Marketing and advertising
In our view marketing for gambling should not appear in places where it is likely to be seen by large numbers of children. Recent research confirmed high and increasing levels of exposure of children to gambling marketing.19 In addition, through avatar testing, the ASA found some evidence that children could view gambling adverts on children’s websites.20
More work could be done to by operators, government and regulators to explore the potential of technological solutions to reduce the exposure of under-18s to gambling marketing. For example, this could include using ad-tech to positively exclude certain online profiles from seeing gambling ads – such as devices which are used by people with child-like persona.21 This could also reflect that households will share devices, such as a laptop or tablet. This would require operators to take a more cautious approach to showing marketing for gambling.
Concerns about online marketing and advertising go beyond children, and we recommend that more is done to support adults who are vulnerable to gambling harms. Technological solutions also include operators being more proactive in the approach they take so that online marketing is not seen by people who have previously searched for terms such as ‘where can I get help for a gambling problem?’ or ‘how can I self-exclude?’ These terms, or similar, in someone’s search history should flag that they are not appropriate for targeting for marketing purposes.
Gambling late at night is recognised as being associated with harmful gambling.22 We recommend that operators be encouraged to take this into account in their approach to targeting customers with online marketing during this period of play. Equally, marketing which portrays gambling as an activity to take part in frequently, or which creates a sense of urgency, is also a concern. Although some action has been taken to limit these messages,23 they remain associated with marketing for online gambling.24
We recognise that the Gambling Commission is only one of a number of agencies responsible for the regulation and legislation for marketing and advertising, and it cannot act alone to implement the recommendations we have made. It could, nonetheless, play an influential and proactive role in advocating a precautionary approach towards the effects of marketing and advertising for gambling on children and vulnerable people. Although research has not yet shown a direct causal relationship between marketing and harm, it can be seen to be influencing people’s attitudes and behaviour in a way that is likely to cause harm. We recommend that the Gambling Commission considers ways it could encourage more precautionary and proactive approaches to harm reduction in this area.
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Stake, prize, and speed of play limits
Last updated: 25 March 2021
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