Rumours that the largest sports betting companies in the UK use third parties to collect people’s data in order to target more vulnerable players have emerged in the media.
Only a day after one of the largest online gambling companies in the UK – 888 UK Limited – was imposed an enormous monetary fine of £7.8 million for failing to handle customers at risk, The Guardian claimed it can revealed such activity, saying that UK bookmakers look to take advantage of the ones on low incomes and ones that have already stop playing to gain profit.
How Are Third-Party Data Providers Used?
The truth is that some traditional advertising methods such as online gambling ads have become more expensive. According to The Guardian, this could be considered as one of the main reasons which pushed gambling operators to seek alternative methods to attract more customers in an industry that has always been highly competitive.
The third-party data providers, called data houses, are used by gaming operators to collect users’ personal information, such as age, credit details, insurance, income and debt information. Usually, such companies refer customers to online betting websites for a certain fee, helping gambling operators and their affiliates to improve their strategy targeting the individuals by taking their income into account.
Is Such an Approach Dangerous for Customers?
Usually, advertising companies use target demographics method in order to tailor their strategies in a way that would be more attractive to certain players, using credit information and other personal information of the potential customers. In addition, another method, called dynamic re-targeting, is used in order to choose people who have not stopped playing and try to bring them back to their gambling habit.
Trying to lure back reformed players is not the worst thing that could happen when using the demographic and dynamic re-targeting method. According to experts, such a strategy could result in potentially tempt former gambling addicts who have even used the self-exclusion scheme to prevent themselves from betting on such websites. And this could inflict a serious blow to the industry’s attempt to make self-exclusion options more efficient.
The problem is that gambling websites sign-up adverts could be perpetually displayed to recovering gambling addicts, which could lead them back to problem gambling behaviour.
Conclusion
Now, the information for the alternative methods used by British online gambling operators to target their users more efficiently will probably pile up, adding to the expectations aimed at local gambling regulatory authorities. Recently, the UK Government and gambling regulators have been called for a more efficient enforcement strategy when it comes to the industry, and especially in terms of problem gambling and gambling addictions.
As reported by Casino Guardian in July, certain organisations aimed at problem gambling have shared their concerns that self-exclusion scheme, which has been especially developed for players who would like to stop gambling for a certain period of time, is not working efficiently enough. Unfortunately, some players have reported that they find it hard to exclude themselves from online gambling website, as the procedures at the time do not provide them with the opportunity to do that form all online gambling websites at a time.
Also in July, the UK gambling regulatory body – the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) – disclosed information that approximately 1 million gambling addicts have requested to take advantage of the self-exclusion scheme as of 2016. The Government and responsible regulatory authorities have been focused on dealing with problem gambling behaviour and expanding the self-exclusion tools so that players would be able to ban themselves from all online gambling websites by filling one form only.
- Author
Daniel Williams
