Facebook adds Gambling as a friend

There is good news for gambling industry firms as Facebook has relaxed its advertising rules to allow all manner of gambling advertising. The changes, revealed yesterday, allow companies to partake in the promotion of both offline and online gambling as its permitted within the region.

Facebook guidelines on gambling industry advertising now read as follows:

E. Gambling and lotteries
Adverts that promote or facilitate online gambling, games of skill or lotteries, including online casinos, sports books, bingo or poker, are only allowed in specific countries with prior authorisation from Facebook.

Lottery commissions licensed or sponsored by government entities may advertise on Facebook provided that adverts are targeted in accordance with the applicable laws in the jurisdiction in which the adverts will be served and may only target users in the jurisdiction in which the lottery is available.

Adverts that promote offline gambling establishments, such as offline casinos, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations are generally permitted, provided that adverts are appropriately targeted.

In a blog post accompanying the rule changes, the site commented that they “continue to prohibit the promotion of online gambling in the USA.” However the same post does add that authorized state and national lottery commissions are allowed to advertise to customers as long as it’s “within the lottery’s jurisdiction.”

The new guidelines will understandably be big news for firms operating in the UK. Upon hearing the news, Mark Pearson from Betfred commented, “We will certainly be having an internal discussion about advertising on Facebook, it could be a very useful tool.”

It also signals just how important social networks are becoming for the gambling industry. We’re not just talking about Ralph Topping telling us what he had on his cereal this morning either. Pearson added, “Social networks are very important. We have an established Facebook page and we’ve used Twitter for a couple of years. Social networks are a great way to talk to your punters and to get your message out there. Recently the boss Fred Done did a question and answer on twitter and it was a big success.”

So next time you log in to Facebook, don’t be surprised if you see that Fred Done has just become friends with Ray “Bet365” Winstone.

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Tags: Article, Facebook, Social Networking

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