Gambling is legal in the United Kingdom, but Google had a policy of not allowing any of the many online and cornershop gambling companies in Britain to advertise on Google.

But with Google’s stock struggle to maintain its lofty heights right now, Google has decided to reverse course and will now allow the likes of Ladbrokes, William Hill, and Betfair to buy ads on Google. And, as anyone who has ever been to Europe can tell you: gambling companies spend a ton of money on ads, and Google is going to rake in a boatload of cash from this decision.

The ads will not appear on the Google Content Network, only on the Google Search Results page.

Google is taking plenty of heat for this decision, including condemnations from the Church of England. Others are angry that Google would choose to promote gambling while a global financial crisis is making its presence felt many people’s pocketbooks. Ironically, it was bad timing for Google as a report was released the day before in Britain showing a 25% increase in people seeking help for gambling addiction. But Google’s UK spokesman for the move, the appropriately named James Cashmore, said, “Gambling ads will automatically be classified as Non-Family Safe which means they will not show on any search where the user has applied the Safe Search filter.” Also, the ads will only appear to UK views, not any other countries.

Online gambling is currently illegal in the United States, but if Democratic House Representative Barney Frank gets his way, a bill reversing the ban may come to the floor of the House after the election. If Democrats pick up more seats in the house, the bill will have a good chance of passing. You can bet that the folks at Party Poker are voting for Obama.

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