Internet Businesses Ready to Cash in on Online Poker

An announcement from the United States Department of Justice last week detailed that it suddenly reversed its long-term position that all forms of online gambling were illegal. This will make it legal to engage in all forms of online gambling except sports betting.

This creates a number of opportunities for stakeholders all over the world. In addition to driving profits for online casinos, many other Internet based businesses are ready to get their share of the pie. According to estimates from Goldman Sachs, the market for online gambling in the United States is projected to be worth about $12 billion. The market for online poker alone is worth about $5 billion.

Google, Facebook and Apple are just a few of the large corporations that may want to take advantage of the new online gambling laws. In turn, the role of the Internet giants will help online casinos drive more, targeted traffic to their sites.

Additionally, Facebook is likely to start offering online poker platforms to its users. The social networking giant has already launched a similar platform in the UK, which appears to have a lot of potential.

Back in 2007, the Justice Department cracked down on companies that were allowing advertisements to online gambling sites. Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! were forced to pay a total of $31.5 million in settlements. These firms subsequently stopped allowing ads for online gambling sites, which hurt the revenue for both advertisers and publishers. However, they are likely to start allowing ads to their U.S. users again now that the Justice Department has changed its stance.

The announcement from the Justice Department was welcomed by casinos, activists, players, affiliate marketers and everyone else in the industry. However, large technology companies are likely to play a major role in the future of Internet gambling as well. Collectively, these companies are expected to work together to make the industry profitable while serving players throughout the United States.