Limiting gambling ads online
GambleAware is working with social media platforms to ask them to help you avoid gambling advertising, and the latest updates will be shared here.
What you can do to limit gambling ads
It is not possible to remove ads on the platform or from apps, however, you are able to hide them by selecting the down arrow menu or the 'x' in the top right-hand corner of the sponsored post.
In addition, you can adjust your ads preferences to see ads that are more relevant to you. To find more information regarding 'can I block ads' on Facebook and 'how can I adjust my ad preferences', please view this article from their Help Center. Your settings can be found here.
We are in discussions with Facebook and the Gambling Commission about ways to improve the level of protection available.
Facebook's policy on gambling advertising
Adverts that promote or facilitate online real money gambling, real money games of skill or real money lotteries, including online real money casinos, sport books, bingo or poker, are only allowed with prior written permission. Authorised gambling, games of skill or lottery adverts must target people over the age of 18 who are in jurisdictions for which permission has been granted.
Examples of what is not permitted include:
- Portraying or encouraging irresponsible gambling behaviour
- Presenting gambling as an income opportunity or employment alternative
- Content using currency symbols unrealted to a specific monetary amount
What you can do to limit gambling ads
GambleAware is unaware of any general facility to limit exposure to gambling ads.
You can block tweets from individual gambling companies. Click the down arrow and look for the option to "Block @..."
If the tweet is an advert, you can in the same menu select "I don't like this ad"
You can also select "Why am I seeing this ad", and access these two pages using the links provided here.
Here you can disconnect other apps you might have allowed to connect to your Twitter account, and various other options for reviewing and amending the profile advertisers use to target you.
On this page, you can de-select interests which might be a cause for more gambling-related content - one of which is potentially "gambling" but also un-ticking sport related interests such as "Football" could also help.
Un-ticking some or all of the options on this page may reduce the data by which gambling-related advertisers may be targeting you.
You can also choose to mute certain words, phrases, usernames, or hashtags to prevent you seeing content you wish to avoid. You can find out more about how to do this here.
This is not an exact science, and amending the settings above will not guarantee you are protected from seeing gambling-related content and adverts, but it may help reduce the volume.
Twitter's policy on gambling advertising
Twitter prohibits the promotion of gambling content, except for campaigns targeting specified countries where it is allowed with restrictions as explained below.
Note: In certain cases listed below, advertisers are only permitted if they have prior authorisation from Twitter.
This policy applies, but is not limited, to:
- Online casinos and gambling, sports betting, and bingo
- Physical, brick-and-mortar casino establishments
- Online fantasy sports sites
- Bonus codes, vouchers and coupons redeemable for gambling content
- E-books/sites facilitating or leading to online gambling-related content, including affiliates and other sites driving traffic to gambling
- Gambling-related software such as gambling software and poker odds calculators
- Sites or services providing tips, odds, handicapping, sports picks, forecasts or poker odds calculators
- Scratch games
- Lotteries
- Games/apps played for money
This policy generally does not prohibit:
- Hotels with a casino where the focus is on the hotel
- Gambling accessories (such as poker chips or pachinko machines)
- News and information about fantasy sports
How does this policy vary from country to country?
Advertisements for licensed brick-and-mortar casinos are globally prohibited, [but the UK is an exception].
UK:
- Online casinos, sports betting, bingo and lottery advertising targeting the United Kingdom are permitted provided advertisers are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
- Operators licensed solely by a white listed UK Jurisdiction (currently Antigua & Barbuda, Alderney, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, and Tasmania) may only target the jurisdiction the license is from.
- Sites driving traffic to gambling operators in the UK--(except lottery aggregators) such as affiliates, tips or odds sites--are permitted as long as they do not require a license or other permission for their activities. If an advertiser’s status changes in this regard, or they are the subject of any ruling of a legal, regulatory authority, or industry body pertinent to their activities, they must inform Twitter immediately. These advertisers are only allowed with prior authorization from Twitter.
- Fantasy sports ads are permitted.
What you can do to limit gambling ads
Google has provided the following information: See Google's remove unwanted ads external page which outlines the below.
Google does not allow gambling advertisers to remarket to users based on any gambling-related interest category e.g. poker, sports betting, etc.
Users can:
- Block specific advertisers
This feature exists on Google Search, Maps, YouTube and gMail when you are signed into your Google account. Instructions for each product listed in above external link. This will allow users to block advertisers such as Paddy Power, 888. Bet365, etc.
- Mute similar ads
For other display ads that appear when users are on other websites, users can choose to ‘mute the ad’. This will stop other ads very similar to it that have been purchased by the same advertiser, as well as other ads from the same advertiser that uses the same web url.