Google will allow certified online gambling advertisers to run campaigns in YouTube’s Masthead, the premium placement at the top of the YouTube home feed, from 21 October 2026.

The change was set out in a Google Ads policy notice posted on 7 October. It extends an allowance that already covered sports betting, opening the slot to online gambling operators that hold certification under Google’s Gambling and games policy.

Who qualifies

Eligibility rests on certification. Operators must be certified for the relevant market, and every ad must still comply with the wider Gambling and games policy as well as local legal, jurisdictional and age restrictions.

The notice explicitly excludes advertisers in Google’s online gambling-promoting content category that are not subject to mandatory state or national gambling registration. In practice that shuts out affiliates, comparison sites and other promotional publishers that send traffic to operators without holding an operating licence themselves, even when the operator they promote is certified.

Google has not listed the countries in which the Masthead change applies. Trade press analysis of the notice has pointed out that earlier announcements on gambling ads in Google TV and Masthead placements named specific markets, while this one does not. Masthead creative is also reviewed individually, so certification alone does not guarantee approval.

Certification itself is country by country. Google requires gambling advertisers to show they hold the appropriate licence from the regulator in each market they target, and to restrict ads to those jurisdictions. That means the Masthead opening will only matter in regulated markets where Google already accepts online gambling ads, and only for operators that have completed the process there.

Part of a wider recalibration

Google’s standard policy has long barred gambling promotion in a handful of formats, including Gmail ads, Shopping ads and Masthead placements. The company has spent 2026 tightening the certification rules that sit underneath its gambling ad policy, starting in March with new requirements for online gambling advertisers and extending them across categories in September.

The Masthead change runs the other way, adding inventory for operators that have cleared those tighter checks. It gives licensed brands access to one of the most visible and expensive placements in digital advertising.

Timing against tighter ad rules

The move arrives as gambling advertising faces mounting restrictions in several of the markets where operators would most want to use it. Denmark has tabled a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling ads during live sport alongside curbs on affiliate marketing. France has added new sign-off requirements for gambling ad campaigns, and in the UK a House of Lords committee has called for a ban on gambling advertising, a recommendation the industry has challenged.

Platform policy is also under pressure from regulators and industry bodies focused on the black market. In the Netherlands, the Dutch online gambling association VNLOK has taken Meta to court over ads for illegal gambling, while Nordic operator Paf has launched a pilot with Meta aimed at curbing unlicensed gambling promotion.

By tying Masthead access to formal certification and excluding unregistered promoters, Google’s change is likely to favour the largest licensed brands with the budgets to buy premium reach. Operators will be watching for confirmation of which markets are covered once the policy takes effect on 21 October.

Stake’s attempt to keep operating in Brazil until the end of the month has collapsed after the president of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3) suspended the injunction that had shielded the operator from the government’s betting ban.

Judge Luis Antonio Johonsom Di Salvo granted a request from the federal government, represented by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), on 9 October, a day after the lower-court order was issued. Stake said in a notice on its Brazilian site that its website and app have been unavailable again since 10 October.

What the injunction had allowed

On 8 October, Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of São Paulo’s 9th Federal Civil Court partly granted Stake’s writ of mandamus. She rejected the operator’s main request to suspend Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394/2026 entirely and keep trading until 31 December 2029, when its federal authorisation was due to expire. She did, however, allow it to keep operating until 25 October, the date on which the MP brings existing betting authorisations to an end.

Until then, authorities were barred from treating the licence as expired, blocking or redirecting the stake.bet.br domain, or sanctioning the company solely for operating within the terms of the order. The relief came with 12 conditions, including a ban on new marketing campaigns and bonuses, guaranteed withdrawal of player balances, and responsible gambling controls.

Why the appeals court stepped in

The AGU argued that the order carved out an exception to national policy for a single operator, creating regulatory asymmetry and an undue advantage, and that it risked encouraging copycat claims from other licensees. Di Salvo agreed. According to Brazilian legal outlets that reviewed the ruling, he found “serious harm to public order”, said the MP was intended to apply uniformly across the sector, and pointed to the risk of a multiplier effect.

