New GambleAware Research Shows 87 Percent of Kids See Gambling Ads Online

Children and teenagers across Great Britain are coming across gambling content online at levels that GambleAware says are now “unprecedented.” The charity is urging government and regulators to act quickly following new research that highlights how deeply gambling advertising and influencer promotions have reached into the lives of under-18s.

Good to know

• 87% of young people in one survey said they had seen gambling content online.
• 67% of children believe celebrities and influencers should be banned from gambling ads.
• Over a quarter of surveyed youngsters admitted they were tempted to gamble after seeing ads.

The findings came from two surveys conducted by Social Finance and Sherbert Research. One study included 634 schoolchildren in the South West, South East and West Midlands. The other, much larger, polled 2,100 children between 11 and 17 years old across Great Britain. GambleAware said the second survey represented the demographic nationally.

The numbers raised concern. One in four children admitted they felt encouraged to spend money on gambling after seeing ads. Among 16- and 17-year-old boys, 36% said they had actually gambled after watching a celebrity promote or take part in betting.

More than half of respondents said they had no control over the amount of gambling content they saw online. At the same time, 78% of children agreed that nobody under 18 should be exposed to gambling advertising.

The research also tracked the role of digital creators. Around 16% of children reported seeing influencers share links or sign-up codes for gambling platforms, and 14% had watched creators posting gambling tips.

Zoe Osmond, GambleAware CEO, warned that the digital environment is shaping young attitudes in ways that regulators are not keeping up with:

“Digital technology has transformed how children and young people consume content, with mobile phone ownership widespread and many spending hours daily on social media. Social media platforms and influencers now play a pivotal role in shaping attitudes and behaviours and this research shows that some are playing a part in encouraging young people to gamble.”

The survey also revealed that 67% of respondents want to see celebrities and influencers banned from gambling promotions entirely. For GambleAware, that should be a key policy point for regulators.

In her final month as CEO, Osmond stressed the urgency:

“It is unacceptable that children’s environments continue to be flooded with age-restricted content. Consistent exposure to influencer-driven gambling content contributes to the normalisation of gambling among school-aged children and we know that early exposure to gambling at a younger age can lead young people to have a higher risk of experiencing gambling harm later in life.”

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