Google Play has had a long-standing policy against publishing real-money gambling apps.
But that is all changing now (both in the U.S. and around much of the world).
Read to find out what this means for New Jersey’s online casino players.
Google Play’s Policy Change
Google has apparently had a change of heart when It comes to online casino apps and games. The industry giant previously would not allow any real money games to be searched in their signature app store, called Google Play.
While you could download online casino apps from their Google Play, you could not search for them there.
Previous Android Options
Since you could not get Android apps from Google Play, that meant you had to download it from the online casino’s website.
In truth, following the link to the app directly from the casino’s website is not a bad idea, though. Since many apps look similar or can be difficult to find in Google Play or Apple’s App Store, following the link from the casino can help you make sure you’re getting the app you want.
What does this mean for New Jersey?
It will be easier to find official apps in Google Play. That may mean that we’ll see slightly more players in New Jersey.
However, the online casino industry is doing very well in New Jersey. As Google Play will not be doing any special advertising or placement for New Jersey’s legal online casinos, we can’t really expect much of a bump.
However, Google’s acceptance of New Jersey’s legal casinos app will give users one more platform to provide feedback on the apps’ functionality.
Official Notification from Google
According to Google, the following will now be permitted for their US market:
- Online casino games (permitted in Delaware, Nevada (poker only), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)
- Sports betting (permitted in Colorado, District of Columbia (governmental operators only), Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Montana (governmental operators only), Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon (governmental operators only), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and West Virginia)
- Lotteries (state-run operators or affiliated contracted operators only in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia)
- Depending on the state, daily fantasy sports may be regulated as gambling in the U.S, and all daily fantasy sports apps published in the United States are subject to the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) Apps requirements below.