Google is the dominant web search engine in Canada with approximately 67 percent of the market share. Fellow search engine Bing is attempting to compete with Google for Canadian market share, and announced it will use online gambling advertisements to differentiate from other competitors.
Search engine advertisements are different from standard search engine results. Advertisements are located on the right side of a search results page, which are established by companies that purchase the rights to gambling-related keywords. These advertisements must be approved by Bing or other search engines before they are viewable by the public.
Online gambling is still a grey area in most markets, and search engines refuse to promote advertisements where lawmakers still consider the practice illegal. Most countries in South America refuse to promote online gambling advertisements, and the US is the largest market in the world where the practice is technically illegal under federal law. In Canada, the laws don’t ban internet betting as in the US, and Bing, through its owners at Microsoft, agreed to service the gambling segment of the Canadian population.
However, there are strict conditions that all online casinos must follow. Bing retains the right to reject any advertisements that violate Canadian gambling laws, and only allow online casinos physically located within Canada to advertise to the public. Advertisers must also promote a responsible gambling environment without deceiving the public about odds of winning.
Canadians can use internet gambling guides to identify trusted online casinos, which will be promoted through advertisements on Bing search results.
