UK Gambling Commission removes 3,038,969 illegal gambling URLs from search results
Enforcement & compliance1 min read
The UK Gambling Commission reported removing 3,038,969 URLs linked to illegal gambling from search results between April and September 2026. It notified search engines of 7,824,932 URLs and recorded 1,668 websites disabled or geo-blocked; URL removal does not necessarily close a platform or operator.
The UKGC said 3,038,969 URLs were removed from search results between April and September 2026 as part of its action against illegal online gambling. Acting chief executive Sarah Gardner presented the figures in a speech on 5 November, which was published the following day.
The regulator notified search engines of 7,824,932 URLs in the first six months of the financial year, compared with 397,527 in the whole of the previous year. URL removals rose from 266,667 to more than three million.
The UKGC recorded 1,668 websites disabled or geo-blocked, compared with 1,134 in the full previous financial year. Cease-and-desist communications to operators and advertisers reached 1,005, up from 741 in the previous financial year.
Removing a URL from search results does not necessarily close an illegal platform. Nor does the number of URLs removed equate to the number of operators that have stopped operating.
Gardner linked the increase in activity to additional resources for the regulator, which has £26m in extra funding over three years to tackle the illegal market.