SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
After undertaking a year in the development phase, working alongside industry social responsibility development studio Betfilter, Kindred Group announced the launch of its new online social responsibility tool, titled ‘AdBlocker‘, last month.
With a focus on preventing those under the age of 18 from being exposed to gambling advertisements, Kindred details that the tool blocks access to online gambling sites.
Maris Bonello, Integrity Analytics Manager at Kindred Group, has been speaking about the new tool and its development phase: “This is an area where we spend a lot of time and focus to ensure we always ensure a safe, secure and fair environment for our customers.
“The range of activities we engage in is substantial, and we are constantly looking into tools and areas that can be improved.
“If there are developments or changes in tools and/or a new approach, we always seek to apply this to all brands and markets in our Group as quickly as possible.
“We also engage in various collaborations efforts with leading researchers, authorities, treatment centres, partner and other operators in order to constantly improve our social responsibility practices.
“We have a strong player safety team consisting of 60+ trained professionals who work closely with key marketing and customer facing functions in the Group, to ensure close alignment and awareness of player safety policies and processes. Our player safety team runs training for employees several times per year.”
With children under 18 years of age spending a large portion of their time using mobile devices, tablets and computers, Kindred states its belief that such tools are necessary, with the age group “susceptible to online gambling ads”.
Adblocker will be offered to all customers across the Kindred Group gaming and betting brands, with customers able to install the device across desktop, mobile and tablet devices.
Bonello went on to detail the benefits of social responsibility tools such as AdBlocker and the benefits of such technological advances: “We continually evaluate the tools available to our customers. The creation of AdBlocker was initiated as we realized there was a gap in consumer protection where we could contribute together with Betfilter.
“We know that minors are more susceptible to gambling harm and online ads make it easier for a minor to click and register. We believe the AdBlocker tool is a great way to protect minors from being exposed to gambling adverts as best we can.
“We will continually be analysing its usage and uptake as we do with all our responsible gambling tools. As we start to get insights into usage and effect, we will look in to how we can continuously improve it in collaboration with Betfilter.
“Software like Betfilter and AdBlocker are examples of how technology can help mitigate these risks. We continually focus on technological advancements and developments, partly through our innovation arm Kindred Futures.”
