US Researchers Track Gambling Ads and Activity Across 419 Users

The paper, published in Policy & Internet on October 14, combined digital records from 419 users with a separate analysis of advertising spending and gambling-related searches across 41 states.

One in 12 Ad Exposures Came Before New Activity

Researchers looked at what they called "clean" ad exposures. To qualify, a user had to have no recorded gambling activity during the previous 24 hours. The team then checked whether an advertisement was followed by another gambling-related interaction.

The University of Colorado Boulder reported that 8.3% of these exposures were followed by a gambling touchpoint within the next 24 hours.

That works out to roughly one in 12 qualifying exposures. Conversely, about 91.7% had no subsequent gambling interaction recorded during the same period.

These figures describe observed events, not advertising conversions. A website visit also does not necessarily mean the person placed a bet or deposited money.

Some Users Received 100 Gambling Ads a Week

Chris Vargo, one of the study’s authors, said some participants were seeing 50 gambling advertisements a week. Others received 100 or more.

The team used survey responses and mobile activity records from 419 people. Along with website and app visits, the data covered searches, social media use and advertising exposure.

Facebook, TikTok and X were examined separately. Exposure to gambling ads on these platforms was associated with gambling frequency and visits to betting websites.

Among gamblers, interactions that followed clean ad exposures showed a more consistent association with problem-gambling scores than the number of clean ads served.

Advertising Spend Examined Across 41 States

The other part of the research used advertising expenditure and Google Trends records from 2014 to 2023. The dataset contained 1,640 state-quarter observations and covered 116 searches related to problem-gambling help.

Higher gambling ad spending was associated with more help-seeking searches. The relationship grew stronger over the study period.

The legal status of sports betting produced a different result. Researchers found no corresponding association with help-seeking search interest in their model.

Takeaways for Gambling Advertisers

The results at the state level and the individual level deal with different issues. The former measures search interest over ten years, while the latter records activity of 419 mobile users. Neither of them proves that an advertisement caused someone to gamble.

What research findings do is highlight the importance of ad frequency and re-engagement targeting rather than just impressions. The researchers call for stricter regulation of ad frequency, placement, and promo incentives. Their paper does not introduce new restrictions for advertisers or social media platforms.