Google, so dominant a search engine that the company's brand name has become an officially-recognized verb, recently announced that it would allow UK gambling affiliates to bid on Google Adwords.

The announcement comes just months after the company allowed gambling operators to buy Adwords.

Almost all Google users would be familiar with the concept of Adwords, although they might not realize it.

Adwords allow companies to create advertisements and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to the business. When people search on Google using one of the keywords, the ad then has a chance of appearing next to the search results.

With Google commanding over 50 percent of the market share in the field of online search engines, it's no wonder UK affiliates will be ecstatic at the good news.

Affiliates will be limited for the time being, however, with operator terms such as Gala Bingo or Bet365 not able to be bid on.

Advertisers must be registered with the UK Gambling Commission and have a valid license held in the United Kingdom or a number of other UK dependencies.

Income Access, which offers affiliate marketing solutions for the online gaming industry, has begun offering new PPC tracking tools that allow UK gambling affiliates to track their referrals from Adwords.

Nicky Senyard, CEO of Income Access, said: "Through our Affiliate Custom Tracking tools, UK gambling affiliates will be able to track their referrals right from when they acquire them via Adwords. This functionality will be available to affiliates in both Income Access network and third party program powered by our software."