Google’s latest Ads Safety Report shows how large the enforcement load has become. Across all categories, the company blocked or removed more than 8.3 billion ads in 2025 and restricted another 4.8 billion. Gambling and games ranked ninth among blocked or removed ads at 270.7 million, while online gambling and games ranked third among restricted ads at 123.9 million. Google also logged 9.7 million online gambling publisher-policy violations by page volume.
The wider report gives the numbers more weight. Google says it suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, actioned 245,000 publisher sites, and made 35 policy updates during the year. It also notes that it blocked over 99% of policy-violating ads before they were ever seen.
What the 2025 Data Really Means
A category does not reach hundreds of millions of enforcement actions unless it remains a major compliance problem. That is the real takeaway from Google’s report. Even with stronger automation, gambling still sits among the biggest pressure points in the ad ecosystem.
Google has also made the entry process more rigorous. Under a gambling certification update that became effective on March 23, 2026, accounts that seek to advertise gambling content must now demonstrate good policy health. Additionally, Google stated that manager accounts with repeated online gambling certificate revocations, or repeated gambling violations under their management could lose eligibility for new certifications and may also have existing ones revoked.
Why Brazil Has Pushed the Issue Further
On April 18, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said Google and Apple had been notified over more than 120 betting apps available in Brazil without federal authorization. The ministry asked both companies to explain their internal policies, pre-screening procedures, age-verification controls, and to provide updated lists of betting-related apps available to Brazilian users.
Brazil’s notice shifts the argument upstream. The question is no longer only whether illegal operators are buying ads. It is also how unlicensed betting products reach users through major app stores at all. The ministry even noted that the official federal list of authorized betting operators is publicly available. That suggests that basic legitimacy checks should not be difficult for platforms to perform.
What to Watch Next
Google’s enforcement numbers are substantial, but that volume alone does not answer the policy question. Brazil’s move suggests that authorities want proof of prevention. That raises the bar for Google and other platform operators. They are being judged not only on how much illegal gambling content they remove, but also on how early they stop it from getting in.
