This study examined whether extending the ban of direct gambling marketing for another 9 months after self-exclusion could be effective in reducing gambling behaviours. The researchers used account data from the Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), a French gambling platform. Participants were people whose accounts had been open for at least 4 weeks and who self-excluded for a short period, between 3 days and 3 months, in 2022. People were randomly assigned to one of two groups by PMU: (1) an extended ban group (1,265 participants) or (2) a regular ban group (1,283 participants). The extended ban group had a lengthier ban of direct gambling marketing that lasted for another 9 months after their self-exclusion period ended. For the regular ban group, the ban of direct gambling marketing lasted as long as normally would, based on their self-exclusion length. Overall, there were no significant differences in changes to total losses, total stakes, number of gambling sessions, or number of compulsive gambling episodes between the two groups. But the extended ban group reduced their past 4-week total deposits more than the regular ban group at 6, 9, and 12 months. No significant difference was observed at 18 months.
