The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned ads from five operators after they were found to break rules banning children being targeted.
The ASA used new monitoring technology in the form of child “avatars” – online profiles simulating children’s browsing activity – and over a two-week period last year identified ads by 43 gambling operators in non-logged-in, online environments on children’s websites.
Five of those gambling operators, NetEnt (Vikings video slot), Evoke Gaming (RedBet), Multilotto UK, Platinum Gaming (Unibet) and Skill On Net (PlayOjo), broke the strict advertising rules which prohibit gambling ads being targeted at under-18s.
Data was collected on the 10,754 times that ads were served to the child avatars across 24 children’s websites and 20 open-access YouTube channels. In total, the Authority found gambling ads were served to the child avatars on 11 of the children’s websites monitored; that 23 individual gambling ads were seen by the child avatars on those 11 children’s websites a combined total of 151 times (1.40 per cent of the total ad impressions); and that the Vikings video slot was responsible for 10 ads and 122 of the ad impressions (81 per cent of the 151).
No gambling ads were served on any of the open-access YouTube channels included in the research.
The Authority stated: “The gambling operators have accepted their ads broke the rules. In most instances, we were informed that the problems arose due to errors by third-party companies who served the campaigns on behalf of the operators.
“We have instructed the companies to take immediate action to review their online ads, ensure they are not served to web users aged below 18 years of age through the selection of media or context in which they appear and to put in place measures to ensure this does not happen again.
“We are now exploring whether this monitoring and enforcement approach can be extended to logged-in environments like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.”
The ASA is monitoring data further and will report back later in the year in more detail.
Chief executive Guy Parker said: “Online ads are subject to the same strict rules that apply elsewhere and this important new monitoring capability delivers on our commitment to having more impact online. It’s already allowed us to spot a problem with a small number of gambling operators and take quick and effective action to ensure children are protected from irresponsibly targeted gambling ads. We’re already looking at expanding this work, as well as exploring how other new technologies can help us protect the public.”
