No, don’t worry, you don’t actually have to choose between online gambling and porn. We’re just wondering why the United States of America seems to view one of these topics as being wholesome, legal and morally acceptable whilst the other is considered to be nasty, evil and illegal to boot.

For those of you who might get confused about the issue, this is how things are in the “land of the free”: US citizens can download all the hardcore pornography they like, and the Google search engine will accept paid advertisements for the same, but US citizens can’t gamble online and the Google search engine won’t allow companies to buy advertising for their casino, poker room or other gambling establishments. This includes companies that operate legally outside the US and are therefore not even targeting a US audience.

The Google stance has been made clear in a recent issue of New Media Age, and the bottom line is that the world’s most popular search engine has decided against reviewing its position concerning gambling advertisements in any form. There is even a hint that the company may look even more closely at the few advertisements that have managed to get around the “Google gambling ban” (by advertising “stepping stone” sites rather than direct links to gambling sites) when they are up for renewal.

There are doubtless many people who view both gambling and porn as being delights of the devil, and to a certain extent it would make sense if both pastimes were treated with equal disdain – especially when we take into account the considerable influence of the Christian Right in the US – but this isn’t the case. We therefore have a situation in which a Google search for “Hardcore Porn” or “Panty Maniacs” brings up both natural links and paid-for advertising, but a search for “Online Casino” or “Online Poker” only brings up natural links and affiliate announcements, but no paid adverts from the gaming companies themselves.

Ironically, gambling companies will be able to advertise their wares on television in the UK just as soon as the Gambling Act 2005 comes into force in September. Does this mean that the UK is moving forward at the very same time that the US appears to be slipping back into its historical love for prohibition? Only time will tell. What we can say for sure is that if this kind of irrational embargoing continues, the USA won’t be able to call itself “the land of the free” for very much longer.

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