The transparency of loot box advertising on Meta and TikTok

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Author(s): Xiao, Leon Y.

Journal: Computer Law and Security Review

Year Published: 2025

Date Added: February 27, 2025

Loot boxes are gambling-like products inside video games that contain random rewards. They can be bought with real-world money. Concerns have been raised about the potential harms of loot boxes. The researcher examined ads for video games on Meta-owned platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger) and TikTok. Of the 185 Meta ads for 63 games known to contain loot boxes, only 10.8% disclosed the presence of in-game purchases and 7% disclosed the presence of loot boxes. TikTok ads also often did not disclose. Thus, 93% of social media ads for video games were non-compliant with UK advertising laws.

Citation: Xiao, L. Y. (2025). Illegal loot box advertising on social media? An empirical study using the Meta and TikTok ad transparency repositories. Computer Law & Security Review, 56, 106069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2024.106069

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2024.106069

Keywords: advertising ; consumer protection ; loot boxes ; marketing ; social media ; video games ; video gaming regulations

Topics: Gambling Exposure ; Information for Operators

Conceptual Framework Factors: Environment - Culture of Social Responsibility ; Exposure - Marketing and Messaging ; Exposure - Convergence of Gaming and Gambling ; Gambling Exposure

Study Design: Media Analysis

Geographic Coverage: United Kingdom

Study Population: Adverts of games previously known to contain loot boxes found in Meta ads library (out of 187 preregistered games, 63 games were found with 185 ads), and ads with the highest number of unique impressions found in TikTok ads library (among 920 entries, 151 ads were related to video games)

Sampling Procedure: Data were obtained from Meta and TikTok ads libraries, with a focus on the UK.

Study Funding:

This study is supported by a PhD Fellowship funded by the IT University of Copenhagen, which is publicly funded by the Kingdom of Denmark.