07/06/2011, Online casino

The UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media ASA has released the results of a new survey that established the compliance rate of advertisement in the gambling sector using the various media codes as reference.

The survey was conducted to determine whether gambling ads have continued to adhere to the tightened rules that are designed to ensure they are socially responsible and to protect young and vulnerable people from harm.

According to the Advertising Standards Authority's latest gambling advertising survey, the gambling brands achieved 96.1% compliance rate with the Advertising Codes.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority observed 796 adverts that appeared in a broad mix of media in the week starting 1st to 7th of July 2010 over the Football World Cup period. The ASA used its last Gambling Survey from 2007 as a comparison.

“We noted that the number of complaints about gambling product ads received by the ASA has been slowly decreasing. In 2008 the ASA received 262 complaints, in 2009 it received 211 and in 2010 it received 195, which, given the apparent increase in the volume of such ads, does suggest that advertisers are aware of the gambling rules and working hard to ensure compliance with those rules,” the ASA said.

Just 31 of the 796 adverts were found likely to violate the rules. After contacting the advertisers, the ASA Compliance team was assured the advertisers responsible will not place those ads again.

Chief Executive of the ASA, Guy Parker said: “In the overwhelming majority of cases advertisers continue to promote their products responsibly. However, the sector should ensure that ‘free bet’ promotions are advertised fairly. If they do not, the ASA will not hesitate to take quick and effective action to remedy this problem.”