No More Betting Promos? YouTube Tightens Gambling Content Restrictions

• YouTube will strengthen its measures on gambling-related content by setting up an updated list for renditions of unapproved gambling sites and increasing the age threshold for casino-related videos on 19 March 2025.
• For creators, demonetisation or content removal is a risk, and YouTube stands tall on that downside to maintain platform safety and move with changing gambling-regulation winds.

YouTube is adjusting how it handles gambling content on the platform. So if you happen to be a creator or enjoy services like a quick round of online slots or tuning in to casino streaming, here you go! As of 19 March 2025, an age limit for casino games on YouTube will also sting content creators sharing their banned channels by criminalising the act of promoting that.

So, can we go ahead and gush about what changes have been made in the background, giving the reason why the company is doing this? Let’s paint the picture.

Major Changes?

YouTube is essentially becoming much stricter on gambling-related content with a major emphasis on linking creators to gambling websites. With the new set of rules, content creators can no longer link to unapproved gambling websites through:

• Links in video descriptions or pinned comments
• Logos or images of gambling platforms
• Text mentions placed in the captions or video overlays
• Verbal shout-outs made during a video

According to YouTube, any platform referred to as “unapproved” gambling would include those who have not satisfied the regulatory checkpoints, otherwise solely evaluated by Google. Such a reference would lead to age restriction, demonetisation, or content deletion.

Moreover, YouTube is extending the age guard on casino content, allowing casino activities in ordinary gaming, notwithstanding. Only over 18 users or logged-in users can watch online promotional videos, should these videos come approved. However, the content on sports betting and land-based gambling venues is relatively unrestricted by age.

Another radical change in the policy is that YouTube is not accepting content that mentions “guaranteed returns” from gambling. Instant removal could be in the cards for a video promoting a particular system of gambling that promises guaranteed returns or liability satisfaction. The video is still not safe, even if the website were to be legalised.

Why Would YouTube Do Such a Thing?

The story proceeds. Over some years, gambling content popped up on YouTube, with creators in the same space seeing partnerships with betting companies to push their casinos, slot apps, sites of gambling, etc. All forms of online promotion had shown themselves wholly above board in support of ethical stances. This fresh funding is now being provided to gambling sites for some things—most often, the promise of a big win and an unannounced audience among the younger fraction.

Making sure people cannot mess with them is a trend increasingly established by governments and their respective gambling advertising regulators, forcing YouTube to be even more strict in dealing with such updated policies. At the beginning, it was just about ad preferences whereby users could choose to hide ads related to gambling and alcohol. Starting today, even gambling brands cannot be positioned very recognisably in the video content.

One major reason is certainly about shielding users, especially minors, from threats related to online gambling.

Impact on Creators

For YouTubers who are all about casino games, betting online, or collaborating with gambling sponsors, this could represent a game-changer, and unfortunately, it will not be for the better.

• Loss of revenue: Creators who rely on these sponsorships could very well be getting less money for promoting them since most of the online casinos will be prohibited from displaying their advertising banners directly.
• More scrutiny: YouTube, in its quest to police such content, is taking this as an additional warning sign, thus demonetising more videos or even removing them altogether.
• The Shift: Some creators might pivot towards sports betting content, which is less restricted, or perhaps go into general gaming content.

This is difficult for some and, worse, for those who have so far been playing on the safe side of gambling content. Yet, for YouTube, long-term platform safety is more important than short-term monetisation gains.

What’s Coming Up Next for YouTube? 

It’s nothing new that YouTube is updating its content policies, and, on top of that, this won’t even be the last of it. With the changes converging around online gambling laws, more severe restrictions could be implemented in future days, especially along the lines of loot boxes in video games that had once been mired in controversy over their potential to lead young gamers towards gambling-like behaviour.

Therefore, creators need to adapt to these rules, and assuming that you are cool with a bit of watered-down gambling content, you may begin to see fewer tries at making these ads more credible, while the actual video itself will now bear more age-warning provisions. 

YouTube is attempting to strike out the supposedly tricky mix between freedom of content-making and protection of the users. The new policies are likely to serve as a source of frustration to the creator community but otherwise should motivate those who see the benefit in protecting and maintaining the platform, especially where younger users are concerned.