Google News Exposed: How Gambling Ads Masquerade as News Articles

Google News is supposed to be a reliable source of information for millions of users. But a recent investigation by Gamblingindustrynews.com reveals that the news aggregator mixes news articles with gambling ads. This casts doubt on the aggregator’s ability to follow its own policy of banning commercial content from its search results.

The report’s authors searched for ‘BetMGM’ on Google News and looked at the first 100 results.

They expected to see news about the BetMGM brand or its owner, MGM Resorts International. But they found only promo content, with bonuses and promo codes from the gambling company.

Some of these ads were on reputable news websites (like The New York Post, Miami Herald, Fox 10 News, and Newsweek). Others were on gambling websites (like Gambling.com and Bookies.com). Anyone, even minors, could read these ads on Google News.

Google News Search Results for ‘BetMGM’

According to Google News’ own guidelines, the platform forbids placing “sponsored content as independent, editorial content”. Although advertising in independent news articles may be permitted, it must not exceed the amount of useful information in the article.

If a site breaks these rules too often or too badly, Google News may stop showing its articles.

The findings of the investigation using BetMGM as an example suggest that one of the world’s biggest news aggregators is having trouble following its own rules.