I have just spoken to a representative at Google who has revealed that as of Monday they will be allowing gambling affiliates to advertise on Google Adwords!

The affiliates will have to agree to Google’s terms and conditions which will mean that the affiliate is responsible for ensuring the gambling sites they advertise are legitimate, therefore removing all liability from Google themselves!  Another requirement is that the affiliate is “adding to the user experience” and not simply showing details of a single gambling site or regurgitating website copy available elsewhere.  The word “comparison” came up on more than one occasion int he call and so affiliates comparing gambling programmes is clearly an area Google is thinking for the new sites they allow on board.

All campaigns will be manually approved by Google by a specialist gambling tema they have set up.

Who will qualify?

• affiliates comparing programmes or “adding value” to the user journey

Who wont qualify?

• Affiliates direct linking to gambling providers
• Affiliates copying or mirroring gambling sites or copy from gambling sites

So its open season for affiliates who meet the criteria and a potentially expensive time for gambling companies who’s own CPCs will rise and they will begin to see their affiliate commission payouts on the increase at the same time, double whammy!