Google Changes DFS and Lottery Ad Policy for Texas and Other States

Written By Phil West on July 5, 2024 - Last Updated on July 11, 2024
Google logo signifies the company changing its DFS and lottery courier ad policy in Texas

Starting July 15, Texans may notice a change in the lottery ads that Google serves them.

A policy change from the online giant will allow lottery courier ads and DFS (daily fantasy sports) operators to show targeted ads in some states without legal sports betting.

Google, in an update published on its support site, notes,

We will begin to accept and run ads for lottery-couriers in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

If advertisers are targeting their ads in a state that does not require a license, the advertisers must be licensed in at least one other state that does require a license to operate Lottery Courier services.

To be clear, Texans will see the targeted lottery courier ads but none of the DFS ads.

Policy reflects growing popularity of both lottery couriers and DFS

Lottery courier services, like Jackpot, which operates in Texas, provide players the opportunity to purchase lottery tickets online from a mobile device. According to its site,

To get started, you need to select your desired lottery game, choose numbers manually or opt for quick picks to generate a random set of numbers, add your tickets to the shopping cart and finalize your order.

The Jackpot.com agent then physically purchases the official tickets on your behalf from an authorized retailer and uploads the scanned tickets to your player account. Winning tickets are handled appropriately by the platform’s team.

Jackpot.com will notify winners and deliver prizes without a commission.

In the prior legislative session, the Senate passed a bill that would have banned the service, but it languished in a House committee.

Sen. Bob Hall, the bill’s author, told NBC-DFW in April 2023,

“It makes it real clear that use of any aspect of it, if there’s internet, computers involved in it cannot be done. It’s the issue itself being outside the bounds of what the Legislature really intended in allowing the lottery to take place and not be done such that it opens it up to encouraging an addict to easily spend family fortune.”

Yet, the House’s inaction on the bill keeps the practice legal in Texas, and Google ads could conceivably boost the option.

Google won’t post DFS ads in Lone Star State

DFS, meanwhile, has emerged as an alternative to sports betting in states like Texas where it is not legal.

In Texas, DFS operates in a legal gray area. Despite an unfavorable attorney general opinion on the record, an ongoing court battle has given years of cover for most DFS providers to continue inviting Texas players to participate in their contests. Should Texas legalize sports betting—and expect a major lobbying effort in the upcoming 2025 session—DFS operators would likely parlay their DFS name recognition to sports betting.

While some states without legal sports betting will allow DFS operators to advertise through Google, Texas is not among them. And so, DraftKings, FanDuel, and other sportsbooks with DFS products will not benefit from the added brand awareness in the nation’s second-largest market.

Photo by Matt Slocum / AP Images
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Phil West

Phil West is a longtime journalist based in Austin, Texas, whose bylines have appeared in The Daily Dot, Nautilus, Pro Soccer USA, Howler, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, and Austin Chronicle. He has also written two books about soccer.

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