BGC Launches Ad Tech Forum
The Betting and Gaming Council has launched a cross-industry Ad Tech Forum in collaboration with the UK’s largest online platforms. The forum aims to assess how new technology can be used to enhance online protections for children and vulnerable people. The BGC has also published a report acknowledging the positive contributions its members have made to society over the last two years.
The new cross-industry Ad Tech Forum aims to combat the number of ads visible online to young and vulnerable people. ©Markus Spiske/Pexels
Improving Online Protections
The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents more than 90% of the UK’s bookmakers, casinos and online operators, has unveiled its latest efforts to make gambling safer. The standards body has revealed that its new cross-industry Ad Tech Forum will look at steps to protect children and vulnerable people from gambling harms.
Included in the cross-industry effort are BGC members Flutter Entertainment, bet365 and William Hill. Advertising Association members and the Lotteries Council have also joined the initiative. By working together, the gambling and advertising industries hope to tackle the number of gambling ads seen by young and vulnerable people online.
A number of leading tech platforms have also agreed to lend their input to the forum. Twitter, Google, Snap and Meta, the recently rebranded parent company of Facebook, will engage with advertising bodies to come up with innovative new ways to bolster online safeguarding.
Announcing its new Ad Tech Forum, the BGC noted that its members have already undertaken a range of commitments to protect young people. These include new rules that prevent children from viewing gambling ads on football clubs’ social media feeds. Speaking to press, BGC boss Michael Dugher reiterated the standards body’s commitment to raising industry standards, stating:
“I am delighted that the BGC has been able to co-ordinate the Ad Tech Forum, which I’m sure will come up with new ways of protecting young people and the vulnerable online. Since being set up two years ago, we have worked tirelessly to drive up standards and promote safer gambling, and this is proof of our determination to go even further.”
Tech firms are also continuously developing ways to improve their ad targeting, so that gambling ads are not seen by underage viewers. In December 2020, Google unveiled measures to allow YouTube users to opt out from seeing gambling ads. Users can now use the platform’s settings to tailor their advertising preferences.
Safer Gambling Measures
The Ad Tech Forum will expand on the commitments outlined in the Sixth Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising. This code states that gambling operators must make sure that all sponsored or paid for ads on social media are targeted at people aged 25 or over, unless the ads provably meet an age targeting standard set out by a third party.
Other requirements are also set out by the code. Gambling ads must include safer gambling messages, and ads that feature on search engines must make it clear that they are for products for over 18s. These measures have already been shown to have a positive impact on rates of gambling amongst young people.
In November 2020, the Advertising Standards Authority published evidence showing that the gambling industry had made significant improvements in safeguarding underage viewers from exposure to gambling ads. In its summer monitoring sweep, gambling operators were found to be the worst offenders.
Four operators were found to be responsible for displaying 70 betting ads across eight websites visited by young people. The ASA called on the industry to clean up its act, and by the time of its next monitoring sweep, it had. The number of breaches fell dramatically, and just three operators fell foul of the rules, showing five betting ads on six sites used by young people.
According to the Gambling Commission, which regulates the UK’s industry, the number of young people participating in any form of gambling has fallen from 23% in 2011 to 11% in 2019. The most common types of gambling taken part in by young people do not fall under the remit of BGC members.
The 2019 Young People and Gambling Report says that the most popular forms of gambling amongst young people are playing cards, private bets, scratch cards and fruit machines. While none of these are on offer from BGC members, they are still keen to raise standards and promote safer gambling.
Contributions to Society
Chief Executive of the Advertising Association Stephen Woodford has welcomed the BGC’s latest initiative. He said that it is essential that online gambling ads meet the highest standards of social responsibility, praising the industry’s proactive work.
In a newly published report, the BGC has highlighted the positive contribution that the regulated gambling industry makes to communities, the economy and sport. The document details investment in corporate social responsibility made by BGC members. Over the last two years, operators have joined the effort to fight COVID-19 and have contributed to an array of good causes.
The report also outlines the industry’s efforts to promote inclusion and diversity and to make gambling safer. BGC members have also worked hard to promote grassroots sports and to help tackle climate change. The industry contributes 119,000 jobs to the economy, alongside £4.5 billion in tax and £7.7 billion in gross value added.
On top of that, gambling operators contribute £350 million to horseracing and millions more in the form of football, darts, rugby and snooker sponsorships. Announcing the report, Michael Dugher praised the industry’s far-reaching contribution. He said:
“Across the board, we see examples where members and their employees are making a real difference to the lives of others, through their support for the post-pandemic recovery, their backing for local communities, charities and grassroots sports clubs hit hard by the pandemic, their commitment to inclusion and diversity and their determination to tackle climate change.”
The report draws attention to a number of efforts made by leading British operators. The Denise Coates Foundation, launched by the bet365 founder, donated £10 million to University Hospital of Northern Midlands. The Entain Foundation pledged to invest £100 million in responsible gambling, sports, health and community projects.
The efforts of operators’ employees were also acknowledged in the report. Wanting to do his bit in the pandemic, Nick Pearson from William Hill set up a PPE equipment production line in his own home. Kim James’s inspiring work to help vulnerable people in Swansea didn’t go unnoticed either, as her employer Mecca Bingo launched its national “Everyone Deserves a Christmas” campaign.
