The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently ruled that two in-app advertisements by LiveScore Betting & Gaming (Gibraltar) under its LiveScore Bet brand violated regulations concerning advertising content for minors. Despite the platform implementing certain age verification measures, the ads still appeared in the version of the LiveScore app intended for users under 18, raising regulatory concerns.
Suspected Illegal Ad Placement to Minor User Interfaces
According to the findings published by the ASA, these two ads appeared on January 10, 2025, in the LiveScore app on both Android and iOS platforms, featuring real-time betting odds related to LiveScore Bet. One ad was displayed on the match score page, while the other appeared on the lineup information page, both marked with "responsible gambling" and age restriction warnings.
The core issue is that these ads were shown in the version of LiveScore specifically designed for users under 18. Although LiveScore Bet claims that the app has an age self-declaration mechanism, where users must confirm their age upon first use, the ASA believes this mechanism failed to effectively prevent minors from accessing gambling-related content.
Technical Explanations Fail to Eliminate Violations
In its defense, LiveScore Bet stated that the Android ad (Ad a) did not reproduce this issue in company tests and might be a display error on specific devices. However, the ASA confirmed that this ad was indeed observed in the youth version of the app, confirming a lack of effective blocking.
As for the iOS ad (Ad b), the company acknowledged that it was due to a technical flaw in an older version of the app. Although the ad link did not lead to other gambling content and the issue has been fixed in the newer version, the ASA ruled that its nature still constitutes illegal placement.
