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Starting next week, you may see the likes of Kalshi, Robinhood, and Polymarket when you point your browser to Google.
Google Ads announced earlier this month that it will allow prediction market (PM) firms to begin advertising in the platform.
The online search giant has determined that PMs, which it defines as “platforms that facilitate the listing of or provide customer access to Exchange-Listed Event Contracts related to economics, sports, or current events,” qualify under its advertising guidelines as of Jan. 21.
Google sets rules for PM companies
Advertisers must apply for certification through Google to run ads in the US. Google will limit ads to:
- Those authorized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as Designated Contract Market (DCM) whose primary business must be the listing of Exchange-Listed Event Contracts (e.g., specialized platforms listing economic or sports outcomes); or
- Those authorized as a Brokerage by the National Futures Association (NFA) to offer third-party access to products listed by a DCM that meets the criteria specified above.
Google’s prediction markets policy page makes clear that “markets concerning games of chance or lotteries, or any activity legally defined as gambling within relevant jurisdictions and not permitted as a regulated Prediction Market under local law” would meet with disapproval.
PM firms target states without legal sports betting
This policy decision comes at a time when lines are blurring between online gambling websites and PM platforms. The entry of DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel into the PM arena highlights the appeal of reaching customers via this avenue – especially customers in California, Texas, and other states in which sports betting is still illegal.
Upon its entry into PMs, Fanatics CEO Matt King made clear the parallels between PMs and legalized sports betting:
“We’re giving fans a safe, and intuitive way to engage with the moments that move sports and culture, and to pick a side.”
Kalshi and Robinhood are still facing a lawsuit from three California tribes: Blue Lake Rancheria, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, and Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians. The tribes have invoked the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and the state’s Tribal-State Gaming Compacts to try to keep PMs from operating on tribal lands in California.
The tribes filed an injuction to halt Kalshi and Robinhood from operating while the case advanced, but a US District Court Northern District of California judge ruled in favor of the PM companies.
