Google Advertisements will update its specific Indian lottery and game policy on 21 January to meet local legal requirements. Under the revised policy, all Rami and Dream sports advertising for Indian users would be banned. Google confirmed this change in its policy circular as a necessary step to align its advertising framework with the Act on the Promotion and Regulation of Online Games 2025.
This decision marks one of the most significant advertising restrictions in the online game ecology of India in recent years, and is expected to affect dream sports platforms, genuine gold game operators, union marketers and digital advertising agencies that rely on Google advertising networks for customers and brand exposure. Google indicated that its lottery advertising framework was based on strict compliance with local laws and industry-recognized standards, and only permitted the placement of related advertisements when the country had been approved and specific conditions had been met. According to the Google policy, all lottery and promotional advertising must be directed only at the country of approval, displaying the information of the person in charge on the landing page and never towards minors. Google defines lottery as “acts that are determined by accident in part by a bet on a valuable object and have the opportunity to win over a valuable item”, which corresponds to the legal interpretation and functional characteristics of the lottery activity. With the passage of the Online Games Promotion and Regulation Act 2025, India has established a clearer national regulatory framework for online games. The renewed policy of Google reflects this shift by removing the Rami and Dream sports from the relevant categories of lottery permitted in India.
According to Google Advertising Rules, outreach includes material that directly encourages participation in lottery activities or is authorized in accordance with local legal requirements. Covers online casinos and lottery companies, online bingo games, tiger machines, lottery and shaving cards, online sports games, and games using virtual currency or items of real value. Google allows for such promotions only in specific countries and advertisers are required to meet licensing and certification requirements. From 21 January, Rami and Dream Sport will be included in India ‘ s restricted category, effectively withdrawing from the advertising ecosystem of Google in the country. The company requires that the advertiser in the relevant category always hold a valid licence and certification and that Google be immediately notified of the expiry of the authorization, which could result in the suspension of the advertising account. The policy also limits the use of lottery promotion to specific forms, such as consolidated and coalition-priced websites, which are not allowed to operate their own services and whose products must be legal in the target country. NAY JAN, an Indian partner and game policy expert in Ernst and Young Young, stated: “Closure of exposure until regulatory certification is completed, and Google plays the role of gatekeeper in the digital market in India.” In his interview, the game strategist Jepnet Singh Sessi stated: “This in fact does not hinder the development of the industry, but changes the flow of funds. Demand will not disappear, advertising budgets will not disappear, and they will shift to indirect, agency, alliances, cyber-red and overseas channels. Media networks will continue to receive revenues, but transparency and consumer protection will be reduced.”
Over the years, the Indian game market has allowed domestic licensed operators and unlicensed overseas platforms to coexist in the same digital advertising space, creating unfair competition and regulatory ambiguity. The Online Game Promotion and Regulation Act 2025 aims to address this problem by establishing a unified national framework for focused certification, accountability and consumer protection. According to Nay Jan, the Google policy reflects this regulatory transition: “This helps to prevent misleading promotion, to reduce the reach of illegal lottery operators and to ensure that consumers see only platforms that meet legal standards”. He added that in India, over 200 million users of services in the area of skill games (including dream sports and the Lame) contributed significantly to taxes, employment and the digital economy, and that large-scale regulation was essential for long-term stability.