Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising

3/29/20223/29/2022

The gambling and betting advertising rules are designed to ensure that ads are socially responsible, with particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons under 18 and other vulnerable groups from being harmed or exploited by advertising that features or promotes gambling and betting.
This Information Service is for anyone in the advertising industry who needs to know about advertising compliance. AdHelp gives you access to the ASA’s knowledge and expertise. AdHelp gives you access to the ASA’s knowledge and expertise.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has investigated three online gambling operators for money laundering and social responsibility failures, while the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) banned a gambling ad that targets children. The three operators investigated by the UKGC were NetBet Enterprises, GAN PLC, and BGO Entertainment.
The advertising codes consist of the Advertising Standards Code and the five sector Codes where advertisers are expected to take particular care; Alcohol, Children and Young People, Finance, Therapeutic and Health, and Gambling. In interpreting the Codes, emphasis will be placed on compliance with both the principles and the spirit and intention.

Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Agencies
Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Strategies
Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Strategies
Asa Guidance Gambling Advertising Websites

NOTE: This Code has been replaced by the new Gambling Advertising Code. The new Code is effective 4 November 2019 for all ads. Read the ASA Codes Committee report on the review of the gambling advertising standards here – Report on the review of the Code for Advertising Gaming and Gambling April 2019.

The Advertising Standards Authority has found that the gambling industry has made considerable improvements in protecting under age viewers from being exposed to gambling-related adverts. It has published the results as part of its latest findings from a second round of online monitoring sweeps.

According to the BGC’s advertising code, all operators must restrict their gambling content on social media platforms using age-filters. ©Tracy Le Blanc/Pexels

Gambling Operators Target Ads Better

According to the Advertising Code, advertisers must ensure that age-restricted adverts are not targeted at underage audiences. However, the ASA has found that some advertisers fall foul of this rule, with some sectors being particularly negligent. The ASA carried out its initial monitoring sweep in the summer, to assess how many advertisers were targeting age-restricted adverts at children.

That first probe discovered that some age-restricted products such as gambling, alcohol, tobacco and junk food were advertised on platforms widely used by children. In fact, the gambling sector was found to be the worst offender, with four operators showing 70 betting adverts on eight websites viewed by young people.

Since then, advertisers have been asked to clean up their act, and the ASA has committed to carrying out further monitoring sweeps to keep tabs. Now the standards body has published the results of its second monitoring sweep, and it seems that improvements have been made. In particular, the number of breaches coming from the gambling industry has fallen drastically.

The ASA’s latest sweep found that this time around just three operators had fallen foul of the rules, showing five betting adverts across six websites viewed by young audiences. On top of that, no breaches were recorded on YouTube channels. Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA, is pleased at the progress that the gambling industry has made in regards to targeting its advertising correctly. He said:

“We’re encouraged to see advertisers, most notably in the gambling sector, taking steps to target their age-restricted online ads responsibly. We expect that trend to continue, particularly amongst HFSS advertisers, throughout the remainder of this project and beyond. We’ll continue working with advertisers and taking action where necessary to build a culture of zero tolerance for age-restricted ads appearing on websites aimed at children.”

Fast Food Fares Badly

These results show significant improvement and come in part thanks to the efforts of the Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the UK’s casinos, betting shops and online operators. Part of its mission is to make sure that standards within the industry remain high. To this end, in October it unveiled its “Sixth Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising”. Through tightening its advertising code, the BGC aims to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from being exposed to gambling harms.

All BGC members have agreed to hold themselves to the standards set by this new code, which specifies that all social media campaigns must only be targeted at audiences over the age of 25. Further to this, the BGC emphasized its no-nonsense attitude to underage advertising, requiring all gambling-related content on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to be restricted with age verification filters. Speaking in a press release at the time of the announcement, chief executive of the BGC, Michael Dugher said:

“BGC members have a zero tolerance attitude to under-18s betting, and from requirements for safer gambling messages to restrictions on YouTube advertising, this new code shows how seriously the BGC, who represent regulated betting but not the National Lottery, take our responsibilities.”

As a result of the gambling industry’s marked improvement in targeting its advertising at age-appropriate audiences, the ASA will be shifting its focus onto the fast-food industry, which has fared less well. It found that 102 different ads for products high in fat, salt or sugar from 35 advertisers appeared on 27 websites and four YouTube channels. However, roughly half of these breaches were for products like cooking sauces and olive oil that are unlikely to appeal to children.

