Definition
Markup that tells search engines which language and country version of a page to show — essential for multi-licence brands.
Hreflang annotations connect pages that say the same thing for different audiences, so a search engine can serve the German-language version to a German speaker and the Ontario version to someone in Ontario. It is a routing instruction between equivalents, not a ranking device: it decides which version appears, never whether the group appears at all.
How it works
Every page in a group lists all the others, including itself, with a language code and optionally a region:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de-AT" href="https://example.com/at/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-CA" href="https://example.com/ca/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />
The annotations must be reciprocal. If A points to B and B does not point back, the pair is ignored, which is the most common reason a correct-looking implementation does nothing.
x-default names the page to fall back to when no version matches. Canonical tags belong to the same conversation: each version should be canonical to itself, and a group where every page canonicalises to one of them has cancelled its own hreflang.
Why it matters in iGaming
Licensing makes the versions legally distinct rather than merely translated. Bonus terms, permitted wording, payment methods, tax treatment and even which games may be shown differ per market — so serving the wrong one is a compliance question, not an inconvenience.
Several markets also share a language, which is where region codes earn their keep. German-language pages for Germany, Austria and Switzerland describe three different regulatory realities, and without the region annotations search engines will pick among them on their own.
Example
An operator runs the same German-language page for three markets. Hreflang is set with de-DE, de-AT and de-CH, each page canonical to itself, every annotation reciprocal, plus an x-default. A searcher in Austria sees Austrian bonus terms. Before the fix, they saw German ones — legal there, not there.
Common mistakes
- Missing return links. A one-way annotation is discarded silently, and nothing in any report says so.
- Canonicalising every version to one page. The canonical says these are the same page and hreflang says they are alternatives; the contradiction is resolved against you.
- Using a country code as a language.
hreflang="uk"is Ukrainian, not the United Kingdom, and the pattern of such mistakes is why the attribute has its reputation.