Google Removes Polymarket Betting Links From News Results After Error Disclosure

Google has removed links to cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket from its Google News service after the links briefly appeared alongside legitimate news articles. A Google spokesperson told The Verge that "Google News is designed to show sources that create content about current issues, events, and important topics, and we have policies for sites to be eligible to appear. This site briefly appeared in Google News in error, and it is no longer surfacing in News." The Polymarket links appeared directly alongside reporting from established news organizations like The Guardian and Reuters. Users searching queries such as "will ships transit the strait" were shown betting market pages as results, positioned below credible news sources. Reports of Polymarket appearing in Google News date back to at least January, according to social media posts. Initially, speculation suggested Google might be testing an integration with the betting platform. Polymarket and competitor Kalshi have aggressively pursued partnerships with journalists and news outlets, offering their data as supplementary information for reporting on political and world events. Google already partners with both platforms to display their data within Google Finance. Whether the existing Google Finance partnership and the appearance of Polymarket in Google News are connected remains unclear. Google did not provide additional details about how the error occurred or when it began.