We have published two rulings involving a betting company (Betway) and an online betting platform (Oddschecker) where the advertisers' Instagram posts featured well-known footballers. We investigatged whether, against our gambling rules, they were likely to have strong appeal to under-18s.  

In the case involving Betway, we concluded that former player and now TV pundit, Thierry Henry, was not likely to be of strong appeal. In the Oddschecker case, we considered Harry Kane and Erling Haaland do have strong appeal to those under 18 years of age and we banned the ad on those grounds.  

These were important investigations and subsequent rulings. They underscore how and when our rules extend to organic posts on betting companies’ social media feeds. And they usefully demonstrate how the strong appeal rules and guidance are applied to gambling ads.  

More broadly, these rulings sit against a backdrop of debate around gambling, its advertising and the protection of young and vulnerable people.

A public debate

Concerns about the impact of gambling related harms on individuals and society are generally high on the public policy agenda. Understandably so. The financial and emotional costs associated with problem gambling behaviours are real and serious. Both for gamblers and those around them. 

Those concerns are vocalised by some in calls for greater restrictions on the gambling industry. And that carries over to how it is advertised. By extension, the ASA is from time to time called on by politicians, legislators, campaigners and academics to consider tightening the advertising rules and taking more prohibitive action against gambling ads. 

This is an ongoing priority area of our work and we are taking wide-ranging, proactive action to ensure gambling advertising remains socially responsible and does not exploit vulnerable people - especially children and young people. 

But debates, often wrapped in criticism, about further action the ASA should take to regulate gambling advertising can lack important nuance. 

What the law allows

Crucial to understanding how gambling advertising is regulated is the legal framework passed by Parliament as part of the Gambling Act 2005, which is the bedrock to the UK’s approach to gambling advertising.

There are many groups and individuals who do not accept gambling advertising in any form. As is their right. But, the law permits gambling and licensed operators are allowed to advertise their products and services subject to evidenced-based targeting and content restrictions.

Any measures to prohibit gambling advertising, in and of itself, would almost certainly need a change in law. That is a matter for Government and Parliament.

It is not our role to determine whether gambling advertising should exist, nor is it our role to regulate the volume of gambling ads other than by enforcing the scheduling and media placement restrictions we impose. Instead, we ensure that when and where they appear, the content and targeting of gambling ads are responsible and do not cause harm, particularly to those at risk of gambling harms.

Clear rules and protections

The advertising rules that we administer, backed by extensive guidance, are designed explicitly to prevent advertising related harms. They require that gambling advertising is socially responsible and place a strong emphasis on protecting under‑18s and other vulnerable groups.  

The rules prohibit gambling ads from:  

• Being addressed to or otherwise directed at children or young people 
• Presenting gambling as a solution to personal or financial problems 
• Featuring sports personalities or celebrities of strong appeal to under-18s 
• Encouraging irresponsible gambling behaviour like chasing loses or solitary play

They also restrict gambling ads from being of strong appeal to under‑18s more generally. They prohibit anyone who is or appears to be under 25 from playing a significant role in gambling ads. And they restrict gambling ads from being targeted at or likely to be seen by under-18s through the media in which they appear, including online and in social media.

Our rules are not designed to prevent children and young people from ever seeing or encountering gambling advertising. Such an intervention would entail a level of media restriction out of proportion with the evidence of potential harms arising from gambling advertising.

Our rules are designed to stop children being targeted directly through social media or in children’s media and to appropriately limit children’s exposure to gambling ads in general audience media. Where children do see gambling ads, the content rules prohibit content that is likely to appeal to them to mitigate the impact of them seeing ads for products that are for adults only.

Advertising may invite adults to gamble responsibly; it must never do so in a way that risks harm. 

Close partnership working

In administering the gambling rules, we have a range of enforcement mechanisms. For example, we can call on platforms to remove paid-for ads that breach our rules, where the advertiser cannot or will not withdraw the ads. In practice, however, licensed gambling operators work with the ASA to put things right without need of third party enforcement. We’re also supported by the Gambling Commission who are our statutory backstop and main regulatory partner in this area. We work extremely closely with them and, where necessary, they help us bring non-compliant advertisers into line. And, where issues fall outside our remit such as sponsorship arrangements or advertising by a non-licensed operator, we have an effective referral process in place.

Proactive regulation: identifying risks to lessen harm occurring

We take quick and effective action to identify and tackle non‑compliant gambling ads. This includes harnessing technology such as our AI-based Active Ad Monitoring system (AAMs) to act at scale and speed in processing ads in the online ecosystem. The system currently scans around 10k paid online ads each month by licensed gambling operators, using sophisticated AI models to check ads against the rules, with any high-risk ads identified reviewed by our human experts, leading to action where needed.

This is a significant development in our regulation, delivering proactive monitoring and enforcement activity.

In all of this, repeated proactive monitoring sweeps across media have shown that the overwhelming majority of gambling ads are sticking to the rules.

Content marketing

One key area of our current work is gambling ‘content marketing’.  

Content marketing involves the creation and sharing by gambling operators or gambling adjacent advertisers of online material (such as memes, videos, blogs, and social media posts) that identifies the gambling company, but does not directly promote its products or services in a way that necessarily amounts to advertising.

In 2025, CAP amended the UK Advertising Code to bring into scope content marketing targeted at UK consumers by licensed gambling operators registered outside the UK. The Gambling Commission’s licensing conditions require compliance with the Advertising Code and allow the ASA to regulate such ads by any licensed gambling operator, no matter where they are based.

What does that look like in practice? We regulate gambling advertiser’s ‘own spaces’ online that are likely to have the effect of ‘selling something’; content that can reasonably be considered advertising. But where we consider content is not directly connected with the supply of the gambling product, for example where there are no direct, or significant indirect, references to gambling products, it falls outside our remit. To put it another way, not all organic posts by gambling operators are ‘marketing’ for the purposes of our rules. We draw that line to ensure that – as the advertising regulator – we don’t improperly restrict the freedom of non-advertising speech.

