Italy’s advertising and communications regulator Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (Agcom) has fined Google €700,000 [US$717,300] and an ad agency a further €750,000 for violating the country’s ban on gambling ads.

The fine relates to ads that appeared on Top Ads’ Spike YouTube channels, but Agcom did not mention which gambling operators or products were being advertised.

Agcom did say, though, that the fine for Google – YouTube’s parent company – was the first it had issued against a video service provider for violating the so-called “dignity decree”, which effectively banned all gambling ads.

The body added that Google and YouTube were responsible for the content appearing on the channel because YouTube had granted Spike the status of “verified partner”, which made it responsible for ensuring that the channel did not publish illegal content.