Unfettered Online Casinos Employ Malicious SEO Techniques
Unregulated online casinos are resorting to nefarious black hat SEO strategies—methods that contravene Google’s established guidelines—to obfuscate the damaging journalism surrounding their gaming platforms, which frequently appeal to underage individuals.
Recent alterations in Google’s approach, shifting away from conventional search methodologies towards AI-centric models, have made these deceptive tactics increasingly effective.
In the past few weeks, GamblingHarm.org has fallen victim to a substantial black hat SEO assault. The accompanying image illustrates the influx of unique websites linking back to our platform.
A notable increase has been observed, primarily originating from spammy or obsolete domains that seem to have been appropriated by entities associated with unregulated online gambling.
SEO Tactics in Sweepstakes Casino Gambling
Stripped of traditional advertising avenues, unscrupulous online gambling platforms exploit search engines and dubious affiliate marketing agents.
Sweepstakes casinos, operating within a framework of illegality and unregulated gambling, deploy a dual currency model to navigate around state gaming laws.
To date, at least 11 states have enacted legislation and/or issued cease-and-desist orders against these detrimental offerings.
In a landmark move, California enacted the strictest anti-sweepstakes casino regulation in 2025, aimed at safeguarding its residents. This new statute, which GamblingHarm.org has extensively documented, became effective at the beginning of this year.
We have been inundated with spam-driven SEO backlinks intended to mislead Google into perceiving our gambling journalism as lacking credibility. This could lead to our coverage of sweepstakes casinos being relegated to obscurity in Google search results. One of hundreds of recent spam backlinks.
Though Google typically identifies spam backlinks effectively, we have already begun to notice adverse effects. Our article on California sweepstakes has experienced a decline in both visibility and traffic, thereby impacting the entire website.
Furthermore, GamblingHarm.org has reported on various individual sweepstakes casinos under scrutiny from state authorities for predatory business practices.
How to Support GamblingHarm.org
GamblingHarm.org operates on a self-funded model, supported by small but generous contributions from its readership.
To combat the influx of spam backlinks, the site requires an augmentation of high-quality backlinks from reputable sources; these serve to signal to Google that our content is credible and significant, thus mitigating the adverse effects of spam links.
In recent months, we have been privileged to receive exceptional citations from esteemed publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Guardian.
Nonetheless, the persistent spam barrage continues to undermine GamblingHarm.org. If you have the capacity to link to GamblingHarm.org from any affiliated web platform, your assistance would be invaluable.
The accumulation of citations for GamblingHarm.org will empower Google to effectively disregard SEO spam backlinks aimed at suppressing our journalism on gambling. Our mission remains clear: to educate consumers and protect those vulnerable to addiction.
Source link: Gamblingharm.org.
