Since 18 December 2024, VBet Netherlands has been missing from organic Google search results. In its place, users see unlicensed imitation sites claiming to offer the same services. Owned by BetConstruct, VBet has spent more than seven months trying to reverse the issue through technical fixes and formal reports.

The company has contacted Google and submitted complaints to Meld Vals Spel, a Dutch reporting portal for illegal gambling activity. Despite repeated follow-ups, it has received no meaningful assistance. One automated reply from Meld Vals Spel came on 5 May 2025 after VBet reported the issue. There has been no response since then from the portal or the Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA).

Ed Quigley, Regional Director at VBet, voiced his frustration, “What is the point of a portal if nothing’s going to be done with it?“

Rogue Sites Replace Licensed Operator

The traffic for VBet’s Dutch platform is being redirected to illegal lookalike operators. These sites pose as the brand but operate without oversight, risking the safety of consumers and damaging VBet’s reputation.

“It’s pretty disastrous,” Quigley said. “We’ve lost both potential revenue and customer trust.”

Although Google maintains that it has strict policies to prevent the promotion of unlicensed gambling, its systems seem to have failed in this case. VBet says it has attempted to work with its paid search account manager at Google, but there has been no way to escalate the problem to the teams responsible for organic search.

No Clear Solution from Google

VBet’s team has made technical adjustments to its website in hopes of recovering search visibility. It has also brought in external experts to strengthen the site’s search engine optimisation (SEO). David Mkrtchyan, SEO Team Lead at SoftConstruct, suggested that the issue could be linked to either a negative SEO attack or a mistake in Google’s algorithm.

Also, Google’s actions or inaction have allowed fake sites to stay up while the official, regulated site remains penalised. Mkrtchyan confirmed that all public recovery steps have been followed, but none have worked. Quigley noted that the only feedback from Google has been to fill out forms or increase paid ad spend.

“We can’t speak to whoever you would need to speak to, which obviously is very strange,” Quigley said.

A Growing Concern for the Industry

VBet has not yet brought the issue to the KSA directly but says that may be the next step. With customer safety and business performance on the line, the operator sees this as a growing problem with broader industry implications.

“Google has essentially a monopoly on the market, so it’s hard to tell if they actually care, which I don’t think they do”, Quigley said.