Internet search giant Google is set to enable users to block gambling advertisements. 

The company says it is introducing the new feature in response to feedback from users, and that the new feature will also cover other “sensitive” subjects like alcohol. 

Although Google already gives users the option to “mute” ads, to avoid seeing the same one multiple times, it doesn’t currently provide an option of blocking adverts across entire categories. 

In a statement, Google said the new feature was an extra step towards putting choice in users’ hands and giving them further control of their ad experience. 

Set to debut in the United States, Google will be gradually rolling out the feature globally across Google Ads and YouTube from early 2021. 

AYO.NEWS says:

At the end of the day, the people who will turn gambling ads off (ie. potential problem gamblers, or those who have zero interest in gambling) are not who operators should be targeting anyway, so this shouldn’t really impact responsible operators or affiliates much. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

The Swedish Gambling Authority has fined Kindred’s Spooniker and former racing monopoly ATG over loopholes circumventing the country’s deposit cap. 

Apparently, the action resulted from a July 2020 inspection to ensure operators were complying with the country’s controversial, and supposedly temporary, deposit cap of SEK5000 for online casinos. 

During the investigation, the gambling authority (Spelinspektionen) required the operators to show how they were complying with the deposit cap rule. 

However, despite Spooniker and ATG both telling their customers that those with limits of over SEK5000 could only use their sports betting offering, it was found that players could simply set high limits, deposit money, and then lower their limits and continue to play at the casinos, with more than SEK5000. 

Responding to the investigation, ATG said that under 100 players took advantage of the loophole, and both operators pointed out that the law concerns the size of deposits for online casino players, and does not cover the amount already deposited in an account, so in their view they hadn’t breached rules anyway. 

In a statement ATG explained:

“To apply the provision in the way that Spelinspektionen has would be contrary to the principle of legality. ATG has implemented the provision in accordance with the wording and in accordance with the Government’s memorandum.”

However, despite the obvious logic of ATG’s argument, it didn’t wash with Spelinspektionen, who responded by saying:

“If it turns out that a player through can add more than SEK 5000 per week for online gaming, e.g. by first putting in money under the pretense that they will be used for betting, but then making the money deposited available for online gaming, the licensee is not considered to act in accordance with the temporary regulation.

“That fact that ATG has chosen to suspend a number of players who have bypassed the deposit limits in the manner described above do not change the Swedish Gaming Inspectorate’s assessment, but only reinforces the image that the way that ATG has chosen to manage the deposit limit does not fulfill its function.”

Spelinspektionen has ruled that although neither breach could be classed as serious enough to warrant license revocation, they were serious enough to demand a SEK1m fine for every week the loopholes remain open, starting three weeks from the publication of the ruling. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s gotten to the point where it’s hard to take anything Spelinspektionen says seriously anymore. The entire ‘temporary’ COVID-19 emergency gambling regulations long ago descended into farce, and are demonstrably having the exact opposite effect to those espoused by slimy politicians like Shekarabi – simply punishing legitimate, licensed operators while pushing vulnerable gamblers to unlicensed, unregulated offshore casinos. 

The Swedish debacle should serve as a warning to those pushing for stricter regulation elsewhere, like the UK. Unfortunately, we doubt the anti-gambling brigade will ever look at the issue holistically and logically, and will instead continue to be driven by simplistic emotions. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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FIFA has partnered with the United Nations to launch a campaign to combat match-fixing in football. 

The international football body will work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to encourage players, coaches, officials, and others involved with the game to use confidential platforms to report suspected foul play. 

Commenting on the initiative FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, said:

“This new joint campaign between FIFA and UNODC, just a few weeks after the signing of our memorandum of understanding, is a strong message about our absolute commitment and determination to eliminating match-fixing and corruption in football.

“In these unprecedented times marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we work together with partners such as the UNODC to ensure that players, coaches and officials have the confidence to speak out against match-fixing, as well as any other integrity issues.”

While UNODC executive director, Ghada Waly, added:

“Sports and sporting events are vital to our well-being, and they have a crucial role to play in helping our societies and economies recover from the pandemic. That is why we must work together to ensure that sport recovers with integrity.”

AYO.NEWS says:

The intentions of this initiative are obviously to be applauded, but whether it can really make much difference, coming from two organisations that are widely viewed as totally discredited and havens of corruption themselves, is doubtful. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Sweden’s consumer affairs agency has issued a warning to licensed gambling operators regarding terms and conditions. 

Following a study of 13 randomly selected operators, Konsumentverket has issued a reminder to all licensed operators that they are legally obligated to provide customers with balanced and equitable conditions. 

Among the operators examined were AG Communications, Bayton, Blue Star Planet, ComeOn Sweden, Ellmount Gaming, Genesis Global, Interwetten, MOA Gaming Sweden, Pixel Digital, Smarkets, Svenska Spel, Videoslots and Zecure Gaming.

