On Monday, Keurmerk Verantwoorde Affiliates (KVA), which serves as the quality mark for Dutch casino affiliates, expressed its concerns regarding Google search's influence on steering Dutch consumers toward illegal online gambling sites. This statement was shared via a LinkedIn post.
The KVA underscored the potential risks associated with not only paid advertising but also Google's organic search features, such as autocomplete and suggested queries.
The affiliate group used data obtained from Chrome’s incognito mode to eliminate personalized search histories, discovering several autocomplete and pre-fill search queries that outright suggested illegal gambling platforms.
Among the alarming phrases identified were “online casino zonder Cruks,” which translates to “online casino without CRUKS,” referring to the self-exclusion registry for problem gamblers, and “beste online casino buitenland,” meaning “best online casino abroad.”
KVA raised concerns about possible manipulation of Google's autocomplete feature by unauthorized entities, which could mislead Dutch consumers toward illegal gambling options. While acknowledging Google’s efforts to eliminate paid ads for illegal casinos, KVA stressed the necessity for the company to broaden its initiatives to tackle organic search results as well.
Notably, Dutch lawmakers have echoed these worries. In December 2025, CDA MP Straatman queried the state secretary about the possibility of taking down websites advertising as “Beste casino’s zonder Cruks.” In a written response issued in January 2026, then-state secretary Arno Rutte admitted that enforcement capabilities against such sites were still inadequate, especially for domains not registered as .nl.
KVA noted that KT van Bruggen, the current state secretary for Justice and Security, has highlighted the need for urgent and effective countermeasures to restrict access to illegal gambling platforms. Last week, a committee of MPs from various political parties in the Netherlands also addressed concerns related to Meta and Google’s complicity in enabling the black market.
Candidates from the VVD party have urged the government to adopt a firmer approach against these major tech giants. Van Bruggen mentioned that both Meta and Google were willing to engage in discussions with the government on this matter, with assurance of a biannual report from the government concerning illegal gambling advertisements on these platforms.
This situation reflects a wider trend in Europe where regulatory authorities are intensifying scrutiny over how major internet platforms funnel traffic to unauthorized gambling services. In Sweden, the regulatory body Spelinspektionen has pointed to affiliates and social media as crucial channels for black market advertising, indicating how affiliate networks may redirect search traffic to unlicensed providers.
To date, regulators have primarily focused on monitoring paid advertising. However, in Germany, the GGL acknowledged a decrease in black market visibility due to a revised Google ad policy, though it recognized that illegal operators still manage to gain visibility through organic search exploitations such as SEO manipulation. This shift signals a growing need to address issues related to organic search signals, including domain practices like doorway pages. This is a concern echoed in the UK, where research has correlated the migration of black market activities with search-driven promotions and SEO abuses.
