The UK Gambling Commission has outlined slots as a “significant proportion” of the UK’s illegal gambling after launching a new strategy to curb black market activity.
In a bid to reduce the number of UK players engaging with the black market, the UKGC pinpointed key methods it has used to mitigate unlicensed gambling while outlining the major impact of illegal gambling.
The Commission is hoping to soften the blow of illicit gambling in the UK by gaining “a better understanding of why and how consumers access unlicensed websites”.
Internet search results, the identification of potentially harmful affiliate sites and web traffic data will all be analysed as part of the UKGC’s revamped strategy to combat illicit activity, which aims to estimate spend on identified sites.
Combining web traffic data for session times with an estimated average consumer spending behaviour, the UKGC will estimate the GGY associated with the identified sites.
As explained in the UKGC’s breakdown, only GGY data for online slots will be used to estimate GGY for each identified site, due to the Commission believing that slots makeup “a significant proportion of unlicensed gambling activity”.
Furthermore, the regulator also outlined that it is increasing its focus on affiliates that promote unlicensed operators, through honing in on key search words.
Additional steps include increasing engagement with law enforcement agencies, such as the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, and strengthening ties with payment providers to disrupt illegal transactions.
UKGC CEO Andrew Rhodes reiterated the importance of collaboration and data-driven action, stating: “We are committed to making it difficult to provide illegal gambling at scale to consumers in Great Britain. The partnerships we’ve built with international regulators, technology partners, and search engines are already delivering results, and we’re determined to keep up this momentum.”
“By using data analytics to improve our enforcement efforts, we’re not just reacting to the problem, but proactively targeting illegal operators. The publication of our methodology paper is just the first step in sharing this work with stakeholders and the public. As we continue to refine our approach, we will use this data to provide deeper insights into the scale and dynamics of the illegal market.”
The UKGC also emphasised that this is just the start of the work it is doing as it looks ahead to the methodology being published in Spring 2025.
It will identify the impact of gambling slots streaming sites, such as Twitch and Kick, and crypto trading platforms are also locations where gambling sites without GB licences may be promoted, will be analysed. As well as encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp.