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Google has put the brakes on its support for game types and operators not covered by existing licensing which paved the way for new opportunities in Brazil, Mexico and India.
On June 21, Google Play, the US technology giant's digital marketplace, said it came across too many challenges due to a lack of central authority to approve real money gambling apps in some regions.
A Google spokesperson said: “We need additional time to get it right for our developer partners and the safety of our users.”
“Google Play remains deeply committed to helping all developers responsibly build new businesses and reach wider audiences across a variety of content types and genres,” Google said.
Daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy apps that are already part of the pilot programme can continue operating on the Play Store in India as Google is extending the grace period of the pilot programme.
“We hope to have further updates in the coming months on a path forward,” Google said.
Google is still keen to support real-money games on the Play Store and is still working on “evolving” its service fee model for gambling games; however, details on the change are not currently available.
In January 2024, Karan Gambhir, the director of global trust and safety partnerships at Google, published an article titled “A New Approach to Real-Money Games on Google Play”.
The article explained that Google will begin its support for operators, which will cover game types and operators not covered by an existing licensing framework, in India, Brazil and Mexico in June 2024, and it plans to roll out the service to more countries in the future.
In the months prior, Google had been running a pilot programme for distributing DFS and rummy apps to users in India, as well as piloting DFS in Mexico. These pilots were extended until June 30, 2024, when the new policy announced in January 2024 was supposed to take effect.
The additional time needed for Google to help develop its real-money gambling expansion plans is a blow to the online gambling industry, as it offered an opportunity for operators to reach more users and enhance revenue streams.
