Study shows Meta's role in illegal gambling advertising
Dutch trade bodies KVA and VNLOK say there were over 15,000 adverts for unlicensed brands on Instagram and Facebook in March.
Illegal gambling operators are estimated to have generated over 75 million impressions on Instagram and Facebook advertising in the Netherlands in one month alone this year.
A study by the Responsible Affiliates Quality Mark (KVA) and Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK) trade bodies said people aged 18 to 24 accounted for 5.8 million of the impressions in March.
On an annual scale, the trade bodies said these figures translate to a total of 910 million impressions generated by illegal gambling operators’ advertising – and 70 million for the younger age group – on the Meta-owned social media sites.
They said “at least” 15,114 advertisements for illegal advertisements were visible to Dutch users in March and that Meta may generate at least €10m a year from unlicensed brands’ advertising, stressing these are “indicative estimates.”
The trade bodies said there are structural patterns occurring that are fuelling the growth of illegal gambling advertising on Meta’s platforms.
Structural issues fuelling illegal market growth
There is “rapid reappearance” of advertisements after they are removed, with illegal operators wrongly using the trademark of well-known brands.
Short-term advertising campaigns, cloaking via App Store links and redirects to unlicensed gambling sites were also said to be impacting the situation further.
Report feeds into wider issue at play
The report sheds further light on a policy issue at the heart of the Dutch gambling regulator’s current agenda.
Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) chairman Michel Groothuizen said last October that social media companies are enabling the growth of the illegal market.
Groothuizen said gambling regulators must “enter a dialogue” with social media platforms, banks and payment service providers – and must “to be afraid to stir things up and act against these parties ourselves, however much we need them.”
The comments came ahead of the KSA’s latest monitoring report on the igaming market when it said the market is “stagnating” – chiefly due to the rise of illegal operators.
What’s more, earlier this month, Holland Casino lamented what it sees as a lack of action from Meta over illegal advertising.
The company said it reported over 4,600 Facebook and Instagram advertisements by unregulated companies to the tech giant in the past month.
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