Gambling ads on social media reach more than twice as many men as women: study

a day ago

Gambling ads on Meta platforms reach young men 2.3 times more than women, even without direct targeting.
The most exposed age group is 25-34-year-olds, accounting for over a third of ad impressions.
In Ireland, 22% of ads targeted only men, and none targeted only women, with ads reaching 12.6 million men versus 5.4 million women.
Exposure to gambling advertising is linked to positive attitudes towards gambling and a 'dose response' effect increasing participation and harm.
Irish men aged 25-34 have the highest problem gambling rate (1.3%), compared to 0.2% for women in the same group.
New Irish legislation bans most social media gambling ads unless users opt in, but advertising remains widespread in the UK, Europe, and the US.
The study's methodology using the Meta Ad Library can be applied to other lightly regulated countries to advocate for transparency laws like the EU Digital Services Act.

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