The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has published an enforcement notice regarding paid-for and non-paid-for ads by gambling services.
From 11 June 2026, CAP will begin actively monitoring and directing enforcement action towards companies using live ads that are likely to appeal to under-18s.
This will be supported by an AI-based active ad monitoring system that was first launched in 2023.
The system captures ads from social media, flags potential issues, and then submits them to an in-house expert to review.
Any content that is deemed to have a strong appeal to under-18s, but does not fall under the CAP Code jurisdiction, will be referred to the Gambling Commission to handle.
Advertisements that breach the rules may result in fines.
The notice warns operators: “If we identify ads that break the rules, we will require you to amend or remove the ad immediately and, if you fail to comply, we will impose sanctions, which may include referral to the platform hosting the ad and/or the Gambling Commission.”
Some recent examples from adverts that were flagged to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) include both Oddschecker and Betway using famous footballers to promote their products.
An investigation found that Oddschecker had used editorial content that featured a picture of Harry Kane.
Although the company argued that the post was not gambling by nature, the ASA upheld that a gambling company discussing odds was enough to warrant it as such.
On the other hand, Betway used a picture of Thierry Henry.
Although he is a famous footballer who is recognisable to many, ASA weighed this against the fact that he retired in 2014 and most of his following audience are above the age of 18.
This will include content that is published to a company’s own social media account
