448 Expired Domains Became Gambling Sites, Report Finds

ELMIRA, Calif. – A new audit of 3,692 expired domains found that 448 were repurposed as gambling websites, including addresses previously used by charities and public campaigns. The findings raise concerns about established website links directing visitors toward casino and betting content after domains change ownership.

The research examined domains sold at auction between January 2024 and May 2026. Buyers spent a combined $22.3 million on the entire sample, with 12.1% of the domains subsequently converted into gambling or betting websites.

Former Charity and Government Websites Redirect to Casinos

The Backlinking.com Expired Domain Report examined domains sold for at least $3,000, comparing auction records with live websites, redirects and archived content. Researchers identified several high-profile addresses that now display or direct visitors toward gambling-related material despite previously belonging to charities, health initiatives and government-backed organizations.

One example involves Every Woman Every Child, a global health initiative launched under the United Nations Secretary-General in 2010. Its former domain sold for $25,500 in October 2025 and now redirects to a website associated with an Indonesian online casino.

The domain previously used by Vote Leave, the official campaign supporting the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, sold for $46,001 in November 2025. Seven weeks later, archived records showed the website promoting online casinos operating outside GamStop, the UK’s national gambling self-exclusion scheme.

Other examples include the Queen’s Green Canopy, a tree-planting initiative created for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Its former domain sold for $34,001 in July 2025 and later began redirecting visitors to an Indonesian online slot website. Meanwhile, the former website of the Vulval Pain Society, a UK medical charity, now features a guide to offshore sportsbooks targeting Texas bettors.

Website redirects have also attracted regulatory scrutiny elsewhere, with Romanian authorities investigating an affiliate accused of redirecting visitors to unlicensed offshore gambling sites earlier this year.

The original organizations no longer own these domains and, according to the researchers, have no connection to the new operators.

Government Backlinks Make Expired Domains Attractive

The audit found that domains with higher auction prices were more frequently repurposed for gambling. Approximately 10% of domains sold for less than $5,000 became gambling websites, compared with at least 20% of those purchased for $25,000 or more.

The pattern was particularly visible among .org domains, where 127 of 701 addresses, or 18.1%, became gambling sites. Among .com domains, the proportion was 10.6%, representing 292 of 2,745 addresses.

Researchers also found that 746 domains had at least one backlink from a government website when sold. Of those, 125 subsequently became gambling-related websites. Such links can remain active long after an organization stops maintaining its former domain.

“When a charity or campaign domain expires, the links that other websites gave it do not expire with it”, said Aaron Seminoff, who runs Backlinking.com.

Google classifies certain attempts to exploit established website reputations as expired domain abuse, particularly when domains are repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings with low-value content. Google’s policy specifically identifies casino-related content published on a former elementary school website as an example of this practice.

Follow-Up Audit Finds More Gambling Websites

The researchers conducted another review 30 days later and found that 865 domains had changed their classification. During that period, 170 became gambling websites while 133 previously classified as gambling sites no longer met that classification, raising the total from 448 to 485.

Backlinking.com said its findings were based on documented auction transactions, active websites, redirects and historical records. The results cover a selected group of higher-value expired domains rather than the entire domain resale market, and the observed changes do not establish the motives of every buyer.

The follow-up findings show how frequently expired domains can change purpose after being sold. The company says it will continue documenting domain outcomes and reviewing disputed records as new evidence becomes available.

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