We recently talked about how the gambling industry is frequently bombarded with huge amounts of ads and although they can sometimes be harmless, at times, they can negatively affect its users.
That’s precisely why one of the most influential institutions in this industry, the Gaming Market Commission (Spelmarknadsutredningen), has decided to do something about it. Namely, an investigation was conducted with a goal to gain insight into advertising in Sweden and how aggressive it is.
Monitoring The Situation:
Recently, the Swedish regulator tried once again to incorporate some changes concerning advertising. This time they wanted to do something drastic and potentially consider an iGaming ad ban.
Last year, they were planning on analyzing the entire situation regarding the influence of regulatory expansion on Swedish horse racing, as well as sports industries and to also find proper ways to decrease the impact of gambling on others.
For the time being, the Spelmarknadsutredningen must figure out how to limit various gambling promotions in this country and then write a detailed report on the subject by October 1, 2020.
Utilizing Different Alternatives:
Namely, they have been asked to take into consideration several options, including whether special category-specific controls should be utilized, just like those that were used for alcohol advertising.
Furthermore, they will also assess whether some elements showcased during these ads, such as jackpots, casino spins or bonuses should be decreased or not and plus, whether additional information concerning this form of entertainment, like the probability of winning, should be foregrounded or not.
Moreover, they will include more severe controls, such as limiting gambling advertising during sporting broadcasts and more importantly, they will reconsider removing games that could potentially lead to developing bad negative gambling habits, such as addiction.
Reasons Behind This Decision:
Generally speaking, a lot of people are very concerned about this situation, therefore, Minister for Civil Affairs, Ardalan Shekarabi, contacted a couple of operators with an aim to create a strategy that is going to ensure they are moderately utilizing promotions and ads when it comes to gambling.
As we previously stated, in March, the Swedish regulator stated how they wanted to stamp out excessive advertising. This was followed by a new industry code of conduct, set out by operator associations Spelbranschens Rikforbund and Branschforeningen for Onlinespel.
Last month, Shekarabi commented on the situation by stating:
“The measures the industry presented to me contained good parts, but were far from sufficient to deal with the situation. Now the government is taking further action to stop the aggressive gambling advertising," he said. "It is about protecting Sweden's consumers.”
Source: “Sweden To Consider iGaming Advertising Ban” https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/sweden-consider-igaming-advertising-ban. iGamingBusiness. April 25, 2019.
