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UK betting and gaming operators are facing a number of new advertising restrictions after the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and Advertising Committees (CAP) have released a revised list of standards designed to protect children and young people.
The new standards prohibit online gaming ads targeting people who are likely to be under the age of 18, based on information about their interests and browsing behavior.
ASA and CAP also list the types of content that are now considered unacceptable in these commercials, such as animated characters, licensed characters from movies or TV shows, sportspeople and celebrities that may be particularly appealing to children. References to youth culture are also prohibited.
Operators will no longer be able to include in their advertisements sportsmen, celebrities or other characters who have or seem to be under 25 years old.
The standards complement existing guidelines on the responsible targeting of advertisements in all forms of media, including social networks and other online platforms, as operators are required to take steps to ensure that their ads are not targeted at under 18 years old.
This includes the use of all available tools to prevent targeting of their under-18 ads on social media platforms. The standards provide examples of advertising targeting facilities provided directly by the platform, as well as tools that limit under-18 access to the social media content of marketers.
Operators must also ensure that ads for gambling do not appear on parts of a website that are of particular interest to those under 18, while games similar to games or simulated game elements should not be used to promote real money play.
The standards also require that operators take care to identify influencers to promote products or brands and that it is unlikely that those under 18 will represent more than 25% of the person's audience.
In addition, operators must ensure that all affiliates or other third parties acting on their behalf advertise in accordance with the new rules.
"Playing in the margins of regulatory compliance is a gamble at best, but advertisers are particularly discouraged from playing, especially when the well-being of children is at stake," said CAP director Shahriar Coupal. .
"Our new standards respond to the latest evidence and lessons learned from ASA decisions and require more attention to the location and content of gambling ads to ensure they do not inadvertently target under-18s.
The new advertising rules will come into effect in the United Kingdom as of 1 April.
This decision came after the ASA recently issued a warning to Gibraltar-based operator Tombola after using the official mobile application of the TV show "I'm a celebrity, come out of me" to promote its gaming products. of chance.
In its decision, the ASA said that under 18s would have downloaded the app and would therefore have access to advertisements for gambling and links to their subsequent websites. The ASA also stated that the app did not include any mechanism to target ads or remove them from certain user groups, including those under 18 years of age.
The ASA said ads should no longer appear in their current form, without specific targeting, while the regulator also asked Tombola to ensure that its ads would be properly targeted in the future.
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