ASA tells Optival to block gambling ads after self-exclusion searches

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told Optival to stop its Bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk search advert appearing after searches for "self-exclusion bookies", the regulator said. The ASA ruled that the paid-for search ad had not been responsibly targeted. The ad was seen by a consumer who had previously self-excluded from gambling, on 10 August.

The regulator noted that the creative displayed wording about the "Top 15 Betting Sites UK" and explained how to obtain bonuses from gambling websites. In the ASA's view, consumers who typed "self-exclusion bookies" into a search engine were probably after guidance, help or resources aimed at cutting down or stopping their contact with gambling services. Such users, the authority added, may well include vulnerable individuals trying to keep their gambling advertising exposure in check. The watchdog therefore concluded that serving an ad for betting sites and bonuses to those users was unsuitable. Although it accepted that Bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk operates as an affiliate comparison service rather than a gambling operator, the ASA maintained that the ad nonetheless promoted gambling sites. The authority further pointed out that the advertising code obliges gambling advertisers to consider the protection of vulnerable people from harm and exploitation.

Optival denied to the regulator that it had ever set "self-exclusion bookies" as a target. The firm also maintained that its Google Ads reports contained nothing showing that the phrase had triggered the ad. In Optival's account, automated query matching, not its chosen keywords, most likely produced the display as a one-off. The company stated that negative keyword lists covering self-exclusion, GamStop and problem gambling were already in use, and that it intended to extend those exclusions more widely across its campaigns. The ASA took note of both the existing lists and the pledge to broaden the exclusions, yet held that such safeguards ought to have been operating already.

The regulator ordered that the ad no longer appear when someone searches "self-exclusion bookies", and required Optival to make sure its future search advertising is targeted responsibly. In the ruling, the ASA explained that when the ad was displayed, the site's targeting controls had not been strong enough to keep it away from potentially vulnerable consumers, given that the search term plainly signalled an attempt to cut down on gambling content. The authority added that it was highly likely that vulnerable people trying to self-exclude from gambling, or to lessen their contact with gambling services and ads, had been shown an ad promoting betting sites after that search.