Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the Länder (GGL) launched a study in 2024 into gambling advertising and sponsorship on television and online, including their effects on vulnerable groups. The research will assess provisions in the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling, with the GGL expecting to evaluate those measures in 2026.
The study may inform how Germany assesses advertising rules intended to protect vulnerable people.
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A University of Bristol study recorded 15,571 gambling-related advertising messages during the opening weekend of the English top-flight football season, despite a voluntary ban on betting-company shirt-front sponsorships. Researchers said the total was 10.5% lower, with pitch-side boards accounting for 72% of messages; 93% of identified digital gambling marketing was not clearly labelled as advertising.
A study commissioned by the European Commission examined online gambling fraud and how digital platforms distribute it. It cited Debunk.org research finding that 99% of the gambling-scam cases it reviewed involved advertising; the study also described unlicensed operators reaching users in markets where they lack authorisation.
A study commissioned by the European Commission has examined online gambling fraud and the role of digital platforms in distributing it, according to the study, published in 2026. The report, the Support Contract on Financial Scams Study, was commissioned by the Commission's Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology and gives specific attention to fraud connected to online gambling and to the role of large digital platforms.
A two-year study led by Suffolk University marketing professor Zhen Zhu examined sports betting risks among college students and was presented at the International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking. Zhu said advertising can target younger players and called for more regulation, education and counselling; the study was funded by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
Reportedly, Illegal gambling adverts on Meta reached 38 million Dutch users. The study examined the platform’s advertising archive for March 2026.
A University of Cambridge study carried out with Munster Technological University found that gambling adverts on social media reached young men more than twice as often as women, even when campaigns targeted wider audiences. Researchers analysed more than 400 adverts and reported that people aged 25 to 34 accounted for around a third of impressions; the article links the findings to Ireland’s new regulatory system under the 2024 Gambling Regulation Act.