Gambling Commission research maps four reasons behind illegal betting
Yonder Consulting research for the Great Britain Gambling Commission finds no single message will deter illegal gambling, as searches for unlicensed sites rise sharply.
The Great Britain Gambling Commission has published the third instalment of its Consumer Voice research, examining why some consumers use illegal gambling sites despite the existence of a licensed market.
The work was carried out by Yonder Consulting on behalf of the regulator, drawing on a survey pool of 4,000 people. It identifies four distinct subgroups of illegal gambling users, each motivated by different factors.
The Commission labels the first group 'Accidental Tourists', consumers who typically end up on unlicensed sites not through deliberate intent but out of frustration with what the licensed market offers.
'Social Explorers' approach the gap between licensed and unlicensed offers with what the Commission calls a 'pragmatic acceptance', and tend to be experienced deal-seekers who place weight on recommendations from peers.
'Self-Excluders' are gamblers who know they are at risk of harm but actively seek ways around their exclusion on GamStop, looking for games, websites and products that are neither licensed nor legal in Britain.
The fourth group, termed 'Skill Advocates', is defined by a distrust of both the licensed market and the regulatory framework behind it, leading them towards illegal gambling in pursuit of greater personal freedom.
The Commission stresses that these four categories do not represent the full adult gambling population in Britain, and that engagement with the black market remains, in its words, a 'relatively niche behaviour' overall.
As SBC News reports, the findings prompt a rethink of how operators, support charities and the regulator have previously interpreted online searches for 'not on Gamstop'.
That phrase was long assumed to be used mainly by people trying to bypass their own self-exclusion. The latest research instead suggests it has become shorthand for a perceived route to fewer identity checks, less friction, more anonymity and greater choice.
The report also points to the influence of online platforms, where encounters with anonymous users — sometimes affiliates — claiming big wins on unlicensed sites, or exposure to illegal advertising, can carry more weight than safer gambling messaging.
The Commission says it recognises the scale of this digital challenge and is engaging directly with social media platforms and internet companies to address it.
Despite that engagement, SBC News notes that Google searches for 'not on Gamstop' in the UK have risen by 120% year on year, suggesting that current efforts to curb the normalisation of illegal gambling have yet to show results.