Pioneering research reveals powerful lure of gambling adverts on social media to children

Press release issued: 26 October 2021

A new report has exposed how children and young people are vulnerable to the growing popularity of gambling adverts on social media, prompting calls from leading experts for much tighter regulations.

The research, published today as part of a policy briefing led by the University of Bristol, found gambling advertising is vastly more appealing to children than adults.

Most notably, the study findings showed disguised gambling marketing and ads for betting on esports – professional online competing in computer games – were nearly four times more appealing to children than adults. It also revealed nearly half of children are exposed to such advertising weekly and around a quarter encounter it daily.

Whereas results showed the vast majority of adults were wary or annoyed when faced with gambling ads, children mainly reacted positively.

Read the full University of Bristol press release.