Is online gambling more commonly advertised now?

Posted by Super-Albatross160@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 17 comments

I'm asking this here and elsewhere, because I'm unsure if this is specific to me or a general thing that might be becoming more common in the UK. I'm 18M, and I feel like nowadays there is roughly a 75% chance that any advert on any given service will be gambling related, especially if that brand is entirely online.

The reason why I ask this here is because I see an overwhelming amount of sports betting adverts, typically related to football or horse racing. I'm not sporty, have never looked into gambling, have never gambled, and my digital footprint would not suggest that I be interested in these things. And yet they're everywhere. It's got to the point that I can visualise/recall brand names, logos, slogans etc effortlessly even though I skip these ads asap all the time. They're exclusively UK companies and have UK references in the ads, but I rarely get ads that are regional-specific apart from gambling ones..

I haven't heard it discussed, so apart from it being location-based I have no reason to suspect it's a general trend, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it's specifically targeted at my demographic as well as middle aged men.

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fernofry@reddit

Gambling ads are age specific. As soon as a platform knew you hit 18 years old you would have started seeing them a lot lot more. So that's the main reason. Overall, it's been about the same for years

kettlejuices@reddit

not to mention it's also profiling you based on what you interact with and how you use apps. Eek!

CarbonBasedRings@reddit

Yep, depressingly dystopian seeing the sheer amount of ads for gambling nowadays.

Rowanx3@reddit

You’ve turned 18 so you will see them more
You’re a man, and a young man at that. You’re the perfect target for gambling sites. You really notice that you are the demographic when you watch a football game. Ive been watching football a lot lately as my boyfriend supports Chelsea and he’s my first boyfriend thats into football and the amount of gambling ads during half time or around the pitch is crazy in comparison to any other time. Men are more likely to gamble and significantly more likely to have a gambling addiction. Thats why they advertise to the largest audience of men they can. Same when in the uk during day time tv all the adverts are depressing charity pleas or insurance because its mostly old people that need/are fooled into those things.

Super-Albatross160@reddit (OP)

Mostly what I'm annoyed/surprised about is the sheer volume. It's obvious what the strategy is, and all examples I see have the "Gamble aware" sticker slapped on, but the fact that this level of advertising can happen due to user statistics alone is insane to me. I guess what I'm getting at is "why is this allowed at this scale?"

LuminidMishy@reddit

Yes, I see it everywhere. Also viagra- I'm not interested in either.

Nuthetes@reddit

Yeah, I especially hate it when football teams advertise gambling given how many footballers and ex-footballers have fucked up their lives and suffered because of gambling addiction.

OriginalSquare4832@reddit

Skybet keep cashing out my bets early losing me money

PurpleOctopus6789@reddit

I wouldn't know because I use adblockers on every browser. But it is very likely your age/gender/algorithm. If you happen to live in low income area, that's not going to help. If you are a young man, you're a prime demographics to entice you to gambling. Gambling ads are very nefarious and if you've ever accidentally clicked on one, it's insanely difficult to stop them popping up everywhere. They're worse than any other product as gambling companies throw huge money on advertising.

MaChao20@reddit

You guys have it, too?

Maybe I'm not crazy lol. I feel like it's exploded in the last year or 2.

Maybe the people behind those online gambling were inspired by the online gambling people here in the US.

I despise gambling since I was a teen because money takes the fun out of things I used to love.

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