Google Reclassifies Sweepstakes Casinos, No Longer Social Gaming Operations
Posted on: November 1, 2025, 10:05h.
Last updated on: November 1, 2025, 10:05h.
- Google no longer accepts sweepstakes casino advertising
- Google recently amended its social gaming advertising rules to exclude sweeps platforms
Google has updated its advertising policy on social casino games to prohibit the marketing of sweepstakes casinos within the world’s largest search engine.
Google’s ad policy supports “a healthy digital advertising ecosystem that’s trustworthy and transparent for users, advertisers, and publishers,” the company claims. Google’s latest update to the marketing strategy strips sweepstakes casinos from the permissible forms of social gaming advertising.
The update was short, with just one line added:
Examples of games that are not social casino games: Sweepstake casinos,” the policy now reads.
Google defines social casino games as “online simulated gambling-style games where there is no opportunity to win something of value.”
Social Casino Advertising
Google requires that a social casino obtain a Google Ads certification to buy advertising.
To receive such a certificate, a social casino must comply with several conditions, including implementing disclaimers stating that the platform is intended only for users of legal gambling age. Social casinos must also hold a valid license for their games in their targeted country, include a statement disclosing that the games are not for real money or prizes of “real-world value,” and state on the landing page or ad if a game includes in-app purchases.
Social casinos additionally cannot use the logos, names, or likenesses of brands or entities associated with real-money gambling. Sweepstakes casinos are no longer eligible for Google Ads certification.
“On Oct. 28, 2025, the Gambling and Games policy was updated to introduce examples of the type of games that do not qualify for certification under our social casino games policy, with sweepstake casinos identified as such an example of games that are outside the scope of the social casino games policy and ineligible for certification. Games that fall under the banner of real-world rewards are subject to the specific restrictions and allowances of the online gambling policy,” Google wrote on its advertising policy “change log.”
Google’s advertising revenue in 2024 was approximately $265 billion. Its key advertising segments included “Search” and YouTube.
Sweepstakes Dual Currency
Sweepstakes casinos allow players to gamble on free-to-play slot machines and table games. But the platforms also offer real money gambling through the selling and awarding of a secondary digital token, typically called “sweeps coins.”
Sweeps operators contend that the sweeps coins, which are awarded in exchange for a cash purchase, are used to play sweeps games and cannot be “cashed out.” The platforms instead claim the sweeps coins can only be “redeemed.”
Most legal scholars and attorneys general who have reviewed the legality of sweepstakes casinos have concluded that the platforms are cleverly designed illegal gambling operations tailored to circumvent state gambling laws. Numerous states have issued cease-and-desist orders to leading platforms, and several prominent operators are facing lawsuits across the country.
Some states have passed laws banning sweepstakes casinos, including California, Connecticut, Montana, Nevada, and New Jersey. Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, New York, and Washington have passed sweeps bans through their gaming regulatory agencies.
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