The illegal online gambling market in Italy is currently estimated at around €20bn, says Data Room Nexus Observatory. According to its report, more than 4.5m Italians accessed unauthorised gambling websites or apps.
Illegal Traffic Moves to Mobile
The report recorded more than 13m sessions across illegal websites and apps. However, this number could even be larger because now some of the activities occur via personal chat sessions and constantly changing web domains.
Mobile has become the predominant access path. As mentioned in the research, more than 90% of all traffic to illegal gambling sites has been coming from smartphones. That complicates enforcement, as a user can see a post, get a chat link, and open a mirror site in just minutes.
Social Media Replaces Open Ads
Under Italy’s 2018 Decreto Dignità legislation, gambling advertising linked to cash winnings has been forbidden. In addition, sponsorships and social media promotion have been prohibited.
However, according to the latest report, such restrictions do not eliminate illegal promotional activities. Moreover, some of them moved to less visible channels.
According to Data Room Nexus, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube are important traffic generators for illegal operators. These operators use referrals, push notifications, and copied brand content. Some websites imitate licensed operators, making the difference hard to see.
The user profile also needs to be considered. Data Room Nexus said that about 78% of the illegal website users were males. In addition, almost half of these users were under 35, with the most prevalent age group being 25 to 34.
Blocking Sites Is Still Too Slow
Italian authorities blocked more than 1,000 illegal gambling sites in 2025. The problem, however, is the speed at which these sites emerge. Often, it takes just hours or days for mirror sites to appear, often using the same structure, access systems and user wallets.
In addition, Italy has tightened its licensed market. From November 2025, Italy moved to reduce licensed online gambling domains from 407 to 52. The reform should make regulatory oversight of the legal market easier.
However, illegal gambling sites are not covered by that system. They are not bound by advertising rules, taxation, and safer gambling policies that licensed companies have to comply with.
The Lesson for Italy
Advertising bans can limit legal promotion, but they cannot stop illegal gambling alone. Stronger payment controls, faster domain action, platform cooperation and clearer public guidance now look just as important as ad restrictions.
