A study has found that gambling ads on social media reach men at far higher rates than women, with young men the most exposed group. Researchers examined 411 advertisements from 88 licensed operators in Ireland and found men were reached 2.3 times more often than women across Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
The analysis used the Meta Ad Library, which under the EU Digital Services Act requires platforms to disclose advertising activity and audience data. Even when campaigns did not target men, they still reached male users more frequently.
Lead author Dr Elena Petrovskaya from the University of Cambridge said: “Not that many adverts directly targeted men to begin with. But even when adverts were set to reach all genders, they still reached that very vulnerable group of young men,”
It shows that if companies just put ads on social media, they are still reaching young men– the group we know from other research is most at risk of gambling harms.”
Younger Adults Most Frequently Exposed
The study identified individuals aged 25 to 34 as the group most frequently exposed to gambling advertising. This segment accounted for more than one-third of all unique accounts reached, representing over 6.2 million impressions. In total, advertisements targeting people aged 25 to 44 made up 59.4% of all accounts reached.
Across the dataset, 12.6 million men saw gambling-related ads compared with 5.4 million women. Among the 411 advertisements reviewed, 91 were aimed exclusively at men, while none were designed solely for women.
One advertisement alone, from a highly popular operator, reached more than 1.32 million unique accounts, which corresponds to about 26% of Ireland’s population. Researchers described the overall scale of exposure as striking, particularly in a country with a relatively small population.
Petrovskaya said: “Even in a country like Ireland with a small population, the number of accounts these ads reached was dizzying,”
We looked at Ireland as a case study of an environment where a modern gambling regulatory framework had not yet been adopted.”
Regulatory Changes and Broader Implications
The findings come as Ireland implements the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which established a new regulatory authority in March 2025. The law introduces tighter controls, including opt-in rules for social media gambling ads.
Previous research links gambling advertising exposure with increased participation and risk of harm, particularly among vulnerable groups.
In Ireland, men aged 25 to 34 show the highest rate of problem gambling at 1.3%, compared with 0.2% of women in the same age group.
Co-author Dr Deirdre Leahy from MTU in Cork said: “This research provides valuable insights that establish a baseline for the reach of gambling advertising on social media in Ireland before the introduction of a regulatory framework,”
This baseline will be essential for assessing the impact of reforms under the Gambling Regulation Act.”
Researchers say their method could be used in other countries, including the UK and call for stronger transparency rules in digital advertising.
Source:
“Gambling ads on social media reach more than twice as many men as women”, cam.ac.uk, April 28, 2026
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