Entering your age online influences gambling adverts, but young people remain vulnerable
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27 Mar 2026 •
Reading time: 2 minutes
You see it almost everywhere: first enter your age, then click to continue. It may seem like a minor detail, but it isn’t. That choice increasingly determines whether you see gambling adverts, whilst young people should actually be protected from them.
Stricter rules must keep young people out of harm’s way
The rules surrounding gambling adverts have recently been tightened. Online gambling providers are not permitted to target young adults aged between 18 and 24. Platforms attempt to enforce this by asking users to enter their age.
Anyone who states they are under 24 should see fewer or no gambling adverts. That makes that first click on a website more significant than many people realise.
Yet gambling adverts remain visible on popular platforms
In practice, the effect appears to be limited. Gambling adverts still appear in places frequented by many young people, such as news websites, sports pages and online forums.
This raises questions about how the rules work. Because although the intention is clear, exposure persists. Young people are still coming into contact with gambling advertisements.
That visibility plays a role. Regular exposure to this type of advertising can lower the threshold and make gambling seem more normal.
Young people deliberately state a higher age
It is striking that some young people circumvent the rules themselves. They claim to be older than 24. They do this, for example, to retain access to all content or because they want to appear more mature.
But there is a downside to this choice. Those who claim to be older actually increase the likelihood of seeing gambling adverts. As a result, young people are exposed to precisely what should actually be shielded from them.
Digital settings become part of prevention
The debate on gambling adverts often focuses on providers and legislation. But user behaviour also plays a part. A simple setting can influence what someone encounters online.
This is where parents, professionals and youth workers also have a role to play. By making these kinds of choices open to discussion, it becomes clear that prevention lies not only in rules, but also in everyday online behaviour.
A small action can thus make a noticeable difference to what young people do and do not see.