UK Advertising Standards Authority Finds 70 Gambling Ads on Child-friendly Sites in Q2 2020

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that ads of four gambling operators have appeared in child-friendly sites during the second quarter of 2020.

A total of 70 ads from the quartet of unnamed operators appeared on eight websites were discovered in the advertising watchdog’s latest online monitoring sweep, used to identify and tackle age-restricted promotions appearing in children’s media.

This forms part of a year-long project in which ASA was monitoring ads served on a sample of more than 50 websites and YouTube channels with particularly large underage audiences. Once ads are identified, the ASA has contacted the advertisers to ensure the promotions are renewed and warned them to ensure a similar breach of regulations is avoided in the future.

“The ASA is using technology to proactively monitor online ads to help build a culture of zero tolerance for age-restricted ads appearing on websites aimed at children. We expect advertisers and the parties they contract with to use the sophisticated tools available to them to target their ads responsibly,” Guy Parker, chief executive of ASA, said.

“This is just one part of a wider set of initiatives we’re undertaking to ensure children are protected online and we’ll report on our further work in this area in the coming months,” Guy Parker added.