Study finds 448 expired charity and campaign web domains now point to gambling sites
A research publication called Backlinking.com audited 3,692 expired domains sold at auction and found 448 were rebuilt as gambling or betting sites. Some once belonged to charities and campaigns and now send visitors to offshore casino pages.
South African players see offshore casino promotions from many directions, and a link on an old, trusted-looking website can look like an endorsement. This study is a reminder that where a casino link appears says nothing about whether the casino is licensed or fair. No South African operator holds an online casino licence, so the licence behind an offshore brand is the thing to check, not the site that sent you there.
What the study found
Backlinking.com, which describes itself as an independent research publication about backlinks and SEO, published the audit on 12 October 2026. It covered 3,692 expired domains that sold at auction for $3,000 or more between January 2024 and May 2026. Buyers paid $22.3 million in total. Of those domains, 448 (12.1%) were rebuilt as gambling or betting sites. A check 30 days later put the total at 485.
The figures come from the publisher's own press release and report. We have not repeated the audit, so treat the numbers as the publisher's claim.
Why gambling firms buy old domains
The publisher says buyers pay for the links that other sites, including government sites, gave the old domain, because those links can help a new page rank in search. Google's spam policies call this practice expired domain abuse. The release says higher prices went with more gambling use: about one in ten domains sold under $5,000 became a gambling site, and one in five or more from $25,000 up.
The examples named include a former global health campaign domain that now forwards to an Indonesian online casino, and a former political campaign domain that was listing casinos outside the UK's GamStop scheme within weeks of sale. The new owners have no connection to the original groups.
What it means for South African players
A familiar name or a respectable web address is not a licence. If you land on a casino through an old charity, news or community site, treat the link as an advert. Look for the operator's licence number on the casino itself, check it against the licensing body's own register, and read our review page if we cover the brand. Our brief on the Dutch task force covers how one regulator is pushing platforms to screen gambling advertisers.
What to watch next
Watch for whether search engines act against this practice and whether the publisher updates its count. Casino.org also reported the study on 12 October 2026.