The UK Gambling Commission says it still faces difficulty measuring illegal online gambling citing limits in existing methods and the growing use of anonymising tools. Its latest update highlights how shifting user behavior and incomplete data continue to obscure the unlicensed market.
The findings build on concerns raised in late 2025, when the regulator said it could not reliably estimate spending on illegal platforms. Methods based on time spent, channelisation, and surveys were all deemed insufficient. While the Commission has refined its approach, it still describes the overall picture as uncertain.
The latest dataset spans 21 months through February 2026. Instead of tracking spending, the Commission used estimated time spent on illegal sites as a proxy for engagement. Results show fluctuating activity without clear seasonal trends or sustained growth. A spike seen in autumn 2024 did not repeat the following year.
VPN Use Reduces Visibility Of Online Behavior
The regulator identified virtual private networks as a growing obstacle in tracking illegal gambling. Increased VPN adoption, particularly after the introduction of the Online Safety Act in July 2025, has made it harder to identify and measure user activity accurately.
Earlier estimates attempted to account for hidden traffic by applying a 30% adjustment. However, more recent analysis suggests that a larger share of activity may now be concealed. Data from Ofcom and analytics provider Similarweb indicates that VPN usage rose sharply from July 2025 and has remained about 40% higher than levels recorded before that period.
To address this uncertainty, the Commission incorporated multiple VPN usage scenarios into its modelling. This approach widened the range of possible outcomes from mid-2025 onward, reflecting the increased difficulty in producing precise estimates.
The Commission also noted that web traffic analysis captures only part of the illegal gambling landscape. Other access routes, including mobile applications and direct connections, fall outside the scope of these measurements. As a result, the data serves primarily to highlight trends rather than provide exact figures.
Enforcement Efforts Depend On Better Data
Accurate measurement remains key to targeting enforcement actions, including payment blocks, domain removals, and cooperation with financial and advertising partners.
Tim Livesley, head of the Commission’s Data Innovation Hub, said: “We continue to work on improvements to our methodology and are seeking input from other international regulators and licensed operators to help verify and improve existing data sources and to identify additional datasets which can be used to improve understanding of the illegal market.”
He added: “The Commission continues to treat illegal gambling as a priority and we will also be providing further updates on how we are expanding our disruption and enforcement activity.”
The regulator is also expanding data collection through the Gambling Survey for Great Britain and the Consumer Voice programme to improve insight into user activity.
The findings reflect wider challenges, as tools designed to protect privacy also limit the ability to detect illegal gambling.
Source:
“Tracking illegal gambling is harder with rising VPN use, UKGC says”, igamingbusiness.com, April 22, 2026
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