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UK Gambling Commission publishes first illegal online gambling report

Regulation

The Gambling Commission published the first in a planned series of reports on the illegal online gambling market in Great Britain, according to the report. The initial study examines consumer profiles, motivations and routes to unlicensed platforms; the Commission said its enforcement activity against illegal platforms has increased tenfold since April 2024. It also announced a new Illegal Betting Hub for research and regulatory updates.

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Gambling Commission reports 266,667 illegal gambling URLs removed in 2025/2026

The Gambling Commission said 266,667 URLs were removed in the 2025/2026 financial year after 397,527 were reported to search engines, according to a speech by chief executive ad interim Sarah Gardner given on 20 October and published on 21 October. The regulator sent 741 formal cessation notices and reported 1,068 sites to search engines for deindexing. The UK government has allocated £26m over three years to the illegal-market effort, with a first £7m tranche available from April 2026.

The Gambling Commission said 266,667 URLs were removed in the 2025/2026 financial year after 397,527 were reported to search engines, according to a speech by chief executive ad interim Sarah Gardner given on 20 October 2026 at the International Association of Gaming Regulators conference in Lima, Peru, and published on 21 October. The figures cover the period before additional government funding became available.

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