Casino Love

The gambling industry is currently experiencing a worldwide revolution due to the popularity of online casinos and the major media attention that online casinos benefit from. Now, Russia has seen rapid growth in the past three years in gambling at online casinos and offline gambling, particularly in Moscow.

Gambling in Russia is estimated at a $5 billion annual business and draws players from all over the world to real live high-class casinos and one rouble slots in small arcades throughout the nation. The global popularity of online casinos is on the rise, and now in Russia, land based games are benefiting too.

Russia is the world’s second largest country by population and h as somewhat of a “Gambling streak” to it as a culture that favors spending over saving. Perfect for online casinos to take advantage of. Russia may soon rival Asia as one of the world’s fastest growing markets for online casinos and gambling in general.

Nevertheless, the unparalleled growth has worried the government and now there are calls to regulate online casinos and offline gambling in the nation. A law targeting online and offline casinos was passed last month to target advertising by the industry.
Offline gambling has exploded in Russia in the last three years, particularly in Moscow. It is an estimated $5 billion annual business and draws players to both high-class casinos and the one-rouble slots in small arcades. Russia, the world’s second-largest country by population with an all-cash culture that favours spending over saving may soon rival Asia as one of the world’s fastest-growing gambling markets.
However this rapid growth has increased calls on the government to legislate this sector, traditionally seen as a wide-open market to internal and foreign companies. One such law was passed last month (and will be extended in July this year) to target advertising by the industry.
In Russia, advertising about gambling is now allowed only from 10pm to 7am local Russia time. However, the bill affects online casinos to an even greater degree. The online casinos in Russia are not permitted in the bill to advertise, and this has led the leading Russian search engine “Yandex” to remove online casinos and their advertisements from the pay per click (PPC) banner channels.
This is not the first time that online casinos have been overlooked within Russian laws, as the government tries to catch up with online casinos and increasing technology. The laws about online casinos are ambiguous, and Rambler, Yandex’s leading rivals, has not removed online casinos from direct online searches. Rambler said that they have, “no plans to limit their PPC program or restrict gaming clients.” Good news for internet gambling sites.
Henry Karpov, an attorney at the legal firm Sovetnik in Russia, believes that Rambler has the right to continue with their online searches and believes that the new Russian law cannot be applied to online advertising. Perhaps, despite new Russian legislation, the gambling industry will continue to soar.