Online Casino U.S. Advertising Ban

The popular online search engines run by Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. are banning ads from online casinos, reacting to a federal crackdown on Internet gambling.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google expects to drop all casino ads by the end of this month. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo is simultaneously phasing out the casino ads in its U.S. market, but allowing them to continue to appear in 14 countries where the company operates Web sites.

Yahoo's decision also affects Microsoft Corp.'s MSN site, whose search engine depends on a Yahoo subsidiary, Overture Services, for its online casino ads.

Both Google and Yahoo are imposing the ban as federal authorities increase the pressure on the media to stop "aiding and abetting" offshore Internet casinos that have been illegally accepting bets in the United States.

The push recently prompted broadcast giants Clear Channel Communications and Infinity Broadcasting to stop broadcasting the ads of online casinos.

Overture spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens attributed the casino ban to a "lack of clarity in the current environment" and a desire to conform with its parent company's policies. Yahoo stopped accepting banner ads from online casinos in 2002.

Google believes its action will help "provide the best search and advertising experience for its users."

Critics of the advertising ban against online casinos say it compromises the media's right to distribute information.

This isn't the first time Overture and Google has shunned illegal businesses that previously were allowed to buy ads. Both companies late last year announced an ad ban against unlicensed pharmacies. Google is still trying to develop a system to distinguish between the legal and illegal pharmacies that operate on the Internet.