Advertising restrictions The UK government previously limited television ads to only National Lottery, Bingo, and football pools, but when a new Gambling Act came into effect in 2007 they relaxed all of those restrictions. By 2013, the UK media regulator Ofcom reported that this more relaxed approach had led to a seven-fold increase in the number of gambling ads that were aired on the TV. The Committee of Advertising Practice which is responsible for penning advertising codes in the UK has announced new rules aimed at protecting children from underage gambling. The announcement came on Wednesday, 13 February, and under the new directive, all gambling ads will not be allowed on websites or games that are popular with children. The new regulations aim introducing extra layer of protection to ensure that children below the age of 18 are not targeted by gambling adverts. To realize this, bookies will be required to ensure that online wagering promotions are not aired to minors. To fully comply with this provision, operators will be required to refrain from placing ads that promoting betting on sections of websites that target children. The rules also prohibit gambling companies from running real-money wagering ads on video games that are popular with children, and it will also be upon these companies to ensure that their marketing content does not contain imagery that may appeal to children. See also List of UK casinos Gambling Act details and updates Notes Further reading Baker, Norman ."'Going to the Dogs'—Hostility to Greyhound Racing in Britain: Puritanism, Socialism and Pragmatism," Journal of Sport History 23 (1996): 97–118. Clapson, Mark .A Bit of a Flutter: Popular Gambling and English Society, c.1823-1961 (Manchester UP, 1992) Forrest, David. "An economic and social review of gambling in Great Britain." Journal of Gambling Business and Economics 7.3 (2013): 1–33. Huggins, Mike. Horseracing and the British 1919-1939 (Manchester UP, 2002). Munting, Roger. "Social opposition to gambling in Britain: an historical overview." International Journal of the History of Sport 10.3 (1993): 295–312. Online Munting, Roger. An economic and social history of gambling in Britain and the USA (Manchester UP, 1996). External links UK Gambling Commission