Google India bans rummy and fantasy ads from Jan 21, under the PROG Act
Google is discontinuing Rummy and Daily Fantasy Sports advertising in India starting January 21, 2026, following an India-specific update to its advertising policies. The change is being communicated through a policy revision issued earlier this month and is applying across Google’s advertising ecosystem, including search and display platforms.
While the update is not assigning a specific legal justification, it is arriving amid sustained regulatory uncertainty surrounding online money gaming in India.
Advertising Access Is Being Narrowed Amid Legal Ambiguity
The policy shift is unfolding as India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 remains unenforced despite receiving presidential assent several months ago. Most real-money gaming operators are already suspending or winding down operations, anticipating stricter enforcement once the law is notified.
By removing Rummy and Daily Fantasy Sports from permitted ad categories, Google is effectively pre-empting regulatory enforcement rather than reacting to it. Advertising access is being treated as a compliance-sensitive activity, even in the absence of operational clarity from lawmakers.
iGaming News Today observes that platform-level restrictions are increasingly shaping market behaviour faster than formal regulation.
Earlier Platform Commitments Are Losing Relevance
This decision is also reversing earlier positioning adopted by Google in India. In 2022, the company was running a limited pilot allowing Rummy and Daily Fantasy Sports apps on the Play Store while excluding other skill-based gaming formats. That selective access had drawn regulatory scrutiny and competition complaints.
Subsequent proposals to broaden access through third-party skill certification are now becoming redundant. With online money games broadly restricted under PROGA, platform expansion plans are no longer aligning with India’s current legislative direction.
Limited Immediate Impact but Long-Term Implications
In practical terms, the immediate commercial impact of the ad ban is expected to remain limited. Most operators are no longer actively acquiring users, and marketing activity has already slowed significantly.
However, the broader implication is structural. Platform policy is now acting as an enforcement layer, influencing market exits, investment decisions, and visibility without requiring court orders or regulatory notifications.
What the Industry Will Be Watching Next
Going forward, industry stakeholders will be closely monitoring whether Google’s policy stance will be evolving again in response to judicial intervention. Legal challenges to the constitutional validity of PROGA are ongoing, and any relief granted by the Supreme Court will be reshaping the regulatory outlook.
Until clarity emerges, platform conservatism is likely to persist, and advertising access will continue to be one of the earliest indicators of regulatory risk in India’s iGaming market.
