Industry News
GambleAware calls for health warnings on gambling ads, as major research highlights need for improved safer gambling messaging
GambleAware, the leading commissioner of gambling harms prevention and treatment services in Great Britain, has called for enhanced evidence-based health warnings on gambling adverts. The call comes in response to findings published today from an independent research consortium, showing the need for clearer safer gambling messaging that highlights the risks associated with gambling.
The research, based on a survey of over 7,000 people, has called into question the effectiveness of the widely used industry-led slogan ‘Take Time To Think’ (TTTT). The report revealed that the current slogan fails to land the jeopardy of gambling harms or signpost where people can get help.
Alexia Clifford, Chief Communications Officer for GambleAware, said: “Gambling harms are a serious public health issue, and it is vital that people are aware of the risks associated. Today’s landmark study underscores the need to replace the industry-led slogan ‘Take Time To Think’ with more compelling health warnings.
“We’re also concerned about operators’ misuse of the GambleAware logo and the lack of clear signposting to support channels. We urge industry to take heed of the growing body of evidence highlighting the need for better safeguards and restrictions.”
Findings from the study indicate replacing current industry marketing messages with three new health warnings, which were shown to be clearer, more impactful, and more memorable to both the public and people who gamble.
Emphasising addictiveness was shown to prompt behaviour change, with the strapline ‘Gambling can be addictive’ having greater cut-through (46% of people who gamble vs. 35% for TTTT) and prompting the most people setting the lowest deposit limit. The warning ‘Gambling comes at a cost’ was seen by people who gamble as more impactful and memorable, especially compared to TTTT (22% of people who gamble say this vs. 12% for TTTT). It effectively conveyed implications beyond financial harms. ‘Gambling can grip anyone’ also performed well across metrics.
Dr Raffaello Rossi, a lecturer in marketing at Bristol University and co-author of the research, said: “In the absence of strict gambling marketing restrictions, it is absolutely vital that we see warnings on gambling advertising that highlight the addictive nature of gambling, paired with clear, unambiguous signposting for people to access support if needed. We need to see better regulation of gambling operators who are widely bombarding us with their ads.”
Additional findings showed that the inclusion of a clear and separate GambleAware health warning at the end of a 30-second gambling advert was more than twice as effective than Take Time To Think at showing people where to get support (72% vs. 30% agree). The analysis will form the basis of a new guidelines3 providing operators with clear guidance and recommendations on how to promote safer gambling and prevent harm.
The latest report findings align with the recent Government response, which clearly set out the need for public health messaging to be integrated and reinforced to effectively reduce harm and have impact. They also follow recent research from GambleAware highlighting the role advertising plays in normalising gambling for children and young people, who described feeling their online world was “saturated” with betting promotions and gambling-like content.
Sam Starsmore, who has lived experience of gambling harm, said: “I’ve experienced first-hand the profound impact of gambling harm on every aspect of life – mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially. Sadly, there are potentially millions more people out there at risk of harm, and if they or a loved one are concerned about their gambling, they need to know where they can get help.
“Gambling operators spend millions on advertising, but there isn’t nearly enough regulation and signposting to support services has to be improved. Reflecting on my personal experiences, the safer gambling messages never had an impact in providing me with a platform or direction to seek the support I crucially needed. Change is needed and could help prevent so many people from more serious consequences further down the line.”
The post GambleAware calls for health warnings on gambling ads, as major research highlights need for improved safer gambling messaging appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
AskGamblers has announced that the final voting stage of the 8th annual AskGamblers Awards has started.
The voting phase kicked off on 28 April, and will last until the award ceremony scheduled for 12 June.
As in previous editions of the Awards, players can cast their votes for one of the top 10 finalists in the following categories: Best Casino, Best New Casino, Best Sportsbook, Best New Slot and Best Software Provider.
The Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner and Best Manager categories will traditionally be chosen by the AskGamblers team. This year’s edition introduces a new category, the Superstar Award, a crown achievement handed out to one operator that best represents the values of brands, whose laureate will also be chosen solely by AskGamblers.
Another novelty in this year’s Awards cycle is the Forum vote: the votes from the members of AskGamblers Forum will be counted towards the final tally of votes as a separate voting tier.
Commenting on the launch of the 8th AskGamblers Awards voting stage, Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, said: “Now that we have the finalists, we are entering the final stages of preparation for our biggest night of the year. To say that we are excited about the 8th edition of the AskGamblers Award would be an understatement.”
“As everybody in the team is working tirelessly to make the gala ceremony a night to remember, we invite our players to do their bidding: to give a vote to their favourite contestants and help us choose the rightful winners in the five categories that are open to public vote,” Radunović added.
Before the award ceremony on 12 June, AskGamblers will host the traditional Charity Night on 11 June, where the partners will bid for positions on the website, with the money raised allocated to a humanitarian cause.
The post The 8th AskGamblers Awards Officially Enters the Voting Stage appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Flexion, the games marketing company, has announced that its revenue grew 9% to year-end December 2024. The growth is attributed to the Company’s success in the alternative app store market.
Since its IPO in 2018, the company has built a well-positioned games marketing business around the alternative stores and grown annual revenue 50-fold to almost US$100 million. Its game portfolio represents several billion US$ in gaming IP for alternative market partners like Samsung, Amazon, Huawei, OneStore and Xiaomi.
“With the Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into force in Europe and recent legal actions in the US, mobile game developers have felt a new-found freedom to explore their market options. We’ve already moved beyond the era when Google and Apple controlled everything. Developers are looking for alternatives that offer better margins, and additional audiences and revenue. Partnering with Flexion opens up a range of market channels with very little up-front investment,” said Jens Lauritzson, CEO of Flexion.
Flexion currently distributes more than 30 high-profile titles on the alternative stores. Top-tier games in the Flexion portfolio make on average US$ 10 million a year based on Q4 2024 run rate. That’s income in addition to their Google and Apple revenue with a business model that adds little to their costs.
In Q4 2024, Flexion-serviced games were, on average, generating 9.3% through the alternative stores of the revenue they made on Google Play. This is a significant boost for Flexion’s partners without major costs or effort.
“If you scale for the size of the stores, the alternatives massively out-performed Google in Q4 for our games. This is exciting both for Flexion’s business and for the future of the games industry as a whole. We’re seeing the beginning of a sea change in games marketing,” Jens said.
“We’re seeing just the beginnings of a major shift in how top-tier developers address their markets. Using Flexion to access alternative stores is an easy first step into the post- Google and Apple world. Many developers are already looking at their options beyond that and Flexion will be right there with them providing the technology and expertise they need to maximise the potential of their games,” Jens added.
The post Flexion Reports Revenue Increase of 9% for 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The latest AskGamblers Complaint Service report for 2024 has officially been released. The comprehensive report highlights the most important accomplishments and records of the AskGamblers Complaint Service team for the previous year.
In 2024, The AGCS team (formerly known as AGCCS) managed to return $6,890,547.11 to players. Over 7259 players turn to AskGamblers, submitting complaints against 1114 casino brands. Out of all the accepted and processed complaints, the team had a 68% resolution success rate. One of the notable milestones that reached was returning a total of $70 million to the members.
Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, said: “It’s amazing to see the trust players put in us year after year, and we’re able to repay them by helping them recover their funds from operators or solve other related issues. We’ve had another successful year, with a few records broken and amazing milestones achieved and we can’t wait to see what lies in store in the years ahead.”
The post Players Reclaim Close to $7M Through AskGamblers Complaint Service in 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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