Illegal Operators Target Dutch Regulator’s Website With Complaints to Remove It From Google Search

Pages on the website of the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit have been targeted by a wave of complaints to Google seeking their removal from search results, CasinoNieuws.nl reported. The complaints claim that the regulator copied content from other websites and that pages such as Kansspelwijzer should therefore be removed from Google search results.

The DMCA is a U.S. copyright law that allows rights holders to submit complaints to Google over alleged unauthorised copying of content.

The mechanism can also be used as a pressure tactic. If a complaint passes an initial review, a page can be deindexed and disappear from search results. For a website, that can mean lost traffic; for illegal operators, it can create an opportunity to occupy the vacated search positions.

According to the outlet, 59 such complaints have been filed against Kansspelautoriteit since March 27, 2026. They were formally submitted by different private individuals, each time allegedly on behalf of companies linked to the gambling industry. Those included SB Tech and Delasport, two software providers that supply sportsbook software to bookmakers. The companies themselves are unlikely to be involved, and their names may have been used without their knowledge.

Among the pages targeted was Kansspelwijzer, a section of the regulator’s website that lists all online casinos that are legal in the Netherlands.

The complaints therefore targeted an official source that helps players distinguish licensed operators from illegal gambling sites.

Gambling expert Frank Kruit described one of the complaints as false and said a similar tactic had long been used against legal gambling affiliate sites in the Netherlands. According to him, the complaints often come from illegal operators or affiliates seeking to damage the legal market, and the tactic has now reached the regulator itself.

At the same time, Kansspelautoriteit itself files official requests with Google against illegal gambling sites. The situation therefore appears to be a battle for visibility in search results: the regulator is trying to limit the illegal market, while its own pages are being targeted through copyright complaints aimed at removing them from Google.