Real-money gambling apps on the Google Play Store are currently only allowed in the UK, Ireland, France and Brazil but starting from March 1 this year, an additional 15 countries will be added to.
Google has added 15 more countries to its list of nations in which it will allow gambling apps that allow users to play with real money.
Only the UK, France, Ireland, and Brazil were previously allowed to offer such apps. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the USA will now also offer gambling apps as of March 1st.
The new rules permit casino games, lotteries, sports betting and “Daily Fantasy Sports” games, but only after developers register with Google and prove they are licenced operators of such games in the relevant jurisdiction.
Google won’t take a cut because such apps must be free, and Google Play In-app Billing is forbidden to developers of such apps.
- Whilst the Play store in the UK does allow betting apps, the US play store does not. As such, any US bettors will need to download Android sports betting apps directly from the operator’s sites. Well fast forward a few years to 2017, and they do now allow betting and gambling apps in the app store.
- On the other hand, devices that operate using an Apple operating system (i.e., iOS), like iPad, iPhone, etc., some apps are also best-supported on them, as shown below. We evaluated these best apps for iOS using graphics, screen-resolution, and user-interface. See the table below for the best iOS sports bet apps.
- Understanding online sportsbook mobile options is a little bit more complicated than one would think. That said, whether you are betting using an app or mobile enhanced site, the experience is going to be mostly the same. Though the rules are changing, the App Store and Google Play only allow a very limited number of betting apps.
The company has not said why it has expanded access to gambling apps.
Another change to Google’s policy on apps that allow users to play with actual money changes the rules for a type of in-app promotion that has become popular in India.
Londoner admits illegally accessing National Lottery accounts
READ MOREGoogle’s Indian blog points out that the nation’s app developers are pioneers of loyalty schemes that are “based on a qualified monetary transaction in the app and offer prizes of cash or other real-world value” and mentions consultation with start-ups as a reason for its revised policy.
Best Betting Apps
Left unsaid was that in late 2020 Google banned popular India payments app Paytm over a virtual scratch-card promotion that offered cash rebates. That ban led to some textbook outrage as India’s tech and media communities argued that Google was discriminating against local tech companies.
The new rules state: “Loyalty program benefits, perks, or rewards must be clearly supplementary and subordinate to any qualifying monetary transaction within the app” and that “no portion of the qualifying monetary transaction may represent a fee or wager to participate in the loyalty program”.
Paytm has not commented publicly on the changes at the time of writing. ®