Rightlander Q and A: The role of advertising restrictions during lockdown

This month we were joined by the Paula Murphy - Founder and Managing Director at KnowNow Limited. KnowNow Limited specialises in industry events and training focusing on innovation within the industry, strategic direction, compliance and responsible gambling. 

Paula caught up with Rightlander Product Advisor - Brean Wilkinson, to discuss the impact of advertising restrictions in the UK, Spain and other markets during covid-19. Taking a closer look at wether these restrictions actually played a role in player protection, given that most of the bans were based on TV and outdoor advertising when in fact more money was being spent on online ads.

On Spain, Paula described what she had seen as a fast track reaction to the pandemic by Spanish Authorities and the introduction of what was essentially a blanket ban on advertising of gambling products to come into effect within a very short period of time. This put a huge amount of strain on operators forcing them to re-think strategy and shift their marketing efforts in a matter of days.

In the UK, Paula told us about how the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) put forward some guidance which licensed operators were expected to follow during the lockdown period, which included extra affordability checks, player time limits and caps on bonuses. These measures were aimed at curbing problem gambling whilst a large proportion of the UK population were at home with more exposure to the online world. However Paula explains that looking through the data, there is no exact evidence to suggest that there was an increase in online gambling during the UK lockdown period.

Whilst new measures were imposed by regulatory bodies, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) released a report highlighting the danger of online gambling and putting forward a suggestion for a total ban of advertising of online gambling.

It's been an intense 6 months since the lockdown began and we sense more changes and tougher regulations are yet to come. Watch the full interview here to find out more: