Google, Yahoo! ban gambling ads

Google and Yahoo! have decided to stop displaying advertisements for online casinos, said a report in The New York Times.

The two Internet giants have said that the move has been necessitated by the 'lack of clarity' in American regulations.

United States prosecutors, said The New York Times, had warned companies in March over the carrying of advertisements for offshore online casinos. Prosecutors had the display of such advertisements was tantamount to aiding and abetting.

Running online gambling sites from within the US is illegal.

While Yahoo! said that the ban on casino ads will apply to its US Web sites only, Google will ban them across the world. The l its sites worldwide. The change is likely to come in at the end of this month, said The New York Times.

Meanwhile, The Register said that some legal observers believe adverts for online gambling could be protected under free speech rights.

The World Trade Organisation had recently ruled that the US ban on online gambling was in breach of international trade law.