The agency says that it found a number of issues, including withdrawal limitations, ID and authentication requirements, liability disclaimers, contradictory play terms, and undefined promotions. 

Findings have been submitted to the Swedish Gambling Inspectorate (Spelinspektionen) and the Swedish Online Gambling Association (Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS)).

AYO.NEWS says:

As someone with a fair bit of experience of writing promotional terms and conditions for the igaming industry (though not specifically for the Swedish market), I can absolutely confirm that I’ve seen plenty of evidence suggesting a major problem with unfair, unclear, contradictory, and sometimes downright illegal terms and conditions. 

My personal experience is that some operators, even licensed ones, seem to think that regular consumer laws don’t apply to them, and that they should just make T&Cs as complicated and all encompassing as possible – even incorporating things that they have no right to do so. 

At some point, at least in the highly regulated markets like Sweden and the UK, this cavalier attitude is going to bite operators in the butt, hard. Just like with the infamous UK Payment Protection Insurance saga, all it will take is one lawsuit to open the floodgates to an unstoppable torrent of historical claims from players who were subject to unfair terms and conditions. 

And, the most tempting target for law firms must surely be wagering requirements. Of course, every cloud has a silver lining, and the issue also presents a fantastic opportunity for smart operators to differentiate. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has established a data-sharing agreement with the Slovak Football Association. 

As the governing body of football in Slovakia, the Bratislava-based Slovak Football Association (SFZ), has ultimate responsibility for the development of football in the country, and runs its national teams. 

Commenting on the news the MGA’s Sports Integrity Manager, Antonio Zerafa, said:

“The agreement with the Slovak Football Association joins a continuously growing list of data-sharing agreements with international partners from the sporting world. We are proud that through such agreements we are placing ourselves as an important contributor to match-fixing investigations across the globe, and we hope that we can now provide the same level of assistance to the Slovak FA also.”

While Integrity Officer of the Slovak Football Association, Jakub Čavoj, added:

“I hope that this agreement will be very useful for both sides and help us achieve a common goal – protecting the integrity of sport competitions.  For the Slovak FA and police investigations this exchange of information could be important in collecting evidence because many betting companies popular in Slovakia have a Malta gambling license. Sharing best practice and exchange of information is key in the fight against match-fixing.”

AYO.NEWS says:

The MGA has been busy strengthening its monitoring capabilities by forming partnerships with a number of associations recently. In May it announced a data-sharing agreement with the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA), while in April it inked a partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC). In October 2019, the MGA also entered a data-sharing agreement with the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) – the anti-corruption body that covers all professional tennis tournaments.

Meanwhile, at the end of November, the MGA launched its Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism (SBRM), making it available to all B2C Malta-licensed operators which offer betting on sports events.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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The General Workers Union Malta (GWUM) has declared an industrial dispute with NetEnt and Evolution over last week’s redundancies. 

In a statement, the GWUM said it was declaring the dispute due to the following:

1. The Companies’ failure to acknowledge the GWU as an employee representative for the purpose of collective redundancies  under the Collective Redundancies (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

2. The Companies’ refusal to provide the union with a statement in writing giving all relevant information, with the reasons for the redundancies, the number of employees the company intends to make redundant, the number of employees normally employed by it, the criteria proposed for the selection of the employees to be made redundant, details regarding any redundancy payments which are due and the period over which redundancies are to be effected.

3. The Companies’ wholesale breach of the Collective Redundancies (Protection of Employment) Regulations and the Transfer of Business (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

The union added that it reserved the right to take industrial action with immediate effect. Elaborating, it said that the measures had become necessary due to the “manifest unwillingness” of both NetEnt and Evolution to consult it. 

The news follows last week’s shock announcement that over 300 employees would be laid off in Malta, following NetEnt’s acquisition by Evolution. 

AYO.NEWS says:

This is a tough one. As we said last week, the timing of these redundancies is unfortunate, coming immediately before Christmas and during the COVID-19 employment crisis – but it was also entirely foreseeable.

Malta needs to think carefully about the long-term consequences of any industrial action. Both NetEnt and Evolution already have facilities around the world, and could very easily relocate operations. Plus, with so many markets now regulated, the Maltese license isn’t as valuable as it once was. 

Aside from tax rates, what really still makes Malta attractive to gaming companies is access to a relatively cheap, flexible, and skilled workforce (and, crucially, the ability to attract foreign workers to the island fairly easily). For some time the soaring cost of living has been making it harder to attract workers, and the COVID crisis has exacerbated that. If Malta now gets a reputation for industrial action, it may well cause many gaming operators to think twice about investing in the country. 

But, it is the season of goodwill, so maybe Evolution will step up, and do something to diffuse the dispute?

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.