Authorities in Italy have hit search giant Google with a €100K fine for violating the country’s ‘Dignity Decree,’ which bans all gambling advertising.

Google originally pledged to remove all gambling-related content from Italian search results back in 2018, but last month the country’s communications regulator, the Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), began an investigation after a series of gambling ads showed up in Italian searches.

According to Reuters, AGCOM has now found Google guilty of allowing a paid advert for online casino www.sublimecasino.com to show up in search results for Italian residents, and has sanctioned Google based on Regulation (EU) 2019/1150, which specifically authorises it to take action against indexing services based abroad that offer services to the Italian public. 

AYO.NEWS says:

While we doubt that Google will even notice the €100K fine, AGCOM’s ruling does show that it is serious about enforcing the country’s controversial Dignity Decree, and will likely make the search provider even more cautious of dealing with gambling advertisers everywhere. 

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