Licensed gaming operators will from tomorrow be able to buy paid search ads. Google previously allowed free games to be promoted via Adwords, but a blanket ban (of sorts, as we shall discover) came into effect in summer 2007.

Whilst the economic downturn is unlikely to result in any decline in online volume, we are already starting to see online business growth start to slow slightly, as consumers tighten their belts in the face of escalating food and fuel bills, as well as rising borrowing costs.

Amongst other things, it lets you know when your friends are gaming, which is a nifty idea. I've signed up to see how it works...

Poor tagging is costing companies thousands of pounds a month from wasted web analytics, duplicate affiliate commissions and marketing that isn't tracked properly. 

Last month saw the announcement that it would bring all three brands into one website - footballpools.com - as well as the launch of radically different digital strategy centred around ‘social betting’. The company has also been investing heavily in content, improved analytics practices and new channels on MySpace and Facebook.

Following all that, we grabbed a few minutes with head of online marketing Dominic Starkey to see how challenging the whole process has been...

Brands are increasingly looking at more diverse ways to engage consumers in their products, and I believe there is currently no better opportunity than the Nintendo Wii.

Microsoft has totally failed to manage user expectations, to accommodate new Xbox users, and to cater for the spikes that were bound to appear over the holiday period. It’s a pity, since the Xbox Live experience, when it works, is nothing short of sensational, and should get better and better.

In a notice, Virgin says the site will be shut down for the short term and ultimately replaced by a "new and improved betting product".

Patrick, who is essentially a leftist with an otherwise right-on record, has suggested that internet gamblers should be fined and jailed, marking a shift from the usual ‘prosecute the gambling companies, not the punters’ line.

Nothing unusual in that, you might think, but Patrick’s recommendation appears within a bill aimed at making room for three more casinos in the state that he currently oversees. A thoroughly bizarre move, if he is concerned about his reputation, and savagely hypocritical given the main thrust of the bill.

Their site, GamingAlerts.co.uk, offers odds comparisons and an alert system from “major online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo sites and online sportsbooks”.

Doncaster-based online travel agency Holiday Rooms Direct tops the league table after increasing its sales from £184,000 to just under £7m in two years, while the top ten also includes DVD rental company Lovefilm and local search firm The Best Of.

The study, by ABI Research, forecasts that $852m will be spent on dynamically served ads within video games by 2011, as publishers and their console partners look to reach gamers that have connected their devices to the web.

Club Penguin, the children's virtual world, has been acquired by Disney in a deal worth up to $700m (£344.5m).

The media giant will pay $350m upfront for the fast growing site - which had reportedly been a $500m target for Sony.

The two founders of Neteller, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, were charged with conspiracy back in January as it was being used by US citizens to place bets through foreign-based internet gambling sites.

The firm says it will invest $100m (£49m) over the next two years in improving and adding to its current online offering, including new subscription services, multiplayer games and virtual worlds.

photo: Ian Hughes/Snapzilla

The company has signed with the Traffic Marketplace advertising network to place ads on PartyPoker.com and PartyPoker.net in the US.

Both Yahoo! and Google outlawed ads for internet casinos and poker services back in 2004, drawing ire from the industry, which many say benefits from online advertising more than others.

Spot The Bull exploits the mobile network's sponsorship of the Glastonbury festival, offering prizes to players if they can correctly predict the location of the creature.

The UK's bingo players are up in arms over the imminent smoking ban, and the smokers amongst them have said they will visit bingo clubs less often, and spend more time online.

St Minver, which operates the world's largest bingo network, has carried out a survey of 3,000 UK bingo players to find out their attitudes towards the ban, which comes into effect from 1st July.