Compliance of gambling adverts with regulation prohibiting targeting of young adults under 24 in the Netherlands

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Author(s): Xiao, Leon Y. ; Deery, Callum

Journal: Journal of Behavioural Addictions

Year Published: 2026

Date Added: August 12, 2026

There are growing concerns about the public health impact of gambling and the potential for social media advertising to target vulnerable groups using personal data and demographic profiling. In the Netherlands, gambling advertisements are not allowed to target young adults aged 18–23. The aim of this study was to examine whether Dutch gambling ads on social media illegally target young adults under 24 years old. Using data from the Meta Ad Library, the researchers analyzed 277 advertisements published by online and offline gambling licensees. Overall, most advertisements complied with the law, especially those published by online gambling operators. But a notable minority of advertisements illegally targeted young adults under 24.

Citation: Xiao, L. Y., & Deery, C. (2026). A significant minority of Dutch gambling adverts on social media illegally targeted and likely reached under-24s: Assessing compliance using Meta’s advertising repository mandated by the EU Digital Services Act. Journal of Behavioral Addictions. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2026.00037

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2026.00037

Keywords: advertising restrictions ; marketing ; public policy ; social media ; youth

Topics: Children and Youth ; Gambling Exposure ; Information for Operators ; Information for Policy Makers ; Priority Populations

Conceptual Framework Factors: Exposure - Marketing and Messaging ; Social - Social Demographics ; Gambling Environment ; Environment - Public Policy ; Gambling Exposure ; Social Factors

Study Design: Media Analysis

Geographic Coverage: Netherlands

Study Population: Gambling ads published by online and offline Dutch licensed gambling companies on social media (n = 277)

Sampling Procedure: From the Kansspelautoriteit’s ofﬁcial register, the researchers first obtained a list of 30 online gambling licensees (with 102 associated brand names, websites, and app names) and 525 offline gambling licensees (with 47 associated brand names and websites). They then searched for ads by these licensees using the Meta Ad Library, with the country setting as the Netherlands, and sampled up to 10 of the most recent ads from each account.

Study Funding:

This study was partially funded by an Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG) Post-graduate Research Support Grant that was derived from ‘regulatory settlements applied for socially responsible purposes’, received by the UK Gambling Commission and administered by Greo Evidence Insights (Greo).