UK Gambling Commission Introduces Illegal Gambling Index

UKGC Research and Impact Manager Rupam Jagota introduced phase 4 of the Consumer Voice research series, which includes initial findings from new data on consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites.

Phase 4 marks the final chapter in a series of Consumer Voice research projects carried out by Yonder Consulting to help build a complete picture of how consumers engage with illegal gambling websites. This represents an important milestone in contributing to the evidence base that supports UKGC’s Illegal gambling and crime Evidence Roadmap.

“Each of the 4 phases we’ve carried out has improved our understanding of how to accurately identify and monitor consumer engagement with the illegal gambling websites. This journey has taken us from having relatively limited evidence about the online illegal gambling market in general, to being able to develop the ‘Illegal Gambling Index’, a robust way of tracking consumer engagement over time,” the Commission said.

Researching illegal gambling supports the Gambling Commission’s strategic commitment to be an evidence-led and outcomes-focused regulator, ensuring regulatory, policy and enforcement activity is informed by the best available data and insight.

How UKGC measures consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites?

Understanding the consumer characteristics of illegal online gambling is no easy task. By its nature, consumer engagement is hidden, driven by a complex number of factors, and sometimes unintentional, which makes it difficult to measure through traditional survey methods. Simply asking consumers whether they have used an illegal gambling website will not provide a reliable picture of their engagement, as it depends too much upon a consumer being aware of the illegal market existing, understanding how to identify an illegal gambling website, and being willing and capable of reporting their behaviour accurately.

The Illegal Gambling Index was developed to address these challenges. Rather than relying on a single measure, the Index brings together 7 self-reported behavioural indicators of engagement, providing a more complete picture of consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites.

The Index was developed through an iterative and evidence-led process, using findings from a range of sources accumulated through Phases 1 to 3: consumer surveys, interviews, focus groups, input from subject matter experts and the Commission’s advisory groups. Combining insight from these sources helped to identify the behaviours most strongly linked to the use of illegal gambling websites and shape the survey questions that could form the index and be included in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).

“It was also important to us that we build a metric that can last long-term. The online gambling landscape is always evolving and new evidence continues to emerge, so we need a measure of consumer engagement that can evolve too. The Illegal Gambling Index has therefore been designed to be an adaptable measure, as we learn more about the illegal gambling market, we can refine and update the Index to ensure that it provides a current and reliable measure of consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites,” the Commission said.

The first year of GSGB data suggests that consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites is unsurprisingly low with 1% of respondents demonstrating engagement within the past 12 months.

Looking specifically at individuals who had gambled online in the previous 12 months, 4% demonstrated engagement with an illegal gambling website within the past 12 months. The data suggests engagement with illegal gambling websites is more common among males and younger adults, particularly those aged 18 to 24, providing an important baseline for the Commission’s monitoring of trends.

These findings provide some of the first robust estimates of consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites and establish a benchmark against which future market changes can be measured.

“As we collect more waves of GSGB data, we'll continue to publish more detailed findings on how consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites is changing over time. Understanding these trends is particularly important, as they can tell us more about how the illegal market is evolving than any single metric at a given point in time. We'll also continue to compare GSGB findings with other sources of evidence, such as web traffic estimates and other intelligence sources, to strengthen our understanding., UKGC said.

“The Index gives us the capability to track overall consumer engagement with illegal gambling websites, but we’re also interested in understanding the different types of consumers within this group. Earlier phases of the research identified 4 distinct personas, each with different motivations, behaviours, and entry pathways into using illegal gambling websites: Self-Excluders, Skilled Advocates, Social Explorers, and Accidental Tourists.”

Building on this, new supplementary questions developed during Phase 3 will be added to the GSGB in 2027, which will provide with a robust appreciation of the relative size of each persona group.