Swedish Consumer Agency slams operators over advertising “shortcomings
Advertising regulator reviews ads belonging to 41 licensed operators
Sweden’s Consumer Agency (KO) has laid into licensed egaming operators over identified deficiencies in the areas of marketing, advertising and bonuses.
Deficiencies identified by KO include how bonus offers were presented and a lack of information regarding responsible gambling and legally required problem gambling messaging.
Linda Halvarsson, lawyer at the Swedish Consumer Agency said that advertisements with bonus offers “often lack information on the most important terms”.
“The terms for bonus offers are not always presented sufficiently clearly and clearly on the gaming companies’ websites,” Halvarsson added.
A total of 41 operators have had advertising reviewed include ads belonging to Betsson, Betfair, Casumo, Mr Green, LeoVegas, Svenska Spel, Hero Gaming and 888.
In addition to the identified issues with bonus messaging, KO has said many of the adverts it has reviewed are not in keeping with “moderate” standard of advertising required under Swedish egaming regulations.
KO cites these ads as being intrusive, adding that they exaggerate profit chances or emphasize statements about quick payments. It has also identified a lack of information surrounding age limits and support for gambling related harms in audited ads on social media platforms and podcasts.
“Ads in other reviewed media have as a rule stated the information, but there are deficiencies with regard to the clarity of the information,” KO adds.
Earlier this year, Swedish Minister for civil affairs Ardalan Sherakabi called on Swedish licenced egaming operators to exercise moderation in their marketing practices following a perceived overmarketing by licensed operators following the launch of the regulated market.
Sherakabi has committed the Swedish government to a full review of restrictions relating to advertising by October 2020, and has said Sweden may ban online gambling ads on so-called “dangerous games”.