However, to ensure nothing falls between the gaps, we have an agreement in place that where content marketing by a gambling operator falls outside our remit, but which would have likely been a breach of our rules were it an ad, we will refer it to the Gambling Commission who can consider action under its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. That would only be in the limited scenarios where a post wasn’t considered advertising within the ASA’s remit, for the reasons set out above.

Proactive regulation and clear precedent

We have already published a series of formal rulings addressing content marketing on gambling operators’ own channels. These rulings clarify:

• When content is considered advertising under the rules 
• How the “strong appeal” test applies to personalities and imagery that may attract under‑18s

And using our AAMs, we have also been carrying out a large-scale proactive sweep of gambling operators’ social media activity on Meta platforms covering several months’ worth of content (August 2025 – March 2026). A desk-based sweep of posts on X was carried out (February – March 2026). Of almost 400 posts on Meta reviewed, we found that:

• Around 85% were either compliant or fell outside the scope of the rules 
• 10% required further investigation 
• Around 5% (fewer than 20) were clearly problematic and are being taken forward for enforcement action 

For those posts reviewed on X, from the 24 social media accounts of different gambling operators scanned, 5 posts appeared to both be (A) ads, and (B) breach the CAP Code.  

We will progress enforcement action against clearly problematic ads and will investigate borderline cases if we need to establish where to draw the line.

We are preparing updated guidance to support compliance across the industry for publication in early June. 

We will also be issuing a sector wide enforcement notice which will set our expectations for gambling operators who advertise using content marketing techniques. That enforcement notice will set a defined period for compliance following which we will take targeted action against non-compliant gambling operators’ advertising.

Together, these decisions provide clear precedent for gambling advertisers and demonstrate that we are actively regulating content marketing.

Influencers, under‑25s and emerging platforms 

We are also undertaking targeted compliance work on: 

• The use of under‑25s in gambling advertising 
• Influencer gambling marketing, both paid and organic 
• Advertising on emerging platforms such as livestreaming services 

We have published guidance for advertisers using platforms popular with younger audiences and have taken action against ads that breach the rules in these environments.

This work reflects our wider aim: to ensure the rules remain effective wherever advertising appears.

Loot boxes: decisive enforcement action

While it is not recognised as gambling under the law, we are keeping a watching brief, and have taken firm action, on advertising for apps and games that include loot boxes. 

Following a series of upheld rulings, we issued a sector wide Enforcement Notice in February 2026, requiring advertisers to clearly disclose the presence of loot boxes in their ads. 

Advertisers were given a defined period to review and amend their ads. From 26 May 2026, we are conducting active monitoring of app store listings, with targeted enforcement action where we identify non‑compliance. 

We will continue to move quickly from rulings to sector wide intervention to drive compliance.

Tackling illegal advertising

Illegal gambling advertising (advertising directed at people in the UK by providers of gambling services who are not licensed by the Gambling Commission) poses particular risks because it sits entirely outside the regulated system.

While we do not directly regulate illegal operators, we play an active role in tackling their advertising by:

• Contributing intelligence to the Gambling Commission 
• Working closely with major online platforms 
• Chairing a subgroup on advertising within the Government’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce

This has already led to progress in identifying and removing illegal advertising, including ads for “non‑GAMSTOP” operators. 

Protecting children in digital environments

Protecting children remains a priority for the ASA. To support that, we are investing in advanced tools and research to understand and monitor real-world exposure.

Our work includes:

• The use of child-avatar technology 
• Large scale web scraping and ad-monitoring tools 
• New research examining children’s exposure to age-restricted advertising online, including gambling

We have also conducted reviews of ads appearing in digital environments such as free‑to‑play games, assessing whether targeting complies with the rules. 

A system that evolves with evidence 

Gambling advertising remains a priority area because of its potential for harm. Our approach is grounded in: 

• Objective evidence 
• Transparent decision-making 
• Continuous adaptation to new risks and technologies 

This includes expanding the scope of the rules, such as bringing non‑paid social media content for operators based abroad into remit, and updating guidance in response to emerging trends.

Acting where standards are not met

The regulatory framework in the UK is clear: gambling advertising by licensed operators is permitted, but only if it is socially responsible. 

The ASA’s role is to enforce that boundary. We do so through: 

• Proactive tech-assisted monitoring 
• Formal investigations and rulings 
• Sector wide compliance action where needed 

Where advertising crosses the line into socially irresponsible territory, we act, decisively, to prevent harm. 

Looking ahead

As gambling advertising continues to evolve, so too will our approach. We will continue to: 

• Strengthen protections where evidence supports it 
• Focus on areas of highest risk, including social media and emerging platforms 
• Work with partners across government, regulators and platforms to uphold standards 

In the often-heated debate around gambling advertising, it can be easy to lose sight of an important reality: Great Britain has a tightly regulated licensed gambling market, with operators subject to extensive legal and regulatory obligations designed to protect consumers. In the overwhelming majority of cases, gambling ads comply with the rules we enforce – and operators have introduced and are introducing voluntary measures that go beyond those evidence-based requirements. Gambling operators don’t always get it right, but this is not an industry operating without constraint; it is one that is regulatorily incentivised to treat customers fairly, and one that engages with the ASA system to help ensure their ads play by the rules. 

In all of this, we recognise that for some opponents of gambling advertising the current legal framework is not sufficient and as such they will not be satisfied by our actions within that framework. We will continue to engage openly and comprehensively and remain committed to ensuring the protection of young and vulnerable people from gambling advertising related harms is at the heart of our work.

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