Ksa and Google draw up a white list of legal gambling sites

The Netherlands' gambling regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa), says it is working with Google on a "white list" of all legal gambling providers in the EU. Operators that are not on the list would then by definition be in breach, and Google could keep them out. The plan comes from a signed column by Michel Groothuizen, who chairs the Ksa, published on the regulator's website on 14 October 2026 under the title "Verleiden of vechten? Of allebei?" ("Persuade or fight? Or both?"). Quotes from the column are our translations from the Dutch.

The list is still being drawn up. Groothuizen describes it as one example of what a joint task force is working on.

Why the Ksa is going after visibility

The column marks five years since the Dutch online market opened. Groothuizen says research keeps finding that about 90% of Dutch online gamblers play only with legal providers. In money, the picture is very different: for every euro gambled with a legal provider, another euro goes to the illegal market.

Fining illegal operators has sent a clear signal, he writes, but has had little effect when it comes to collecting the money. So for the past year and a half the Ksa has also followed a second track: making illegal sites harder to find, and stopping payments to and through them. "We're not there yet, but the direction is clear," he writes.

That is where the large platforms come in. Groothuizen says Big Tech earns a great deal from ads for illegal gambling, and that ads aimed at people on self-exclusion registers in several European countries, or at children under 18, are easy to find, "in the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands".

The Dublin talks and the white list

Last spring, the Ksa and several other European regulators met Google and Meta in Dublin, where both companies have their European headquarters. Groothuizen says both sides knew the alternative to cooperation was litigation. The result is a joint task force that is, among other things, drawing up the white list with Google. "Hopefully that turns off a main tap," he writes.

Our reading: Google already allows gambling ads only in countries on its list and only with country-specific certification, which in the Netherlands means a Ksa licence, according to Google's gambling and games policy. Because that certification works country by country, an EU list of legal providers would be most useful if it shows which countries each operator is licensed in.

Court action is still on the table

The column answers calls for a tougher line. In a parliamentary committee debate in September, VVD MP Bart Bikkers argued that the Ksa should fine the big tech companies, which EU law calls Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). Gambling lawyer Justin Franssen also said the Ksa should take a harder line.

Groothuizen says Dutch law and the EU Digital Services Act both offer grounds to act, though under the Digital Services Act it is for the European Commission, not the Ksa, to decide. He is also frank about the risk. A platform with almost unlimited money could fight up to the highest court, and a final judgment could take five years. "A lost case is worse than one that has not yet started," he writes.

So the Ksa is doing both at once: negotiating, while preparing for a possible fight. "If agreements with Big Tech yield too little, we will not hesitate to enter the arena against one of them," he writes.

What it means for players

Nothing changes in your search results today. The point to take from the column is the Ksa's own description of where illegal gambling ads go: to people who have self-excluded and to minors. If you have registered with Cruks, the Dutch self-exclusion register, an ad cannot undo that at a licensed site: Dutch-licensed operators have to check Cruks before letting anyone play. A site that lets you play without that check is not meeting the Dutch licensing rules.

Related coverage: the Ksa's eight online licence renewals, its guidance on checking players' bank-account names, how Google's gambling ad certification works, and why regulators went after the money rather than the ads.

18+. Gambling can be addictive. If it stops being fun, see our responsible gambling page. In the Netherlands, you can register with Cruks to block yourself from licensed online gambling, gaming arcades and casinos.