Gambling companies are reaching young men – the group most likely to exhibit problem gambling behaviour – on social media at more than double the rate of women, a study has found.
Researchers led by the University of Cambridge analysed 411 advertisements from 88 licensed gambling operators in Ireland and found that young men were reached 2.3 times more than women across Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram, even if the ads were not directly targeting men.
The age group most exposed to gambling advertising was 25 to 34-year-olds, who accounted for over a third of all unique accounts reached, a total of more than 6.2 million impressions. The results are reported in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions .
The researchers used the Meta Ad Library to conduct the study. Under the EU Digital Services Act, Meta and other online service providers must publish all advertising shown on their platforms in EU countries and provide demographic data about who saw them.
The findings are published as new gambling legislation has come into effect in Ireland, banning most social media gambling advertising unless users actively opt in to see it. However, gambling advertising is still widespread in the UK and most other European countries, and has exploded in popularity in the US, driven in part by prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi.
“Not that many adverts directly targeted men to begin with. But even when adverts were set to reach all genders, they still reached that vulnerable group of young men,” said lead author Dr Elena Petrovskaya from Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology. “It shows that if companies just put ads on social media, they are still reaching young men - the group we know from other research is most at risk of gambling harms.”
Previous research has shown that exposure to gambling advertising is linked to positive gambling-related attitudes, intentions and behaviours. Studies have also suggested a ‘dose response’ effect, where more exposure to advertising increases gambling participation, leading to an increased risk of harm.
In Ireland, men aged 25-34 have the highest rate of problem gambling, with 1.3% of this age group showing this behaviour. Just 0.2% of women in the same age group show similar problem gambling behaviour.
The Cambridge-led study found that a single advert from Betfair reached more than 1.32 million unique accounts – equivalent to 26% of the Irish population.
The analysis found that 91 adverts (22%) targeted men only, and no adverts targeted only women. Across all 411 adverts, 12.6 million men were reached, compared to 5.4 million women. In total, adverts targeting some part of the age group 25-44 reached 59.4% of all accounts reached.
“Even in a country like Ireland with a small population, the number of accounts these ads reached was dizzying,” said Petrovskaya. “We looked at Ireland as a case study of an environment where a modern gambling regulatory framework had not yet been adopted.”
The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 came into force in Ireland in March 2025, establishing the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. The Act also provides for introduction of a watershed for broadcast advertising. Once the provisions concerning advertising begin, gambling advertising on social media will be restricted to users who follow a licensed gambling operator.
“This research provides valuable insights that establish a baseline for the reach of gambling advertising on social media in Ireland before the introduction of a regulatory framework,” said co-author Dr Deirdre Leahy from MTU in Cork. “This baseline will be essential for assessing the impact of reforms under the Gambling Regulation Act.”
The researchers say their methodology using the Meta Ad Library could be applied to other countries where gambling advertising remains lightly regulated, such as in the UK and Australia. They are calling for wider adoption of laws such as the EU Digital Service Act to provide transparency and accountability for advertising by harmful industries.
Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Gambling adverts on social media reach 2.3 times more men than women: using the Meta Ad Library to assess gambling advertising in Ireland
28-Apr-2026