monetized risk-taking, with a bias toward jurisdictions where regulations are unambiguous and enforcement is active. That approach reduces policy ambiguity, but it also compresses acquisition options for firms in gray zones or in markets moving toward prohibition.
Regional pushback against gambling visibility
Beyond India, cities in the Philippines have begun curbing the visibility of gambling promotions in public space, reinforcing a broader social-policy turn. Cebu City approved a measure to remove gambling ads from billboards, posters, digital screens and other formats in an effort to reduce addiction risks and shield minors. The ordinance details cross-agency enforcement to monitor and take down prohibited materials. See the local framework in Cebu City’s ban on gambling advertisements.
Nearby Pasig City followed with a citywide prohibition on gambling ads across public transport, terminals, building wraps and street-level media, permitting advertising only inside licensed venues. Mayor Vico Sotto cast the policy as a way to limit cues that can trigger relapse among people trying to reduce gambling. More on the measure is here: Pasig City’s public-space ban on gambling advertising.
These municipal actions do not directly bind digital platforms across borders, but they highlight political and public-health drivers that often presage national or platform-level policy changes. As regulators and legislators cite youth exposure and normalization risks, ad inventory for gambling-related messaging tends to constrict — first in public out-of-home venues, then on large digital networks that prefer uniform global standards.
What’s next for India’s gaming and media economy
For Indian fantasy and rummy companies, the loss of Google Ads will raise customer acquisition costs, extend payback periods and likely compress marketing spend. Brand advertisers could pivot to sponsorships, team tie-ups and content marketing, but those channels face their own headwinds if enforcement expands to endorsements and influencer content — a risk flagged by the ongoing ED probe. Affiliates may shift toward SEO and app store optimization, though search visibility alone is unlikely to substitute for the reach and targeting precision of paid media.
For platforms, the priority will be robust compliance hygiene and documented controls to avoid serving prohibited ads to Indian users. That includes geo-fencing, keyword and creative filters, stricter advertiser certification and rapid takedown processes. The companies will also be expected to demonstrate that minors are insulated from any residual exposure and that responsible gaming messages are present where allowed categories survive.
Longer term, the industry’s growth narrative hinges on diversifying into legal formats — esports, educational games and other nonmonetized or tightly regulated categories — that align with policy goals. The government has signaled openness to those segments, even as it clamps down on cash play. Whether that pivot can sustain the scale suggested by market forecasts will depend on how quickly developers and publishers retool products and business models to fit within the new lines, and how consistently the rules are applied across states and digital channels.
The through line is clear: as laws harden and enforcement intensifies, major ad platforms are moving first to mitigate legal and reputational risk. For India’s real-money gaming operators, the window for mass-market advertising is narrowing, and the cost of noncompliance is rising.
