Report
Illegal online gambling - Phase 1: Exploring consumer pathways into using illegal gambling websites
The Gambling Commission's report on the first phase of the Consumer Voice illegal gambling project.
Appendix D – Depth interview discussion guide
Depth Interview Discussion Guide
- Introductions and warm-up (5 minutes)
- General gambling behaviour and pre-task recap (10 minutes)
- Licensing practices & vigilance checks (5 to 10 minutes)
- Context of unlicensed gambling sites: Exposure and usage (15 minutes)
- Deep dive into experiences of using unlicensed sites & hard indicators (15 to 20 minutes)
- Wrap-up and close (2 minutes).
Research objectives:
The overall objective of this research is to explore the consumer journey when engaging with online gambling, specifically their experience (if any) with unlicensed gambling operators and explore the factors which may drive and/or have driven consumers to using these unlicensed sites.
Interview objectives:
- Develop user journeys and generate case studies including:
- internal motivations, external triggers and search process: specifically including role of various influences such as marketing offers, targeted advertising, affiliates, social media personalities, word of mouth and gambling forums
- play experience – including in play and/or pay-out and/or customer service
- future possibilities – What factors may drive gamblers to using unlicensed sites.
- Explore knowledge levels and gaps – to what extent are consumers aware of operating licensing practices in GB, what are the indicators of unlicensed operators for those that are aware and for those not aware, what was not obvious to them?
- Understand perceptions of unlicensed gambling: Understand the impact on play (and levels of harm) and perceptions of unlicensed gambling: are customers invested in controlling unlicensed gambling or do they not care?
Moderator to use responses from the pre-task to probe on areas that need further clarity or detail.
1. Introductions and warm up (5 minutes)
Moderator to introduce themselves, Yonder and its background as an independent research agency.
Thank you for completing the pre-task on your gambling habits and for joining us today to discuss your experiences gambling online.
Before we begin, there are a few key things that I’d like to mention we’re looking to understand more about your current attitudes, opinions and experiences around online gambling. This is for research purposes only and there will be no action taken off the back of what you tell us. There are no right or wrong answers, so please feel free to share what you really think – we’re just really interested to hear about your experiences. Rest assured that everything that you say will remain anonymous, and none of your personal details will be disclosed in our report. Just as a reminder, this session will last approximately 1 hour.
Data privacy and consent:
Your participation in this interview means that you consent to our use of your personal information for research purposes only. We assure you that any information shared will be treated confidentially and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Market Research Society (MRS) guidelines to protect your privacy and ensure ethical practice.
Please note that this interview will be recorded for the purpose of accurately capturing your responses and ensuring the quality of the research. Do you consent to this?
The recording will only be accessible to authorised researchers and will be securely stored for 6 months after which your data will be deleted. Do you have any questions before we start?
It would be great to get to know you a bit better. Please tell me:
- your name
- what you enjoy about gambling.
2. General gambling behaviour and pre-task recap (10 minutes)
Objective: Build rapport and engagement with the participant, and recap on pre-task activities and reflections, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of influences on decision making.
Thank you for completing the pre-task.
How did you find the experience? Was there anything that stood out to you in particular? What stood out and why?
Moderator to explain we would like to start by hearing more about their gambling activity.
I'd like to start by discussing some of the key points you documented and hearing more about your gambling activity overall. As a reminder, some of these questions we will have asked during the pre-task but we just want to find out a bit more about your experience.
In the pre-task, we asked you to reflect on several aspects.
One such area was what makes you gravitate towards certain online gambling activities and sites. As a recap, can you tell me about what attracts you to these online gambling activities?
What does a typical experience look like for you when you’re gambling online?
We also asked you to speak about positive and negative experiences in relation to online gambling - can you please give me some examples?
You mentioned in the pre-task that you use particular sites when gambling online.
Why? What first attracted you to them? How do you decide which gambling companies to use? Probe into factors influencing their decisions and/or selection process…has this changed over time? Do you use multiple sites and/or companies? If so, how do they compare to one another? Are there some you prefer over others? Why?
Can you describe how you first encountered the gambling site(s) you currently use or have used? (for example online search, social media, word of mouth, advertisements)
Are there particular channels and/or people you tend to listen to over others? Why?
3. Licensing practices & vigilance checks (5 to 10 minutes)
Objective: Understand whether gamblers perform vigilance checks and whether licensing practices are something they take into consideration and/or care about.
Before taking part in this research, to what extent were you aware of the licensing practices governing gambling companies in GB?
Before taking part in this research, were you aware of the Gambling Commission or their role?
Note: if participants are not familiar, moderator to remind them of who the Gambling Commission are, such as an organisation which seeks to make gambling fairer and safer. It does so by licensing and regulating in the public interest and providing advice and guidance. It wants a fair and safe gambling market where all consumers and the interests of the wider public are protected.
