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The top advertising platform in the world will begin accepting ads from prediction markets on Jan. 21.
Alphabet Inc., which owns both the No. 1 search engine in the US, Google, and the largest video-sharing platform, YouTube, is the first tech company to publicly announce its intention to accept advertising from prediction markets.
The prediction market (PM) ads will be classified as financial products, as opposed to gambling. This means ads for Kalshi and Polymarket, two PM firms that recently partnered with Google, will soon be in front of millions of eyes.
For their ads to be accepted by Google, PM companies must either be federally registered under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or recognized as a designated contract market by an entity such as the National Futures Association.
PMs under fire
Though some state gaming regulators say PMs are nothing more than thinly veiled bookies, companies like Kalshi can do business in most states because they are recognized as a financial product by the CFTC. The fed considers them a commodity.
Through a prediction market like Kalshi, consumers can invest in or purchase “contracts” tied to an event, such as whether a candidate will win an election, whether the interest rates will be raised or lowered, or whether a sports team will win a game.
It’s that last type of contract that has some states up in arms. They contend that Kalshi and others are able to skirt around state sports wagering rules that are in place to protect consumers.
Ads will not be seen in Nevada
There is one state that will not see PM ads on Google.
The search engine says it will not allow advertisements in Nevada while the legal battle between PMs and the Silver State continues.
Also, companies associated with the PM market, such as consultants or token-based PM platforms, like Underdog, will not be allowed to advertise with Google.
PM ads could be seen on YouTube TV
An examination of Google’s ad policies does not indicate any reason why PM ads couldn’t be run on all of its platforms, including YouTube TV, which has roughly 10 million subscribers. Forbes projected that YouTube TV will become the largest pay-TV provider in 2026.
That means millions of people could soon be seeing PM ads on their smart TVs, browsers, and cell phones.
According to The Readout, a newsletter from The Current, Google serves a staggering 100 billion ads daily across the globe. Close to 70% of Americans see at least one Google ad daily, according to Socially.
