As the owner of an online bingo site, it’s important that I stay on top of the upcoming changes in gambling legislation, due to come into force in the UK on 1st September 2007. Now, you’d think that with the whole industry in this country about to undergo major changes in just over 2 months, that the powers that be would have made nice, plain English literature explaining exactly what we need to do to comply with the new rules… err no, actually, they haven’t.

So, I’ve been asking around for a couple of months now, a thread popped up on Affiliates4u earlier this month, which was replied to by numerous affiliates and merchants alike, all asking the same question – “What do we have to do to comply?” – Unfortunately, no-one seems to have the answer.

A couple of hours have been spent trawling through page after page of government jargon found via Google, and I ended up more confused than ever. Finally, someone recommended that I have a look at the Gambling Commission website, and whilst they still could not shed any light, there was the option to send them a question, which I did:

I understand that from 1st September, the law is changing regarding advertising for online bingo sites, particularly with regard to promoting bonuses, jackpots etc. Could you please clarify (in plain english if possible!) what we can and cannot mention in our advertisments?

I received a reply within 90 minutes, which I thought was very good for a government department (Most networks you’re lucky if they get back to you after 90 hours), but all that did was send me off on another treasure hunt to find the answer I seek:

Regulation on gambling advertising has been released by the Committee of Advertising Practise. Their website can be accessed using the following link www.cap.org.uk/cap/gambling. Alternatively you can find further information with regards to advertising on the Advertising Standards Agency website. http://www.asa.org.uk/asa

So, off I trot to two more government department websites.. The ASA wasn’t particularly helpful, but the CAP website does offer hope that I may soon have the answer I’ve been looking for. Key points I’ve picked out from the document are:

• The aim of the new legislation is to ensure that all adverts are “socially responsible” – i.e. not being aimed at children, or portrayed as a way out of debts etc.

• Gambling should not be linked to seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness.

• You should not portray gambling as an alternative to employment, or suggest in any way that playing on your own at home is better than in a social environment (This would apply particularly to bingo I would have thought)

• Adverts should not feature people under 25 gambling

Of course, all that is great, but it still hasn’t answered my original question regarding mentioning bonuses and jackpots in our advertising! So, I emailed my questions to both the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Advertising Standards Agency, and here’s what they said:

Nothing… Nearly a week has gone by, and I’ve not heard a sausage…

So basically, I’m no closer to getting a straight answer about what we can and can’t say, but I have got a much better understanding of what the legislation is hoping to achieve. Obviously, I’ll update if/when the ASA or CAP get back to me with any answers, but for now it’s still gonna be a “suck it and see” approach come September 1st.

**UPDATE**

I’ve just had a response from the ASA. Very nice guy, but again, no straight answers…

Further to your queries, although I can’t unfortunately give you a definitive answer, I can direct you to the relevant new codes for gambling advertising as well as recommend who should contact with these questions.

Firstly, if you click on these links you can access the new rules that have been written for gambling advertising:

CAP Gambling Rules

In terms of clarifying what you can or cannot say in your advertisements you should ensure that you adhere to the codes, but if you are not sure then I recommend you do the following:

If you are producing a non-broadcast ad then you should contact the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Copy Advice Team who offer free, independent, expert and confidential advice to advertisers on whether or not their proposed ad campaigns adhere to the Code.

Here are the contact details:

Copy Advice – copyadvice@cap.org.uk / 020 7492 2100

I’ll update again if/when I hear back from the CAP.

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