It is in the very DNA of every online casino to attract as many people to their website and get them to play a ton of casino online games. At the same time, some gambling websites are pushing their service or products too far, going to the lengths of being harmful at worst.
Are gambling advertisements getting out of hand? This is what we’re here to discuss today.
The recent controversy
Early this year, people who were searching the web to prevent themselves from gambling addiction were instead led to sites filled with nothing but adverts for more online casino websites. The search engine in question is Google and many people were bombarded with many ads for online casinos.
Gamstop is a program in the UK that aims to help gambling addicts to quit the addiction and act of gambling itself. Sadly, Google’s algorithm had promoted sites that even offer gambling bonuses typically found in Singapore online casino sites as an example.
It had lured and did the exact opposite effect on people who are trying to quit any casino online activities. Naturally, this has caught the attention of concerned people including a cross-party group on gambling-related harm.
Google had eventually made the steps in response to this mess and had even suspended some accounts that have exploited the search engine’s algorithm. They claim that Google themselves has strict policies around ads for gambling.
What is Gamstop?
Gamstop is a private, self-exclusion system for individuals with online gambling addiction problems. Gamblers choose their timeframe and sign up for some time where they are unable to gamble.
The people behind Gamstop is a non-profit organization called The National Online Self-Exclusion Scheme Limited. Gamstop focuses on preventing people from using any gambling-related websites, apps, and games in Great Britain depending on your desired period.
Gamstop has a very simple application process. Anyone can become a member. The application process can be completed online and would only require as little information such as:
- Your postcode
- Your date of birth
- Your e-mail address
How Google advertisements work
To understand how Google works, you need to know the three main elements which are listed on their homepage and a separate section of the Google home page.
These three elements include Search Results, Google AdWords, and Search Suggestions. Each one of these areas plays an important role in Google AdWords, because when the various search engines pick your advert and place it in their results, then you will have earned some money for it.
The Google AdWords section of the home page has different ads for different search terms. The text adverts that appear in the results section can include text link text, images, video and audio advertisements, banner ads, and sponsored links.
When people search for something, the search engines look at the text of the advertisement and the keywords that the ad contains. They use the above-mentioned search terms in conjunction with the actual words that they are trying to find and place your ad at the top of the Google results page.
Things to do to avoid gambling addiction
While Gamstop is only limited to anyone living in Great Britain, it should be noted that people elsewhere have other means of avoiding any casino online obsession or gambling addiction.
To get a handle on things to do to prevent gambling addiction, we must first look at what this condition really is. This is an addiction to the act of gambling itself. It is when you become so hooked on gambling that it becomes your entire life.
One of the things that most people do is undergo therapy. This may include talking with a professional who deals with addicts. These people will give you a detailed explanation of what to expect as you get ready to quit.
The main thing you have to learn to do to avoid gambling addiction is that it comes from the habit of gambling. This means you must find the root of the problem and not just hope that you will overcome it over time.