I got inspired the other day.
Friend of the site Dustin Gouker, a U.S. gambling consultant and author of The Closing Line newsletter, posted his Google search results for “Indiana online casinos” on LinkedIn over the weekend. The screenshot showed the top result, which was a table listing nine sites under a bold title of Indiana online casinos.
All nine sites were sweepstakes casino sites.
“As I search for Indiana online casinos to learn more about the dead online casino bill,” Gouker wrote, “this is what Google tells me fwiw.”
That led me to a story idea:
Let’s perform a Google search for “STATE NAME online casinos” with localized geolocation settings for all 50 states plus Washington, DC. The Google search engine results pages, or SERPs, are where the majority of interested gamblers or sweeps players find their gaming activities.
So how accurate are those SERPs? Are sweeps sites getting promoted over real-money sites — even in states where real-money iGaming is legal? Is Google providing inaccurate information? Do offshore betting sites have a presence?
I present to you the results of this Google experiment.
Yes, offshore betting showed up in 23.5% of searches
In 58.9% of the searches, just below the paid results or at the top of the organic results if there weren’t any paid ones, Google listed a table of nine “STATE NAME online casinos” just like the one in Gouker’s LinkedIn post.
Of that 58.9% (30 searches):
- 10 listed only sweeps casinos (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, California, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Wyoming).
- 12 (so 23.5% overall) listed at least one offshore site (Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah). Bovada got eight listings, BetUS got seven, BetOnline got three, and Slots.lv got one.
- Two included real-money sportsbooks (Arizona, Kentucky — sports betting is legal in both of these states).
- Three included only real-money online casinos (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey — iGaming is legal in all of these states).
Golden Hearts, affiliate pages dominate rankings
First of all, Golden Hearts Casino must be spending a lot in paid marketing. A result directing users to the sweepstakes operator’s site was at the top of 47% of the searches as a “sponsored” listing, which means the company paid for its link to appear, and it was among a handful of sponsored listings in five more searches.
I saw no paid search results for sweeps sites other than Golden Hearts.
In terms of the No. 1 organic search result, pages from affiliate sites promoting either sweeps casinos or real-money online casinos — depending on the legality in the market — were at the top in 88.2% of the searches.
Other notable advertising trends
- BetMGM was promoted in seven paid results — six for sports betting, and one (West Virginia) for iGaming.
- ESPN Bet promoted its sportsbook in six paid results.
- DraftKings appeared in two paid results — one for sports betting, one for iGaming (Connecticut).
- Bally Bet Casino appeared in four paid listings.
- Caesars Palace Casino appeared in two paid results.
- Mohegan and Borgata appeared in two, and Jackpot City, betPARX, and Play Gun Lake each had one.
- Pages promoting a list of promo deals for sweeps operators appeared in 19 paid results.
- The same types of pages promoting deals for offshore sites showed up in two paid results (Illinois, Massachusetts).
- That type of page for iGaming sites appeared in one result (Pennsylvania).
- State lotteries appeared in paid results in four search results (Virginia Lottery for Virginia and Washington, DC; then New Hampshire and Georgia).
Notable state online casino SERPs
Let’s start off with the seven states that currently allow real-money online casinos. How accurate were their SERPs?
Pennsylvania
Paid results: Bally Bet Casino, affiliate page promoting iGaming deals, Borgata Online Casino, Mohegan Sun Online Casino
Google suggested result: List of nine real-money online casinos
Top organic result: Affiliate page on PA online casinos
Any question marks or inaccuracies? No
Michigan
Paid results: ESPN Bet Sportsbook, affiliate page promoting iGaming deals, Play Gun Lake, Caesars Palace Casino
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: A recent news article from the Detroit Free Press about the Michigan Gaming Control Board sending cease-and-desist letters to nine offshore operators.
Any question marks or inaccuracies? No
New Jersey
Paid results: Bally Bet Casino, betPARX Casino, Borgata Online Casino
Google suggested result: List of nine real-money online casinos
Top organic result: The New Jersey Attorney General’s page listing all the regulated iGaming sites in the state.
Any question marks or inaccuracies? No
Connecticut
Paid results: DraftKings Casino, Mohegan Online Casino, Golden Hearts
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: Affiliate page on CT online casinos
Any question marks or inaccuracies? The sponsored listing from Golden Hearts isn’t egregious or anything, but it’s technically not an iGaming site in a state where iGaming is active.
West Virginia
Paid results: BetMGM Casino, Caesars Palace Casino, ESPN Bet Sportsbook
Google suggested result: List of nine real-money online casinos
Top organic result: Affiliate page on WV online casinos
Any question marks or inaccuracies? No
Delaware
Paid results: Golden Hearts, Bally Casino by BetRivers
Google suggested result: List of nine options — seven sweeps sites, two retail casinos
Top organic result: Apple store listing for Bally Casino by BetRivers
Any question marks or inaccuracies? Yes — there was a heavy presence of sweeps casinos in a search that technically should focus on real-money gambling in Delaware.
Rhode Island
Paid results: Bally Bet Casino, Golden Hearts
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: Direct link to Bally Bet Casino
Any question marks or inaccuracies? Not really — the Golden Hearts ad in the sponsored results isn’t a huge deal.
States considering online casino bills
Now, let’s focus on states currently considering online casino bills.
Illinois
Paid results: Three separate ads for sweeps promo pages on affiliate sites
Google suggested result: List of nine options — six sweeps sites, two retail casinos, and one offshore betting site
Top organic result: Affiliate page on IL sweeps casinos
Anything to note? Yes — seeing an offshore gambling site as a suggested option isn’t ideal.
Maryland
Paid results: ESPN Bet Sportsbook, affiliate page for sweeps, BetMGM Sportsbook
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: Affiliate page for sweepstakes casinos
Anything to note? Well, sweepstakes casinos technically aren’t online casinos.
New Hampshire
Paid results: New Hampshire iLottery, Golden Hearts
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: Affiliate page for sweepstakes casinos
Anything to note? Sweepstakes casinos technically aren’t online casinos. The NH iLottery also used the term “online casino games” in its sponsored result, so it’s clearly trying to tap into that search market.
Massachusetts
Paid results: BetMGM Sportsbook, two affiliate pages for sweeps promos, affiliate page for offshore betting promos
Google suggested result: None
Top organic result: Affiliate page for sweepstakes casinos
Anything to note? The presence of an affiliate page promoting offshore betting sites is far from ideal for this SERP, and it speaks to the motivation for Massachusetts’ iGaming bill.
New York
Paid results: Two affiliate pages with sweeps promos
Google suggested result: List of nine sweeps sites
Top organic result: Affiliate page for NY sweepstakes casinos
Anything to note? Sweeps sites technically aren’t online casinos.
One more …
Several of the states we’ve already reviewed are either considering bills that would ban sweeps sites (multiple states) or regulate them (New Jersey). But there’s one more considering a ban that hasn’t been specifically highlighted yet.
Mississippi
Paid results: Golden Hearts, DraftKings Sportsbook
Google suggested result: List of eight sweeps sites and one offshore site
Top organic result: Affiliate page for sweepstakes casinos
Anything to note? Seeing Bovada in the suggested results for “Mississippi online casinos” is the exact opposite of what regulators would want, and it makes the presence of sweeps sites seem irrelevant.
Methodology
I accessed state-specific Google search data by using valentin.app. I geolocated each search based on the market. So, for instance, I used the geolocation of “New York, USA” for the “new york online casinos” search, and so on.
These searches all took place during the evening of Feb. 15.