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A new study has found that most licensed Dutch gambling operators followed age targeting rules on Meta, but a smaller group of ads still reached users protected under Dutch law.
Good to Know
Dutch gambling ad rules look strict on paper, but Meta ad data shows how small setup choices can still create problems.
Researchers from City University of Hong Kong and the University of Bristol reviewed 277 paid ads from licensed Dutch gambling operators on Facebook and Instagram. They used Meta Ad Library data made available under the EU Digital Services Act, which gives researchers more detail on advertiser age ranges and estimated audience reach.
The review found 31 ads that included users aged 18 to 23 in their targeting. Dutch law protects that group from gambling advertising. Any ad range that covered at least one age from 18 to 23 counted as non-compliant in the study.
Online operators performed better than offline licence holders. Online gambling licence holders recorded a 92.7% compliance rate, while nearly 30% of ads linked to offline licence holders breached age restrictions.
The study also named large operators, including Holland Casino and related brands. One Holland Casino ad reportedly reached more than 21,000 Dutch users aged 18 to 24. Researchers estimated that over 15% of its Dutch reach may have been under 24.
The issue does not sit only with operators. Meta reports age data in broad brackets, such as 18 to 24, while Dutch law focuses on 18 to 23. That mismatch makes clean checks harder for regulators, researchers, and advertisers.
The Netherlands has tightened gambling ad controls over several years. Since 2013, the Decree on Gambling Recruitment, Advertising and Addiction Prevention has barred gambling advertising aimed at people under 24. In 2022, the Dutch government also announced a ban on untargeted gambling ads.
Franc Weerwind, minister for legal protection at the time, said:
“Advertising is a means of directing people to the legal offer, but the importance of addiction prevention is more important.
“With this I want to protect vulnerable groups such as young people in particular.”
The 2023 amendment required online licence holders to use the best available measures to avoid targeting 18 to 23 year olds. It also sought proof that at least 95% of gambling ad audiences were aged 24 or older.
Researchers pointed to several reasons for the failures:
The study focused only on Meta and licensed Dutch operators. It did not cover TikTok, YouTube, Google, or unlicensed overseas gambling sites active in the Dutch market. That means the full online advertising picture could be wider than the report shows.
Researchers recommended more precise ad data, including single-year age reporting and custom age range queries. They also said platforms should apply country-specific legal age rules by default, such as blocking Dutch gambling ads from targeting users under 24.
The report also lands while Meta faces pressure in the UK over illegal gambling ads. Tim Miller, executive director of the UK Gambling Commission, said:
“Anyone who spends time on their platforms will likely have seen ads appearing for illegal online casinos.”
“Most notably, and perhaps most worryingly, many aimed at GB users are for the so-called ‘not on GamStop’ sites.
“These are targeted at consumers that have taken the often difficult step to self-exclude from online gambling through the use of GamStop, Britain’s multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.”