YouTube is bolstering its efforts to clamp down on harmful content, and advertisements related to gambling, alcohol, politics, or “prescription drug terms” will no longer be viable for the video content platform’s ad slot. According to Google, which owns YouTube, this decision will help improve the overall customer experience and lead to higher customer satisfaction.
The “masthead slot” is one of the main things that users see when they load YouTube, and exposing them to potentially harmful content there could backfire. As political scrutiny of social media platforms, and not least video sharing platforms, has grown over the years and stirred up some controversy, avoiding these topics may be the best call.
Restricting gambling has long been part of Google’s policy. The Google Play Store has had a non-gambling apps policy for a while, and there has been a global push to limit exposure to targeted ads that may be advertised to problem gamblers.
Part of these restrictions, at least those pertaining to the Google Play Store, have been lifted in some jurisdictions where gambling has been deemed fully legal, including places like Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Regardless, Google has been prone to changing its terms and services when it pertains to gambling solutions, and this may not be the last of the changes that the company intends to make.
As it turns out, Illinois casinos are falling behind when it comes to slot revenue. The reason why? The state’s bars, restaurants, and truck stops, as well as convenience stores, are pulling in more buck and have posted $22.8.8 million in May alone, which is more than twice what brick-and-mortar casinos generated.
This creates an interesting precedent where casinos are actually not monopolists when it comes to gambling. Video gaming terminals across the state number some 40,000-odd machines spread across 7,710 locales, making for easy access to various gambling products.
With the average casino having around 1,200 slot machines, this means that Illinois has around 31 casinos in comparative terms. Breaking down the results, Accel Entertainment generated around $64.5 million in revenue in the month, with an average slot win per slot of $164.
The company’s own estimates were $130, so actual results surpassed projections. Illinois own casinos won just $107 million in total revenue in May, which was actually down from May 2019 by around 9.5%. Caesars’ Grand Victoria in Elgin seemed to bring in the most revenue.
The pandemic may have impacted land-based gaming, but Massachusetts’ properties are churning out revenue at breakneck speeds. In fact, with the COVID-19 restrictions gone or most of them gone, the casinos have now posted the highest revenue in the history of legalized gambling in the Bay State. The month of May smashed all records by collecting roughly $86.68 million in a single month.
The results were driven by the Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston Harbor, which are the Bay State’s three operating facilities at the time. Based on these numbers, Massachusetts has collected roughly $24.67 million, the highest on record, followed by a previous record to the tune of $24.33 million.
Slots parlors continued to generate the highest revenue for the state and its casinos, with each property posting steady results. Since gambling was legalized in Massachusetts, the state has collected over $791.88 million in gaming revenues, with Plainridge Park leading the way with around $426.5 million of the total sum.
When Las Vegas Sands started divesting its Las Vegas portfolio and shifting money around, hopes were that Texas would finally see a casino of its own with gambling legalized. However, the lobbying attempts have died down a little, and with that, the idea of legalizing gambling in Texas has lost its momentum in what was a dispiriting move for many.
Las Vegas hired some of the best lobbyists in the state, too, shedding millions on TV advertisements and hoping to push the move quickly without facing much opposition. The bid has failed as Las Vegas Sands is now facing a lawsuit in Macau and must refocus its efforts in securing a positive outcome in the case as Asia is one of the company’s leading destinations.
Texas will consider “destination resorts” as an idea possibly during the next legislative session, but any gambling expansion would require amendments to the constitution, which is what may throw another spanner in the works.
Resorts World Las Vegas is slated to open on June 24, and as the date approaches, the casino is preparing to introduce a few notable improvements. Sightline Payments’ Play+ is one of those.
The method is designed to allow players on the casino player to benefit from a cashless technology that means that you no longer have to use credit or debit cards or even cash to play at any of the slots, table games, or even have a bite at the restaurant.
“We’re absolutely over the moon being able to provide this at the first new major Las Vegas casino opening in 10 years,” said Sightline Vice President of Strategic Development & Government Affairs Jonathan Michaels.
The property itself is “world-first,” referring to the fact that guests will be allowed to pay for anything on sight using a remote payment option. Resorts World Las Vegas SVP of Casino Operations Rick Hutchins added that he was equally excited about the upcoming opportunity.
Sightline Payments got approval by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) at a time when the pandemic forced the casino industry to think quickly on its feet and find alternative, safer ways to bring people back in.
While social distancing and sanitization protocols were introduced quickly, the main propagator of germs remained in touch – money. The American Gaming Association (AGA) began advocating for cashless payment options, arguing that it would help combat the health crisis but also make it much easier for people to report tax.
Kevin was raised on sports since a young teen and following a (fortunate) injury pursued new hobbies in table games such as Blackjack and Poker. Since 2009 Kevin has been writing for casino sites for various big names in the industry and CasinoSites.us is but one of his latest passion projects.
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