Google Play Store sees first wave of gambling apps launched

The first wave of gambling apps have gone live in the UK, Ireland and French Google Play Stores, including products from Sky Betting & Gaming, 888, Ladbrokes and Kindred.

Google officially dropped its ban on gambling apps in the store on Wednesday 2 August, and EGR understands most major operators will have their apps approved and placed in the store over the next couple of days.

SB&G has already rolled out its full suite of apps including sports, casino and poker, while 888 has done similar with its 888sport, 888casino and Wink Bingo brands.

Kindred has initially launched Unibet Sports and Unibet Casino, although the operator said it plans to roll out other brands including Stan James in the near future.

The operator’s head of mobile and new channels, Robert Smith, said the Play Store placement was a “huge opportunity for operators to be where the customer is”.

“We know our players want apps and this give us a much easier distribution method to reach those players,” Smith said.

He added there was a significant opportunity for growth, with the percentage of players currently using apps compared to mobile web around 10 times higher on iOS than Android.

“We can start treating these platforms equally now and give them both the same focus in terms of commercial push and development,” Smith said.

However not all industry stakeholders were as bullish on the prospects for Android apps in a recent EGR analysis on the topic, with some questioning whether any new revenues might be cannibalistic rather than incremental.