Does any of the above impact your decision making when it comes to gambling?
How do you know if a gambling company is licensed or unlicensed? Do you ever check to see if a site is licensed? If so, how do you check and/or what do you check?
Before taking part in this research, was this something you even thought about or looked for? Why? How important is this to you?
Moderator to prompt respondents on potential indicators if they struggle to identify whether they have used an unlicensed site. Potential indicators of an unlicenced site can include: having to change the currency or language, having to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access a gambling website, not requiring ID or age verification to sign up, having to use a foreign currency or cryptocurrency or pay using Virtual assets such as NFTs for example.
Note: Some may use sites which are licensed in other jurisdictions but not the UK if they are familiar with that country and/or domain.
Does this influence your decision to gamble on a site, or not at all?
4. Context of using unlicensed gambling sites: exposure and usage (15 minutes)
Objective: Understand the wider context of unlicensed gambling including perceptions, previous usage, internal motivations, external triggers, and routes in.
Now, I’d like to focus more on unlicensed gambling companies and websites, such as sites that aren’t licensed by the Gambling Commission.
Have you ever used an unlicensed gambling site, to your knowledge? Moderator to check whether this aligns with screening responses – if not, why?
For those who have:
- was this something you did intentionally, or did you stumble across the site by accident (or realise later this was an unlicensed site)?
- if stumbled across by accident and/or realised later:
- how did they find out about this site?
Moderator to probe if not mentioned spontaneously: online search, paid advertising on social media, word of mouth, gambling forum, social media personality or influencer and so on.
What made these sources compelling or credible to them? Why did they follow their recommendation?
What made them realise this was an unlicensed site? What was and/or wasn’t clear to them about this?
When did they realise this?
How did this make them feel? Did this impact their play?
If sought out intentionally: If you have previously gambled using unlicensed websites, how did you find out about these?
Moderator to probe if not mentioned spontaneously: online search, paid advertising on social media, word of mouth, gambling forum, social media personality or influencer for example.
Why do you look to use these sites? If not mentioned, probe on role of regulator action (such as stricter checks, limits etc. as a driver to unlicensed)
What are the risks verses rewards of using these sites?
What are the positives of using these sites? Probe on role of sign-up offers and bonuses – what about these are attractive to people (amount offered, lack of wagering requirements for example)?
What are the negatives of using these sites, if any?
Are you still using these sites? Has anything changed in terms of how or when you use them?
How do you see this being different to gambling on a site that is licensed (if at all)?
For those who haven’t:
- would you consider gambling on a site that is not licensed by the Gambling Commission? Why? and/or Why not?
- what do you think would influence your decision? Probe on role of external triggers (for example social media, forums, word of mouth, recommendations), incentives (for example bonuses, offers), quality of user experience, pay-out experience, customer service
- how do you see this being different to gambling on a site that is licensed, if at all?
5. Deep dive into experiences of using unlicensed sites & potential indicators (15 to 20 minutes):
Objective: Dive deeper into specific customer journeys and experiences of using unlicensed sites, including hard indicators of unlicensed site usage.
(Note: this section applies to ‘current users’ and ‘less and/or unaware users’ only – do not ask ‘potential users’)
(Note: Usage of GAMSTOP may emerge spontaneously – if so, allow respondents to say their piece then move on without probing in-depth).
Now thinking about your use of online gambling sites it would be great to know if you have ever:
- Changed the currency or language or used a foreign currency to gamble online (including cryptocurrency or virtual assets such as NFTs and so on)
- Used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access a gambling site
- Not been required to provide age and/or ID verification to sign up for a gambling site
For each of these that you’ve done, could you please tell us more about your experience, in detail?
What were the highlights and/or positives of your experience?
What were the drawbacks and/or negatives of your experience?
Could you, if you recall, walk us through a typical experience when using one of these unlicensed sites?
How did you feel at the start? What were your expectations? Probe on any assumptions made and risks they were aware of going in.
What was the play experience like?
- Did the experience of using these sites change how you feel about them or your approach to using them?
Do you think you will continue to use unlicensed sites in the future? Why and/or Why not?
Gauge the role of: Getting the best odds, Getting the best sign-up or bonus offers, ease or speed of withdrawal, quality of user experience, customer service, playing games or betting on activities that are not offered by licensed gambling websites, actions taken by the regulator (for example checks, limit setting and so on) and so on.
6. Wrap-up and close (2 minutes)
Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share on using licensed or unlicensed gambling sites as a whole?
Invite participant to share any final thoughts, recommendations, or additional insights related to unlicensed gambling or wider online gambling behaviour.
Reiterate the importance of their input in informing efforts to promote fairer outcomes for gamblers.
Thank participant for their time and contributions, confirm incentive payment and close.
Previous sectionAppendix C – Depth interview participant profiles Next section
Appendix E - LEAP-facilitated focus group discussion guide
Last updated: 18 September 2025
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