The difference between a grey market and a regulated one is not whether you get caught. It is that on a regulated market the operator carries the liability — with its license, its payment providers and its money.
Germany: there is a license, but it covers little
The German GGL license permits not "online casino" but a narrow set: virtual slots and online poker. Table games, live dealers and crash games are not covered. On top of that there is a stake limit per spin and a monthly deposit limit per player, shared across all operators.
Hence the consequence for traffic: promoting a crypto casino or live games to a German audience means sending the player where the operator's license does not reach. No amount of caution in the creatives changes that.
Canada: a split market
Ontario runs under its own framework from AGCO and iGaming Ontario: the operator registers separately, advertising and bonuses are restricted. The other provinces work differently. A team that says "we run traffic to Canada" has to name the province — otherwise the conversation is pointless.
USA: count state by state
There is no single federal market. Online casino and betting are allowed in different sets of states, and advertising requirements differ. That is exactly why the sweepstakes model exists: it works under a different legal framework, but this is not a way around the restrictions — it is a separate product with separate rules.
Austria: there is simply no license
Online casino in Austria is a state monopoly; a private license does not exist. The line "we will take Austria under your license" is technically impossible: there is nobody to issue that license.
What it means in practice
| Market | Entry condition | Allowed channels |
|---|---|---|
| DE | GGL license, virtual slots and poker only | SEO, review sites, influencers, ASO within store rules |
| CA | AGCO / iGO for Ontario | SEO, influencers, limited media buying |
| US | State by state, or the sweepstakes model | Apps, influencers |
| AT | Unavailable | — |
Regulatory requirements change — before launch, check the current wording of the regulator's rules and the terms of your license.
How we handle it
How to tell caution from a violation
Three questions help in a conversation with a traffic team. Whose name are the ad accounts in — the team's legal entity or someone else's accounts? Is there ad platform certification for gambling where it is required? Who answers if a complaint lands on the operator's brand?
The answer "we work carefully, there have been no problems" only means there have been no problems yet. In that scheme the risk is carried not by the team but by the operator — with its license, its payment providers and its standing with the regulator.
What to put in the traffic policy
- Geos that are closed completely, and geos open only with a specific license.
- Permitted and prohibited channels for each market.
- The approval procedure for landing pages and creatives before launch.
- The ban on brand bidding and any exceptions to it.
- Response time on a brand complaint and who closes it.
A one-page document that is signed once and removes nine out of ten future conflicts. The absence of such an annex is not a sign of trust but a deferred dispute.
The list of closed geos comes as an annex to the contract together with the traffic policy. On geo page regulated markets are flagged separately: we take them only when the operator holds a local license and only through permitted channels.
