Ladbrokes, 888, SkyBet, and Casumo could be facing hefty fines after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints over adverts placed by affiliates.
What are affiliates?
Affiliates are companies who earn a commission for referring customers to online gambling sites. Most big brands have affiliate programs, and, for the most part, they give honest information about the sites they refer players to.However, an affiliate program ran an advert that “targeted vulnerable people” and, despite the four companies saying they did not approve or condone the adverts, they have found themselves in hot water over it.
The adverts
One of the adverts, which featured on three different websites, referred to a player called “William.”The advert explained that William had found himself “£130,000 in debt after having to sell the house and continue to pay out of pocket for his wife’s cancer-related medical bills their insurance wouldn’t cover”.The advert went on:“William took to Facebook one night in the hospital lobby to update his friends and family on his wife’s health,” it continued. “A little tired and admittedly a bit repressed, William stumbled upon an ad for Sky Vegas…“With little to no money to spend he admits he laughed and almost scrolled past it until he saw they were offering a promotion that would reward him with £10 free at the Jackpot 7 game, which at over £700,000 was too hard to pass up.”The advert went on to claim “William” earned 30 times his annual salary in a solitary spin, bringing an end to his money worries.The Labour Party has called for “strong action” as a result of the “disgusting” adverts, and the ASA said that by claiming gambling could “could provide an escape from personal problems such as depression and that it could be a solution to financial concerns”, which could target vulnerable gamblers, something the industry has been trying to crack down on for several years.