The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned advertisements by Optival that target or fail to exclude individuals searching for self-exclusion or trying to stop gambling.

A paid-for search ad for bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk, seen on 10 August, following a search for “self exclusion bookies”. Text stated “Top 15 Betting Sites UK – Compare the Best UK Bookmakers […] Claim your Exclusive First Bet Bonus for your Next UK Betting Account. Discover the Best Welcome Bonus Offers by UK’s Top Online Sports Betting Brands for 2025!”. 

The complainant challenged whether the ad was irresponsibly targeted.

Optival Ltd t/a bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk stated they had never targeted the phrase “self exclusion bookies”. Upon receipt of the complaint, they had conducted a full review of their search term reports, and found no record of search terms containing the phrase “self exclusion” causing their ads to be shown. They provided a screenshot of a search term report from their Google Ads account to demonstrate that no matching search terms were found across all their campaigns. They said they maintained dedicated negative keyword lists designed to block searches relating to self-exclusion, GamStop and problem gambling. 
 
Optival stated that the fact the ad seen by the complainant was not identified in their search term reports indicated that this was an isolated incident that fell below the platform’s reporting thresholds.

They believed this resulted from the platform’s automated query matching rather than any keywords they targeted. Regardless, they stated they would further strengthen their safeguards by expanding their negative keyword exclusions so that all of their current and future campaigns were automatically prevented from appearing against searches related to self-exclusion and similar terms.

The ASA considered that by searching for the phrase “self exclusion bookies”, a consumer was likely to be seeking information, advice and support about how to prevent their exposure to gambling services. Such consumers were likely to include vulnerable persons looking to manage or reduce their exposure to and engagement with gambling ads. In that context, we considered an ad promoting online betting sites and offering “the Best Welcome Bonus Offers” was not appropriate to appear in response to that search. 

Given that the ad had appeared in response to a search term which clearly indicated that a consumer was seeking to reduce their exposure to gambling content, we considered that at the time the ad was seen bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk targeting controls had not been sufficiently robust to prevent the ad from being shown to potentially vulnerable consumers.  The ad must not be served following the search “self exclusion bookies” again.

The ASA told Optival Ltd t/a bestbookiesandbettingsites.co.uk to ensure that their search ads were responsibly targeted.