Illegal gambling ads down 19% in Norway
Regulator claims Norwegian market is becoming “less attractive” to unlicensed operators
The volume of adverts for unlicensed gambling on Norwegian TV dropped by 19% between August 2018 and July 2019, according to the Norwegian Gaming Authority (NGA).
The claims come from a survey conducted in partnership with the Norwegian Media Authority which utilised Nielsen Media Research’s advertising statistics for the period 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019
It revealed a 13% drop in the total market for gambling advertising during the same period. Advertisements for regulated Norwegian gambling services including Norsk Tipping, Norsk Risktoto and the Norwegian postcode lottery increased by 6% during August 2018 to July 2019.
At present, Norway has seven local television channels with 16 channels broadcasting into Norway from other countries.
Over 14% of foreign channels revenues in the Norwegian market came from gambling, with just 2% of revenues for local channels being generated from gambling-related ads.
NGA CEO Gunn Merete Paulsen cited the decrease in illegal advertising as proof the NGA’s proscriptive mandate in dealing with illegal marketing is having an effect and making the Norwegian market “less attractive” for external unlicensed operators.
“Norwegian government authorities have also been clear that this advertisement is not allowed. At the same time, some of the illegal advertising may have moved onto other platforms, and we are following this closely,” Paulsen added.
In addition to targeting marketing Norwegian regulators have introduced payment blocks on Norwegian domiciled banks serving foreign gambling firms and DNS blocks on operator sites.