Gambling-related content on otherwise 'normal' site

[ev4me]

First post to this site - hope you guys can help! (Btw, I've posted this elsewhere because I'm hoping some of you can shed more light on it, thanks to the previous limited response).

I have a personal website/domain which is host to all sorts of things; graphics, articles, software, an art gallery, my own music, and much more.

Thing is, I have created a (commercial) betting simulator utility (on the punter's side), and I want to add a sub-page dedicated to the program on my otherwise non-casino orientated site.

I'm worried that Google may generally rank my entire site/domain lower as a result if they're a little biased against the gambling industry generally. Is this a moderate possibility? I also have Adsense, so would that be jeopardized too?

If I instead registered an entirely new domain, put my casino utility on that, and only linked to that from my existing non-casino site, would that be okay in Google's eyes?

Thanks for any input.

[universal4]

Yes I think it is a moderate possibility and if your non-gambling site has decent rank for the terms you want it to, you may well be better purchasing a different domain for your betting product.

This would also allow you for additional pages for advertising a few of the bookies to those who may be interested in your utility.

Rick
Universal4

[ev4me]

Thanks. Bear in mind, I may not link to any other site from that gambling utility page (maybe an informational site like gpwa.org at most) - it would stand completely by itself. Does that change things?

A few spin-off questions.

1: Assuming you're right, and Google does demote the rest of my site, will it be restored if I then take the gambling utility content off? Or would I be forever tarnished in Google's eyes?

2: Don't you think the existing reputation of my site could help the program (as well as the reverse risk which you point out).

3: If I did create a new domain as you suggested, would linking to it from my old site be risky for that old site? If so, how much less risk would that be compared to sticking the gambling util on my old site and linking to it internally?

4: Finally, very briefly, what evidence do you have that my old site would suffer if I put the program on there?

[Doolally]

I don't think your site will suffer at all and I don't believe Google or any other website targets gambling as a "bad" thing. Plenty of other factors will affect your ranking but I can't see that gambling is one of them.

[sweetbet]

I don't believe that google is biased against gambling sites imho, but like Doolally said, plenty of other factors will affect your ranking.

[martinseomcgarry]

In the past Google has formally advised when it has purposely targeted a specific industry, like the Pay Day Loans Algorithm or When it started impacting on Non Mobile friendly sites.

The lesson here is, if Google purposely takes on an industry its normally found out by one of the algorithm watchers like MOZ or Search Engine Land.

As it is, I've never heard that gambling has been tackled by Google at any point. It is much harder to rank a gambling site because links are generally harder to come by and there were lots of SPAM backlink practices going on within the gambling sector. So perhaps this is where the fear factor comes into play. But your site should be fine IMO, if the tool works and is popular, why wouldn't Google want to serve it their customers.

[RacingJim]

I don't think Google is against gambling, I think all the moves they have made in the last couple of years are about trying to drive more and more revenue for themselves. Gambling is a very lucrative market and Goolge wants a slice. They want more consumers to click the adwords ads and they want to drive more full-time webmasters towards having to do some PPC marketing. The ads now are barely recognisable as ads and take up a large amount of 1st page real estate. For me Google are not anti-gambling, they are anti-affiliate!

Google like to try and come across as some kind of consumer guardians, but to me it's a load of bollocks, they are commercialised as fook these days.

[seoyong]

Agreed, while i don't believe Google will penalized your domain, it would still be safer to keep it in separate domain. Reason for this is even Google won't penalize now, they may do so in the coming years.

SeoYong

[Stefan82]

"I also have Adsense, so would that be jeopardized too?"

I had problem signing up for Adsense for a business directory site, when I had some gambling banners on it, then I removed them and all was fine.. So this might be a risk.

[universal4]

Adsense allows their ads to run on some gambling sites depending on the content and where the site is located.

Gambling content

AdSense restricts the placement of ads on gambling sites and gambling-related content. We have different policies for gambling content based on the country in which a publisher is located. Publishers outside a limited group of countries are not allowed to place ads on any gambling content or on any pages with links to gambling content. This includes any content that allows users to place bets or play games in exchange for an opportunity to earn money or other prizes.

source link https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/48182?hl=en

Rick
Universal4

[Sherlock]

I do not think Google penalizes gambling content on nongambling sites, only because it is a gambling content. Gambling ads are normal even in adsense in some countries.

What maybe Google might consider (and you too), is possible complete irrelevance of the ads. You should have clean answer why should graphics, articles, software, an art gallery, my own music, and much more site be ideal website for gambling ads. Not only because of Google but also because of your visitors and because of the yields. For me it looks like a putting ad for penis extension pump on gambling portal page.

I do not say it is a nonsense for sure, but it should be your concern. If you have an art gallery with roulete widget, it might simply harm your traffic, bounce rates and then even SERP. It is up to you to test it.

[Celebrationbird]

If there is a purpose with it no problems but a random article about it on a site that issnt about that subjet might be a but wierd for visitors right.

[bettingtop10]

it is sure possible to post gambling related content on non gambling sites, but there needs to be some kind of relation to make it acceptable.
for example an article on a golf site that talks about betting on golf games. that makes sense.

but I would not post an article about roulette techniques on a site focused on baby clothing

[vpp]

It may be best to add this gambling-related content to your existing site to see any feedback. If you have a place where visitors can post, urge them to leave some response regarding the new content. If you see that there is an interest and your visitors love this content, then Google will love it too.

[sampendleton]

I don't think Google is against gambling, I think all the moves they have made in the last couple of years are about trying to drive more and more revenue for themselves. Gambling is a very lucrative market and Goolge wants a slice. They want more consumers to click the adwords ads and they want to drive more full-time webmasters towards having to do some PPC marketing. The ads now are barely recognisable as ads and take up a large amount of 1st page real estate. For me Google are not anti-gambling, they are anti-affiliate!

Google like to try and come across as some kind of consumer guardians, but to me it's a load of bollocks, they are commercialised as fook these days.

I agree, business is business. I've seen paid search results dominate the first page of SERP. So I'm not surprised..
Same applies to social media sites..