Italian regulator fines Google over gambling advertising
The Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), Italy’s communications regulator, has fined Google for reportedly violating the rules of the Dignity Decree.
The Decree, implemented 1 January 2019, bans all forms of gambling advertising. While the official statement didn’t provide any concrete sums, according to Reuters, the fine was €100,000 ($118,250).
AGCOM said Google allowed a paid ad for an online casino to show up on its search results.
In itsstatement, the regulator said Google “has spread the paid announcement of the sublimecasino.com site that carries out gaming and betting activities with cash winnings.”
AGCOM then sanctioned the violation based on the Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 that allows “suppliers to be sanctioned of indexing services established abroad that offer services for the Italian public.”
This is not the first time Google has clashed with the regulator.
In 2018, Google agreed to remove all gambling-related content from being indexed in the Italian search results. And in September of this year, AGCOM launched an investigation into the search engine after a series of gambling ads appeared in the country’s search results.
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