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Report: Offshore Gambling Sites Spent Millions Snatching Up Expired Government Domains

Posted on: October 12, 2026, 12:32h.

Last updated on: October 12, 2026, 12:32h.

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Devin O'Connor Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, and gaming news. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014...
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Key Points

At least 448 expired government, charity, and campaign domains sold at auction became gambling websites between 2024 and 2026
Offshore gambling operators paid $22.3 million for the domains, exploiting existing backlinks to redirect visitors from legitimate websites to casinos
The American Gaming Association estimated US consumers wager $466 billion annually on unregulated online casino games

Offshore gambling firms spent many millions of dollars acquiring expired government and non-profit domains, redirecting users from legitimate websites to casino platforms hosted in the Philippines, Curaçao, Malta, the Isle of Man, Indonesia, and elsewhere.

Maryland license plate Philippines iGaming — In 2023, nearly 800,000 Maryland residents were driving around with a commemorative license plate that featured a URL that directs to an online gambling website based in the Philippines. A new blacklinking study finds that offshore gambling websites continue to purchase expired government domains. (Image: Flickr)

Backlinking.com, an independent research publication that tracks backlinks and SEO, as well as domain ownership transfers, reports that at least 448 websites that were sold at auction between January 2024 and May 2026 became gambling websites.

The website for the Queen’s Green Canopy, a tree-planting initiative launched for her 2022 Platinum Jubilee, now redirects to an Indonesian online slot page. The former website for Every Woman Every Child, a United Nations global health movement aimed at advancing the health and well-being of women and children, leads to an Indonesian-themed online casino.

The former website for Vote Leave, the campaign supporting the UK’s referendum to leave the European Union, now redirects users to a site listing online casinos available to UK consumers that operate outside GamStop, the UK’s self-exclusion program.

Offshore Gambling Firms Pay Top Dollar

The Backlinking.com report found that offshore gambling operators paid $22.3 million for the 448 domains that became gambling websites or affiliates.

Higher domain sales prices were associated with buyers who were gambling firms. Backlinking.com said about one in 10 domains of the 3,692 audited web addresses sold that went for over $5,000 became a gambling website. From $25,000 up, the rate was one in five.

When a charity or campaign domain expires, the links that other websites gave it do not expire with it,” said Aaron Seminoff, who runs Backlinking.com. “Those links are what these buyers pay for.”

Google’s spam policy labels the practice as “expired domain abuse,” a technique used to deceive or manipulate internet search systems.

“Expired domain abuse is where an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users,” Google said.

In 2023, Casino.org reported on a web address on 800,000 state-issued license plates in Maryland celebrating the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key writing “The Star-Spangled Banner” redirecting to an online casino in the Philippines. State officials said the website, which was owned by the National Park Service when the plates were distributed, had been auctioned.

Offshore Gambling Market

The American Gaming Association estimated in August 2025 that US consumers bet over $466 billion a year on unregulated online slot machines and table games. The trade group put player losses at around $18.6 billion.