Ad description
Two in-app ads for LiveScore Bet seen on LiveScore, a football score app, on 10 January 2025:
a. The first ad, viewed on an Android device, featured text that displayed live football scores. The page also featured the LiveScore Bet logo next to an on/off toggle. When toggled on, three ‘odds’ options were displayed under each game. Each option linked through to the “LiveScore Bet” app when clicked on.
b. The second ad, viewed on an IOS device, featured a page which displayed football team lineups. Beneath the lineups a banner displayed text which stated, “Match odds” and “LiveScore Bet” along with three different odds that linked through to the LiveScore Bet app when clicked. Further smaller text stated, “18+ Bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org” and “Ad”.
Issue
The complainant, who understood the ads were served in the under-18 version of the app, challenged whether they had been appropriately targeted.
Response
LiveScore Betting and Gaming (Gibraltar) Ltd t/a LiveScore Bet said they were a distinct product from the LiveScore app. However, they both operated within the same corporate structure, which was the “LiveScore Group”. They explained that LiveScore was a real-time sports data, news and content provider that did not offer gambling services whilst LiveScore Bet was a licensed online sports-betting product.
LiveScore Bet said they selected LiveScore as an advertising partner because of the app’s audience demographic which they believed was predominantly adults. They also said LiveScore implemented an age-gating tool that was a voluntary safeguard used to prevent adult content from being shown to under-18s. They explained that through the age-gating mechanism the LiveScore app would only display odds and gambling content to users who had declared themselves as over-18.
LiveScore Bet carried out testing on the under-18 version of the app for Android devices because the complainant believed they saw ad (a) there. However, they had been unable to replicate instances of any gambling content being shown when the under-18 option was selected. They believed no further device information for where the ad had been viewed was available and there was no proof that there had been any technical problem with the app for Android devices. They were therefore confident that LiveScore’s age-gating tool had been working as intended at the time ad (a) was seen, with the under-18 version not promoting any gambling content.
LiveScore Bet also said a technical problem in a historic IOS version of the app had resulted in gambling content being displayed to users who had selected ‘under-18’, which was why ad (b) had been seen in that version of the app. However, they believed further testing indicated that where odds had been displayed, they did not link through to any further gambling content. They also said the current version of the app was working correctly and the issue had been confined to one IOS app version that would have impacted a small number of users.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required that marketing communications for gambling must not be directed at those aged younger than 18 years through the selection of media or context in which they appeared.
The ASA understood that when first using the LiveScore app, users were presented with text which stated, “Please help us […] by selecting the correct age category” and “Livescore carries advertising […] some of this advertising and other content is not suitable for younger members of our audience (for example it may be gambling or alcohol related)”. Below that text, two option boxes stated, “Under 18” and “18 & Over” which could be clicked on to access the app’s homepage. We understood from that text that the app featured two age-based versions which were designed to be different from one another – the under-18 version supposedly not featuring any gambling content or ads whilst the over-18 version featured ads for LiveScore Bet and other gambling operators.
We acknowledged Livescore Bet’s view that the majority of LiveScore app users were adults. However, we considered that because there was an option to self-verify as under-18, that version of the app should not have featured gambling ads because those ads, due to the stated target audience, would have been directed at under-18s. We therefore assessed whether the ads appeared in the under-18 version of the app.
Ad (a) promoted live odds for LiveScore bet. We acknowledged LiveScore Bet’s view that ad (a) had been viewed on an Android device and that they had been unable to replicate the ad appearing within the under-18 version the app. However, we had seen the ad appear in the under-18 version. Because we had viewed the ad on that version, we considered it had appeared in a medium specifically designed for under-18s and that it had not been appropriately targeted.
Ad (b) also promoted live odds for LiveScore Bet, which they acknowledged had been displayed within the under-18 version of the LiveScore app when viewed on IOS devices. Although we acknowledged LiveScore Bet’s view that the ad had been displayed in that version because of a technical problem, we considered that because it appeared in a medium specifically designed for under-18s, it had not been appropriately targeted.
Whilst we accepted the ads had been seen because of a technical fault, because the ads appeared in the context of a version of an app that was directed at under-18s, they did not comply with the rules on gambling advertising.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 16.1 and 16.3.13 (Gambling).
Action
The ads must not appear in the under-18 version of the LiveScore app again. We told LiveScore Betting & Gaming (UK) Ltd to ensure their ads were appropriately targeted.
