Facebook Bans Internet Bingo Ads
Once again American prudery has hit the world of bingo. The social networking website Facebook has announced that bingo advertisements will be added to their list of ‘morally unacceptable’ products. According to the puritans at Facebook they are going to ban “gambling, including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo, or poker.” Facebook evidently decided to impost their own version of ‘morality’ on those who live in countries where gambling is perfectly legal. Facebook has now classified gambling, including internet bingo, with tobacco products, firearms, nudity, adult toys, spy cameras, pharmaceuticals, dating sites and many, many others.
Facebook has engaged in this kind of bizarre behavior before when they actually banned dairy products but after protests Facebook rescinded the ridiculous ban. Recently Google, the world’s largest search engine announced they will accept gambling advertising to run ads in the UK. Facebook may be trying to avoid trouble with the US government which passed the extremely unpopular Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which prohibits banks from processing gambling related transactions. After the passage of the draconian act many websites banned internet bingo advertisements.
Despite the ban a quick search of Facebook using the search word ‘bingo’ produced 32 various internet bingo applications and 623 pages devoted to bingo. Several internet bingo websites have fan pages some with thousands of bingo fans. Internet bingo websites have used Facebook and other social media for marketing purposes for years without any objections which makes the recent decision to ban internet bingo advertising surprising. Many internet bingo sites offer promotions through their Facebook fan pages, some with large cash prizes. Given the immense popularity of internet bingo on Facebook it is hard to understand why the site would ban lucrative advertising.
Despite American Puritanism internet bingo is booming. US players continue to play in violation of US internet gaming laws. The ban on internet gambling is highly unpopular and several congressmen have proposed lifting the regulations and legislation is pending. Internet bingo has expanded into Spain and several other European countries with great success. Bigger than ever bingo bonuses are offered by internet bingo websites and the competition for players is intense throughout the industry. Many sites offer special games with a specific bingo bonus code that is usually emailed to players. Bingo websites are providing larger jackpots and several offer players a huge bingo sign up bonus. Clearly competition has worked in favor of internet bingo players.
By Anthony Wayne
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