ASA determined the ad can no longer be served to users searching for ‘help with gambling’ as it was not ‘responsibly targeted’.
The Advertising Standards Association (ASA) has upheld the complaint against a Smart Gravity Ltd search ad for top10onlinecasinoreviews.co.uk, stating it was “irresponsibly targeted”.
The paid-for search ad, seen on 18 June, featured the text: “UK’s Top 10 Casino Sites – 10 Best Casino Online Sites UK […] Compare The Best Online Slots Sites In The UK 2026. Fast Signups & Mega Bonuses To Claim. The Only Casino List Compiled Of Real Users Ratings! Signup & Enjoy Our Brilliant Offers”.
Notably, the ad showed up when users searched for ‘help with gambling’, which the ASA noted is likely to be used by consumers who are seeking information, advice, and support about gambling-related harms.
As such, the search phrase would likely originate from vulnerable consumers, likely looking to reduce their exposure to gambling ads. Therefore, an ad promoting online casino sites featuring promotions such as mega bonuses and fast sign-ups was deemed inappropriate to appear in response to that search, the ASA said it is ruling.
Smart Gravity is not a gambling operator in itself but an affiliate comparison site and the ASA highlighted this results in the promotion of gambling and casino sites.
Under the ASA’s CAP code, any ads related to gambling must also protect vulnerable people from being exploited or harmed.
Smart Gravity responded to the ASA confirming its ad strategy used a combination of phrase match, exact match, and broad match keywords. No search queries that contain the phrase ‘help with gambling’ was matched to the keywords it used.
Once the firm received the complaint, it launched an internal investigation into how the ad was served. Smart Gravity said their campaigns were configured to target adult UK users.
The comparison site implemented a compliance framework to minimise the chance of the ad being shown alongside inappropriate search queries, including periodic reviews of campaign settings and targeting, as well as continuous review of negative keyword exclusions, and internal compliance monitoring
The company argued it had no commercial interest in serving ads to vulnerable individuals seeking support for gambling related harm and while automated systems couldn’t guarantee that each keyword match might be prevented, there was a continuous review process for risk reduction.
The negative keyword list implemented by Smart Gravity aimed to ensure the ads didn’t appear in searches that mentioned safer gambling, gambling harm, or gambling addiction. However, the ASA noted that some searches related to, but not containing these keywords, could still result in the ads being shown, potentially putting users at risk.
The ASA said in its ruling: “In those circumstances, the advertiser’s negative keyword list and targeting controls had not provided a sufficiently robust safeguard against the ad being shown to potentially vulnerable consumers.
“Because we considered that there was a strong likelihood that vulnerable consumers seeking to reduce their exposure to and engagement with gambling ads and websites had been served an ad promoting casino websites following a search for ‘help with gambling’, we concluded that the ad had not been responsibly targeted.”
For marketers, this ruling is significant because it shows that even if measures are taken to ban certain keywords from SEO relating to an paid search ad, it can still be removed. Although there are controls within SEO, Google’s algorithm can often be difficult to predict, so the guardrails for gambling related ads must be robust and effective.
