From social media feeds to sports broadcasts, gambling ads have become increasingly difficult to avoid. New CU Boulder research links gambling advertising to more gambling activity and more searches for help with problem gambling.
Researchers found that in states with more spending on gambling ads, people searched more often for help with problem gambling. Whether sports betting was legal in a state, however, was not associated with more searches for help.
"Sports betting ads are everywhere—they're inescapable," said Chris Vargo, associate professor at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at CU Boulder. "And we have a saying in advertising—if you're seeing a lot of ads for a certain service, they're raking it in."
The study, published this month in Policy & Internet, was conducted by Vargo, CU Boulder Associate Professor Toby Hopp and Harsha Gangadharbatla of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Researchers analyzed advertising and search data across 41 states and combined survey responses with digital activity from 419 users.
At the individual level, exposure to gambling ads on Facebook, TikTok and X was associated with whether someone gambled, how frequently they gambled and whether a gambling-site visit was observed.
Because the study was correlational, the findings identify associations and do not establish that advertising caused the behavior.
For the state-level analysis, the team compared quarterly gambling advertising spending from 2014 to 2023 with Google Trends data for 116 problem-gambling help-seeking searches across 41 states. The association between advertising spending and help-seeking search interest strengthened over time.
"Ads are good at following us around the web. We've all seen the item we left in an online shopping cart follow us as we browse apps and social media," Vargo said. " Here, we're saying yes, this is true for gambling apps and services, but that means advertising is playing a part into pushing more people to problem gambling."
The state-by-state rollout of legal sports betting allowed the researchers to examine the role of advertising separately from legalization.
"We thought it might be like marijuana—it becomes legalized, it takes a little time and then takes off," Vargo said. "And while that's true here, it's really the introduction of advertising in each of these states that clearly signals the growth of sports betting."
For a closer look at individual behavior, the researchers combined survey responses with passive digital trace data from 419 users. The data included website and app visits, video plays, searches, social media activity and the social media advertising users saw.
Some users were served 50, 100 or more gambling ads per week.
The team also looked at what happened after periods with no observed gambling activity. They identified gambling ads served after at least 24 hours without observed gambling activity.
"Once they hit that threshold, we looked to see if a gambling advertisement would precede their immediate visit to a gambling property," Vargo said. "The answer is yes."
In 8.3% of those cases, the ad was followed within 24 hours by some form of gambling activity, such as a visit to a gambling app. Overall, the study found that these ad exposures were associated with higher odds of subsequent gambling activity, particularly website visits.
"These sites are retargeting these gamblers who've stepped away, to nudge them back in," Vargo said.
The research examined gambling advertising broadly, including sports betting, casino games, lotteries, skill-based games and financial betting.
Vargo hopes the findings can inform discussions about online gambling advertising, including limits on advertising volume, rules around free bets and other incentives, stronger platform oversight and ways to connect people with addiction resources.
For addiction support, he said, strategies could include counter-messaging on search and social media, links to self-exclusion and counseling, and support resources shown when betting ads appear.
