Norwegian YouTube users are safe from the threat of rogue gambling advertisements thanks the work of the Norwegian Gaming Authority. In a deal announced this weekend, YouTube agreed to block advertising from operators who aren’t licensed to do business in the country.
Norwegian gaming regulators have been attempting to broker a deal with YouTube for over year with regards to the renegade gambling ads. Authorities were particularly incensed that unlicensed operations were running Norwegian language ads that were clearly aimed at local audiences.
In a statement to the press, Steinar Mjøs, an advisor to the Authority said:
We know from before that YouTube requires content posted on their website must be directed by national laws.We are therefore satisfied that YouTube has taken the complaint into consideration and blocked videos that are in violation of the lottery law and gambling law.
The ad block is just the latest in a series of moves designed, in part, to help protect Norway’s government backed gambling monopolies and has been in the works for over a year. During that time, a new government has been seated in Oslo that’s expressed an interest in gambling liberalization. (Though it’s doubtful that even the most wide-eyed reformers would take kindly to supporting unlicensed operators.)