Other breaches uncovered by the monitoring sweep were found in adverts for alcohol and slimming products. Six different alcohol adverts from four brands featured on two websites and three YouTube channels, while two advertisers were responsible for 14 weight reduction ads on eight websites and one YouTube channel. The sweep did look out for breaches in e-cigarette adverts, but found none.

The ASA is not the only body that has been putting the gambling industry under pressure to do better. In September, the gambling regulator issued fresh guidance for Facebook users wanting to filter out gambling adverts. For those who have experienced gambling problems, encountering gambling ads on social media can be triggering. With the help of the UKGC’S guidance, users can easily hide gambling ads from their newsfeeds and opt out of specific advertising topics.

There have been calls from MPs to crack down on gambling adverts in the UK. In particular, the prevalence of betting sponsorship in football has become a particularly hot topic, with some campaigners calling for a ban on bookmakers sponsoring players’ shirts. A recent survey, carried out by Survation, even found that a third of fans are put off buying shirts that feature betting sponsorship, For now, gambling advertising is allowed to continue within sports, although with many clubs walking away from deals with betting companies, it is clear that the tide is turning.

The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) have recently introduced two new guidance documents to promote responsible gambling advertising.

The first relates to free bets and bonuses (and came into effect on 14 February 2018). The aim of this guidance is to help advertisers understand the ASA, CAP and Gambling Commission’s current position on acceptable claims, to provide their interpretations of commonly used terminology and to clarify how terms and conditions should be displayed or signposted. The full guidance note can be found here.

The second relates to social responsibility and problem gambling (and comes into effect on 2 April 2018). The aim of this guidance is to address specific concerns in these areas. The full guidance note can be found here.

Guidance on “Free Bet” Promotions and Bonuses

The majority of current complaints to the ASA about gambling ads are about consumers having to make a deposit to access their 'free' bets / bonus or to withdraw their winnings.

In an attempt to combat this, the guidance (which is similar to previous CAP guidance on the issue) states that all advertisements that promote a free bet and/or a bonus must make the terms and conditions of the offer available to the consumer, at most only one click away, with all significant terms included in the advertisement itself (and positioned close to the headline offer).

Significant conditions are “those which are likely to affect a consumer’s understanding of the promotion, and include any requirements for a consumer to deposit their own funds, together with details of play-through or wagering requirements”.

The guidance also provides some examples of terminology currently used in gambling advertisements and explicitly states how these should be interpreted:

'Money back' offers must be in cash, not bonuses
'Risk free' offers must incur no loss to the customer
'Matched bets' – any stake limitation should be treated as a significant condition and stated up front.

Guidance on Responsibility and Problem Gambling

This guidance helps advertisers interpret the existing CAP and BCAP Code rules regarding responsibility and problem gambling by providing greater detail on approaches that are likely to be unacceptable in individual marketing communications. In particular:

Offers (such as live odds or in-play betting) should not be presented in a way that creates an unjustifiable sense of urgency. Very short-term promotions where the marketer sets time limits combined with an urgent call to action such as 'Bet Now!' are likely to be regarded as unacceptable
Whilst referring to the ease of use of a service (such as an app) is acceptable it must not be done in a way which trivialises gambling, for example by encouraging repetitive play
Creating an erroneous perception of the level of risk involved or the extent of a gambler’s control over a bet or gambling in general should be avoided
Problem gambling behaviours and associated behaviours should not be portrayed, even indirectly
Placing undue emphasis on money-motives for gambling is likely to be regarded as breaching the rules.

Key Points to Note

Both guidance notes form part of the continued efforts by CAP to make sure regulation prevents harm and promotes responsible advertising. To supplement these, later this year CAP will publish further guidance focusing on the protection of children and young people.

Regulators such as the ASA and the Gambling Commission are expected to continue their recent focus and hard line approach to gambling advertising. It is therefore more important than ever for advertisers to consider the social implications behind their gambling ads and to ensure that any gambling advertisements do not fall short of these rules or indeed any incoming rules.

This article was written by Lydia Fernandes. For more informaiton please contact Lydia on +44 (0)20 7438 2104 or at lydia.fernandes@crsblaw.com.