Are you looking to start your own gambling channel on YouTube? Find out all you need to know about what you should and shouldn’t upload to get your channel up and running now!
With over 2.1 billion users accessing the platform every month and over 82 years’ worth of content uploaded daily, YouTube is the most popular streaming service in the world.
The site has everything from tutorials on how to bake delicious treats to reviews of the latest anime and unboxing of new gadgets. Some videos teach tricks to help improve your odds when gambling, and some even live stream the biggest slot jackpots.
With the increase in popularity of online gambling, sports betting, and other wagering opportunities on the rise internationally, these videos have attracted a considerable following. With that, many new channels offer unique and entertaining gambling content.
But one of the first things that anyone wanting to start a channel asks is, does YouTube allow gambling streaming? To get an answer, let’s look at the policies surrounding content uploads and streams and see if you can also start your own channel.
Community Guidelines
Before looking at what they have to say, it is essential to understand the YouTube Community Guidelines.
Essentially, the term Community Guidelines is a nice name for the rules and policies that Google has in place to filter any upload or interaction taking place on YouTube. Stating that the YouTube community is built on trust, these guidelines seek to protect this community and ensure no harmful content is uploaded.
One of the most prominent guidelines is that no upload can aim to directly sell, link to, or facilitate access to anything illegal or regulated. Said a different way, no video can be uploaded that features content that other laws regulate. Among these are alcohol, organs, explosives, endangered species, and services such as organ harvesting, escort services, and unlicensed medical services.
Also covered under the Community Guidelines are online gambling sites. This is because they are, as expected, already covered under their own laws and regulated by state and national governments. However, an exception made by YouTube for these websites means streaming gambling may not be entirely prohibited.
Google and YouTube Review
As per the Community Guidelines, an online gambling site or a stream featuring gambling content can be uploaded on the condition that it features a site or casino certified by Google AdWords or reviewed by YouTube.
To achieve this title, the domain of the site you’re trying to upload must be certified by Google. This can only be done by the casinos completing an online request containing their domain, gambling license number, and contact details and submitting it for review.
Google or YouTube then take this information and ensure the casino meets all local legal requirements. These verifications are denied in areas where all forms of gambling or online gambling are strictly prohibited (such as Qatar).
However, the domain will be granted certification in areas where gambling is legal. Once this occurs, gambling content from the domain can be uploaded—although it will likely still be blocked in certain geos.
Slot Streaming
The guidelines are slightly less specific in the case of streaming slots—which are usually shown in a full-screen view without any casino information visible. In fact, there are no detailed guidelines for streaming slot games other than they need to be legal in the region from which they are being uploaded.
Considering the vast majority of videos containing slots on YouTube at present, it is safe to assume that these videos don’t get restricted as heavily as content that singles out a specific online casino or gambling provider. This means creating content on slots like those found using SlotSource’s promotions can easily be uploaded.
In saying that, however, YouTube has been known to be a bit temperamental and could suddenly ban many channels without any notice (or for any good reason).
Channel Blocking
In 2018, many popular slots and gambling streaming channels suddenly disappeared from YouTube. In early June, thousands of popular channels were inexplicably suspended and banned, with the creators behind the channels left with no answer as to why.
When the news came out, YouTube responded that they don’t allow any content promoting violent or dangerous activities with an inherent risk of severe physical harm or death. Many wondered how this applied to gambling, with thousands of users reaching out to discover why they were suddenly banned.
Numerous channel owners received no reply, while others were simply told that their channel was suspended due to ‘repeated or severe violations.’ As expected, there was a significant outcry against the platform.
Amazingly, just a few days later, the platform reversed its decision and posted on Twitter that the suspensions occurred due to a mistake. However, soon after this, a second round of unwarranted suspensions happened—followed by an even more significant outcry.
Streaming Gambling Content on YouTube
While a large-scale ban like that from 2018 hasn’t occurred in recent years, streamers of gambling content are always worried about when the next round of suspensions will arrive.
Until then, it appears that there is no ban on streaming content containing slots and other gambling tips and tricks, provided it is legal in your area. The only additional regulation to this is if your content features a specific online casino name, brand, or content. In that case, it is vital to ensure that the casino’s domain is certified by Google or YouTube.
As long as these guidelines are followed, anyone can start their own YouTube channel and add to the gambling content already on the platform. And, as the popularity of gambling increases and more US states allow sports betting and online gambling, this content will undoubtedly be generated more often.
