Age restricted gambling ads on YouTube but only in the UK

Age restricted campaigns now allowed

Video-sharing Youtube owner Google is allowing licensed UK gambling and betting companies to run display campaigns on YouTube in Britain for the first time, with Ladbrokes the first to sign up, reports New Media Age.

Gambling firms will be allowed to air age-restricted campaigns, including pre-roll, on the YouTube home page, on video pages and within brand channels, although the content will only be displayed once a viewer has verified he or she is over 18.

YouTube account holders with a given age of over 18 will also be served the ads.

Ladbrokes is the first UK gambling brand to use the new Youtube facility, airing a click-to-play campaign through the TBG Digital agency.

The move continues Google’s relaxation of previously restricted forms of advertising in the UK; in late 2008 restrictions on paid search gambling terms on gambling were lifted.

Google industry leader James Cashmore told NMA the company is confident ads will only reach over-18s, and that the industry and regulators will be happy with the restrictions in place.

“We’ve been in discussions with brands and agencies about this for more than two years,” he said.

Cashmore said while Google has been talking to GamCare, it hadn’t yet told the gambling support group about the extension of ads on YouTube.

All ads with run through the newly re-branded Google Display Network, which replaces the Google Content Network.

Cashmore said the name change reflected how display is central to the Google ad offering. “Display makes up a significant proportion of the Content Network, so it made sense to change,” he said.

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