On Monday, Keurmerk Verantwoorde Affiliates (KVA), the quality mark for Dutch casino affiliates, expressed alarm regarding Google’s search functions potentially steering Dutch consumers towards illegal online gambling websites in a LinkedIn post.
The KVA emphasized risks arising not only from paid advertisements but also from Google's organic search features, such as autocomplete and suggested queries.
Using data primarily sourced from Chrome’s incognito mode to prevent personalized search histories from influencing results, the KVA found numerous autocomplete suggestions that directly pointed to illegal gambling platforms.
Notable search phrases identified included “online casino zonder Cruks” (meaning online casino without CRUKS, the Dutch self-exclusion registry for problem gamblers) and “beste online casino buitenland” (best online casino abroad).
KVA raised concerns about the possibility that unauthorized operators are manipulating Google’s autocomplete feature to redirect Dutch consumers towards illegal gambling sites. While the organization commended Google for its cooperation in removing paid ads for illegal casinos, it stressed the necessity for more thorough actions against organic search results.
Dutch lawmakers are echoing similar worries. In December 2025, CDA MP Straatman questioned the state secretary regarding the immediate removal of websites advertising under the term “Beste casino's zonder Cruks.” In a written reply from January 2026, the then-state secretary, Arno Rutte, acknowledged the limited enforcement against such domains, particularly those not registered with a .nl extension.
Currently, KT van Bruggen, the state secretary for Justice and Security, has highlighted the urgency of employing effective measures to restrict access to these illegal platforms. Recently, a parliamentary committee from across the political spectrum of the Netherlands also voiced their concerns regarding the role of tech giants like Meta and Google in facilitating access to the illegal gambling market.
Members of the VVD party have urged the government to adopt a firmer approach towards these technology platforms. Van Bruggen mentioned that both Meta and Google are willing to engage in discussions with the government, promising that a report on illegal gambling advertising across these platforms would be submitted every six months.
The KVA’s remarks resonate with a wider trend across Europe, where regulatory bodies are increasingly scrutinizing how major online platforms contribute to directing traffic toward unlicensed gambling services. In Sweden, Spelinspektionen recently cited affiliates and social media as significant avenues for black market advertising and highlighted the ways that affiliate networks can reroute search traffic to unlicensed operators.
So far, regulators have mainly concentrated on monitoring paid advertisements. In Germany, the GGL reported that an updated Google ad policy has led to a reduction in black market visibility but acknowledged that illegal operators can still gain visibility through organic search via SEO manipulation. This highlights a broader shift towards addressing organic search signals and issues like doorway pages, a concern also raised in the UK, where studies have linked the migration of black market activity to search-driven promotions and exploitation of SEO techniques.
