Gambling advertising remains heavily regulated and is under increasing scrutiny since the Government's release of the White Paper "High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age" in April last year. Concerns revolve around the impact of gambling ads on children and vulnerable individuals, especially with the growing shift in media consumption to online platforms and social media.

Policymakers and regulators are reevaluating whether the current regulatory framework adequately protects against harm from increased exposure to gambling advertising across various media and whether industry-led initiatives are effective in harm prevention.

In September last year, the industry had voluntarily imposed restrictions to raise compliance standards. Notably, the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling introduced measures like promoting safer gambling messages, improving ad targeting, minimizing exposure to restricted groups, and restricting ad placement in certain contexts.

In March this year, the Government highlighted a need for a more precautionary approach to gambling advertising, emphasising the minimisation of children's exposure to these ads. Some sporting authorities such as the British Horse Racing Authority have, in response to the Government’s calls, introduced further self-imposed measures around the intersection of gambling ads and sponsorship primarily with a view to limit child exposure to such ads, with likely more sporting authorities to follow in a similar fashion in the near future.

This guide offers practical suggestions for operators and advertising agencies to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and minimise risks of regulatory breaches.

Vetting commercial partners

Engaging celebrities, sports figures (including eSports), influencers, and other known personalities carries risks due to their potential appeal to children. Operators should conduct thorough risk assessments and due diligence when selecting personalities for gambling ad campaigns.

This includes conducting checks into the individual’s social media demographics to verify that the personality's social media followers are primarily over 18; as well as examining their broader media presence for links to content popular with children.

Personalities that are deemed aspirational (such as premier league football players, leading eSports players, or gaming influencers), or are known presenters or actors in popular TV programs or movies, are likely to have strong appeal to children and therefore their inclusion in advertising is likely to lead to a breach of the applicable rules.

Age verification checks should be run to ensure personalities are over 25 – a recent ASA Ruling highlighted a breach involving an under-25 adult model, despite her audience likely not appealing to children.

It is also key that operators and advertising agencies maintain records of the risk assessment to demonstrate compliance in case of regulatory investigations.

Targeting and technological tools

Operators should leverage technological tools to target appropriate audiences and minimise exposure to children where possible, such as the use of age-targeted ads to ensure sponsored content targets demographics aged 25 and above, and ‘age-gating’; which requires age verification for accessing content on platforms like YouTube. Features like YouTube's "not for kids" marking and other in-platform functionalities should be enabled to prevent content from being suggested to children inadvertently through algorithmic content distribution on the platform.

Context considerations are also key in ensuring ads reach intended audiences. Targeting tools should be aligned with the overall theme of the ad to avoid elements appealing to children, as seen in another recent ASA Ruling involving cartoon imagery. Despite attempts to target an audience over 25 using a social media platform’s targeting tools, the inclusion of a cartoon Santa and elf imagery still breached the CAP Code due to its appeal to children.

Safer messaging

Operators should craft messages that promote responsible gambling and avoid misleading implications – whether this be by avoiding humour or juvenile behaviour in ads, ensuring messaging does not imply gambling is without risk or guarantees wins, or promoting responsible offers that do not advertise "free" bets or money-back offers.

Gambling should also not be depicted as a solution to personal problems or as a way to enhance personal qualities, nor an indication of skill: operators should avoid suggesting a level of skill that might mislead participants about risk control.

Instead, responsible phrasing should be used. Phrases like "play safe," "know your limit," and "play responsibly" encourage this messaging, as does including links to safer gambling resources. This can either be contained on an operator’s owned or operated channels (or webpages) dedicated to safer gambling, or use existing sources of information like Gamble Aware.

Overall, at least 20% of gambling messaging should promote safer gambling. A prudent operator might do well to automate or schedule regular posts on its owned and/or operated channels to ensure it is meeting its obligations to promote safer gambling frequently.

Creative concepts

Ads should avoid creative elements likely to appeal to children. While steering clear of imagery and characters popular with children is a given, similarly, popular music or jingles appealing to children should be avoided, as should colourful or exaggerated features that trivialize the financial risks of gambling.

To reduce appeal to children, operators should also avoid advertising ‘gamified’ elements or functionalities which share significant similarities in terms of forms popular in video games, like ‘loot boxes’.

Sponsorship

Whilst not all elements of sponsorship are within the regulator’s remit, particular attention should be paid to where any individual sponsor advertises or markets gambling products in a paid for space.

Accordingly, operators should ensure sponsorship obligations in a paid for space comply with regulations to prevent targeting children by avoiding the sponsorship of individuals under 18, marketing merchandise or products aimed at children, or which have strong appeal to children, such as mascots and soft toys; and minimising sponsored gambling ads during family events or in non-age-restricted spaces.

By following these suggestions, operators and advertising agencies can better navigate the complex landscape of gambling ad regulations, ensuring they protect vulnerable groups while maintaining compliance with the advertising rules and laws.