The Advertising Standards Association (ASA) has urged adult-content advertisers to make better use of audience and media targeting tools to minimise children’s exposure to age-restricted adverts. The plea – directed to alcohol, gambling, and high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) advertisers – follows ASA’s latest ‘monitoring sweep’ of online advertising platforms measuring the coverage of age-restricted adverts to UK audiences. …
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DCMS secures +30,000-strong response to loot box consultation
DCMS has revealed that it has received over 30,000 responses to its call for evidence on how loot boxes should be regulated. The request for stakeholder guidance was launched last September on behalf of a Select Committee examining ‘Immersive and Addictive Technologies’. DCMS had formally pledged that it would introduce initial laws and standards on loot box rewards and incentives, …
Read More »EA to allow FIFA ‘Pack Previews’ as scrutiny rises on loot box rewards
EA Sports will allow players to preview all FIFA ‘Ultimate Team Packs’ (UT Packs) before being purchased. The games’ developer confirmed that it would launch a ‘preview pack’ update to its FIFA 21 games across all markets, allowing players to view items prior to being purchased with FIFA points and FUT Coins. UT Packs can be purchased via FUT Coins awarded …
Read More »YouTube cancels Masthead slot for gambling advertisers
Google has informed that it will no longer accept the promotion of ads related to alcohol, gambling, politics or prescription drugs on the ‘Masthead slot’ of the YouTube video sharing platform. The category restrictions were confirmed by Google in an update of YouTube’s ‘advertiser terms of service’ – with the restrictions being enforced with immediate effect across all operating markets. …
Read More »ASA: Lockdown dynamics increase children’s gambling exposure
The Advertising Standards Association (ASA) has published its updated ‘exposure report’ on age-restricted TV adverts, primarily related to the categories of alcohol and gambling. Tracking the events of a pandemic year, ASA reports of a significant change in children’s daily routines and behaviours impacting how they engage with advertising content. As a result of lockdown and imposed government restrictions, children …
Read More »ASA: Gambling normalisation a predictable outcome of 2005’s liberalisation
UK advertising standards bodies have reiterated that the normalisation of gambling was a ‘predicted consequence’ of the 2005 Gambling Act. In its submission to the DCMS consultation of the 2005 Gambling Act, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that its role was to “prevent gambling advertising that ‘normalises’ irresponsible or potentially harmful gambling behaviour”. The response saw the ASA document …
Read More »UKGC comes under fire from Football Index collapse
Pressure is mounting on the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to explain the fallout of Football Index – the football player trading platform which entered insolvency proceedings last week citing that it could no longer maintain its business due to liquidity issues. John Whittingdale, DCMS’ new undersecretary overseeing UK gambling laws, is reported to have held ‘frank discussions’ with the Commission’s …
Read More »ASA issues final reminder on ‘loot box advertising’ consultation
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has reminded UK stakeholders that its ‘consultation phase’ requiring evidence on ‘advertising of loot boxes and other in-game purchases’ will close next week on Thursday 28 January. The UK advertising standards body launched its consultation back in November, following concerns raised by government ‘select committees’ on elements of loot boxes, highlighting in-game purchases. In its …
Read More »Michael Dugher: ‘Gambling review needs to be led by facts not fiction’
Writing in Commons news source Politicshome.com, Michael Dugher – Chief Executive of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – has warned MPs that there is ‘too much fiction swirled around the debate of gambling’. As the review of the 2005 Gambling Act goes through its ‘call-for-evidence’ phase, Dugher and the BGC have welcomed the government’s ‘determination to drive big changes’ …
Read More »BGC praises results of COVID action plan
Since the launch of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) ‘COVID action plan’, the industry’s unified trade body states that the number of safer gambling messages displayed on gambling sites ‘has more than doubled in just six months’. The 10-pledge plan was initially unveiled at the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown in March and set out the new standards …
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