Reference
Glossary
Short definitions of the codes, files, tools and legal names used across the guides. Each term links to the guide where it matters most.
- Accept-Language
- An HTTP request header in which a browser lists preferred languages. Google says Googlebot sends requests without it, so pages that choose a language from this header show Googlebot the default version. See switching and redirects.
- BCP 47
- The IETF standard for language tags (RFC 5646 with RFC 4647). It allows more forms than Google's hreflang supports, such as three-letter languages and numeric regions like 419.
- Canonical URL
- The URL a site names, with rel="canonical", as the preferred version of a page. With hreflang, Google asks that each version's canonical be in the same language. See the audit checklist.
- ccTLD
- A country-code top-level domain such as .de or .es. Google lists it as a geotargeting signal. Spain requires licensed gambling operators to use a .es website.
- Change of Address tool
- A Search Console tool that tells Google a site moved to a new domain. It works only on domain-level properties, and forwarding runs for 180 days. See cross-border migration.
- DGOJ
- Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, Spain's regulator for the state-level gambling market. Its operator search lists licensees and their domains.
- GGL whitelist
- The official list of permitted gambling operators and websites in Germany, published by the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder under § 9(8) GlüStV 2021.
- GlüStV 2021
- Germany's State Treaty on Gambling, in force since July 1, 2021. It sets rules for virtual slots (§ 22a), online table games (§ 22c) and the cross-operator deposit limit (§ 6c).
- hreflang
- An annotation that tells search engines which language, and optionally which country, a page version is for, and which other URLs are its alternates. It can be set in HTML link tags, HTTP headers or XML sitemaps.
- Hreflang cluster
- The group of URLs that list each other as alternates. Google prefers URLs inside such clusters when choosing canonicals.
- iGaming Ontario
- An Ontario provincial agency, formerly a subsidiary of the AGCO, that contracts with private operators in Ontario's regulated market and keeps the directory of registered operators and their sites.
- ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2
- The two-letter country code list (GB, DE, ES, CA). Google supports only these region codes in hreflang.
- ISO 639-1
- The two-letter language code list (en, de, es, fr). Google supports only these language codes in hreflang.
- Juego más seguro
- The name Spanish law (RD 176/2023, art. 9.1) gives to the safer gambling access point licensed operators must provide on their sites.
- Locale-adaptive page
- A page that changes its content by the visitor's location or language settings on the same URL. Google warns it might not find and crawl all variations of such pages.
- LUGAS
- The German cross-operator limit file used to enforce the EUR 1,000 monthly deposit limit under § 6c GlüStV 2021.
- OQLF
- Office québécois de la langue française, the body that applies Québec's Charter of the French language, including its rules for business websites.
- Return link
- The reciprocal annotation: if page X lists page Y, page Y must list page X. Google ignores tags that are not confirmed both ways.
- RGIAJ
- Registro General de Interdicciones de Acceso al Juego, Spain's register of people barred from gambling, voluntarily or by court order.
- Subdirectory
- A folder on one host used for a market or language, such as example.com/de-de/. Google lists low maintenance as a benefit.
- x-default
- The reserved hreflang value for the page to show when no other language or region matches the visitor. Google says it was designed for language selector pages.
- xhtml:link
- The sitemap element that carries hreflang annotations. It requires the xhtml namespace on the urlset. See multilingual sitemaps.