He also noted that the Supreme Federal Court (STF) is already reviewing the MP in three constitutional challenges, ADIs 8024, 8027 and 8028, under Justice Luiz Fux, and said the judiciary should avoid becoming the agent of instability while that review is pending.

The suspension holds until the underlying case is finally decided or the court’s presidency rules otherwise. With the order lifted, the MP’s effects apply to Stake again, including the redirection of its domain requested by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Stake can appeal to the TRF-3’s full panel. Meanwhile the writ of mandamus continues in the lower court, where the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA/MF), telecoms regulator Anatel and the Central Bank must provide information before the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office gives its opinion.

A sector in limbo

Stake’s licence had been granted under the regime that launched in January 2025, when Brazil opened its regulated fixed-odds market to authorised operators. President Lula’s government moved to unwind that framework through the MP, giving licensees 30 days to wind down.

The consequences are already being counted. Trade press reports put job losses linked to the ban at more than 3,500, while some licensees, including Kaizen Gaming, have publicly said they remain committed to the market despite the uncertainty.

The decisive ruling is expected to come from the STF. Reports in Brazil suggest Justice Fux may wait until after the presidential election run-off before deciding on requests for preliminary relief against the MP. Until then, the TRF-3’s decision signals that operators seeking individual carve-outs from the ban are unlikely to find a sympathetic hearing in the federal appeals courts.

New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has named the 11 entities that won the right to apply for the country’s first online casino licences, closing out an auction that drew 32 bidders and ran for 10 rounds.

All 15 licences on offer were taken up, with three of the winning entities securing more than one right to apply. The auction cleared at NZ$15m per licence, according to the DIA’s provider guidance page. It used an ascending clock format, in which the price rose in steps and bidders dropped out once it passed what they were prepared to pay. Bidding ran from 29 September to 12 October.

Who won

Baytree Interactive Limited secured the most rights with three. Playvia Gaming (NZ) Limited and Rock Swift Group Limited each took two. Single rights went to Christchurch Online NZ Limited, One Casino Limited, Rush Entertainment Limited, Skill On Net Limited, SkyCity NZ Online NO1 Limited, SkyCity NZ Online NO2 Limited, Stake New Zealand Limited and TAB New Zealand.

Several of the names map onto familiar groups. Trade press reports identify Playvia Gaming (NZ) as an Entain subsidiary and Baytree Interactive as the vehicle for Super Group’s Betway business. Entain is understood to be planning a third licence in partnership with TAB NZ, according to iNTERGAME. SkyCity holds two rights through two separate entities.

The DIA has not said which consumer brands will sit under each licence. Approved brands will only appear on a public register once licences are actually granted.

“We are excited to have been successful in the auction to apply for two licences,” SkyCity chief executive Jason Walbridge said, adding that the group would now proceed with its application ahead of the market opening next year. A Stake spokesperson told iNTERGAME the company was “really excited about the opportunity in New Zealand as the market moves towards regulation”.

A right to apply, not a licence

Winning the auction does not guarantee a licence. Successful bidders must now pay the auction price and submit full applications, which the DIA says will need to include a business plan alongside detailed strategies on advertising and marketing, consumer protection, harm prevention and minimisation, and compliance. Applications open this month, and the department has said guidance on how to submit them will follow.

The deadline that matters most for the wider offshore market is 1 December 2026. Any provider that has not applied for a licence by then must stop offering online casino gambling to New Zealand customers. Applicants can keep operating while their application is assessed, but cannot advertise, and must leave the market if they are declined.

Groundwork for a 2027 launch

The auction is the most visible step so far in implementing the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which caps the regulated market at 15 licences. The DIA expects the licensed regime to be fully operational in 2027 but has not set a launch date.

The supply side is already preparing. Testing laboratory GLI was recently cleared to certify games for the New Zealand market, and suppliers have been lining up content for licensees ahead of next year.

For the 21 bidders that missed out, and for the many offshore brands that took no part, the next seven weeks will decide whether they partner with a licence holder or withdraw from a market that has long been served from abroad. With licences priced at NZ$15m and the field capped, the DIA’s application assessments will now determine how quickly New Zealand’s regulated online casino market takes shape.