Report

Illegal online gambling - Phase 3: Understanding push factors for consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites

The Gambling Commission's research into consumer engagement with the illegal online gambling market.

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Published
20 October 2026

Last updated
20 October 2026 - Changes

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Contents

• Illegal online gambling - Phase 3: Understanding push factors for consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites

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• Executive summary
• Introduction
• How to read this report
• Methodology
• • Digital intelligence
  • Quantitative phase
  • Qualitative phase
  • Strengths of the approach
  • Limitations of the approach
  • Ethics and governance
• Findings
• • Exploring the persona audiences
  • Attitudes towards gambling companies and regulation
  • Influences shaping illegal gambling website usage
  • Exploring attitudes towards push factors and influences in more depth
• Conclusions and next steps
• Appendices
• • Appendix A – Qualitative pre-task
  • Appendix B - Focus group discussion guide
  • Appendix C - Qualitative sample breakdown of 15 participants
  • Appendix D - Digital intelligence list of platforms evidence was sourced from
  • Appendix E – Quantitative survey
  • Appendix F – Quantitative sample

Appendix D - Digital intelligence list of platforms evidence was sourced from

The digital intelligence phase analysed publicly available online conversation over the 6-month period to develop a deeper understanding of the real-life experiences of individuals who use, or are considering using, the illegal online gambling market.

Scope of analysis

Content was sourced from publicly available discussions across:

• Forums and blogs
• Reddit
• X
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Dark web: Telegram.

The analysis on these platforms focused on:

• Language and key themes: recurring language, discussion topics and behavioural signals
• Push and pull factors: identifying the factors that may prompt consumers to move towards unlicensed gambling, as well as the perceived appeal of these alternatives
• Influences and pathways: exploring the people, communities and sources of information that may influence movement to unlicensed operators, including influencers and peer communities.

Previous section
Appendix C - Qualitative sample breakdown of 15 participants Next section
Appendix E – Quantitative survey

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Last updated: 20 October 2026

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