William Hill Receive ASA Condemnation – Bookmaker News

William Hill's Tinder box fans flames of complaint

William Hill have, yet again, fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority. The UK bookmaker placed an advertisement on dating site Tinder which included a link to its betting app. But the attempt to indirectly lure lovelorn punters into having a bet in the run up to the Cheltenham Festival in March was deemed to have breached the ASA’s code of conduct after the authority investigated following a complaint.

Hills did remove the advert immediately after the complaint but the ASA decided that the wording inferred that those who gambled would be more likely to develop a friendship into a sexual relationship and that was inappropriate.

Tinder said it initially reviewed the ad to ensure its content was not socially irresponsible, offensive or targeting minors, and that it passed the initial screening process but this is not the first time that William Hill have been in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority. Since 2015, the ASA has investigated nine complaints against Hills and found against the betting firm in four of them, including one which advertised casino games in an app featuring a Super Mario Kart game.

There was further bad news for the betting company this week after it was revealed that revenues from FOBTs in their shops have dropped by 40% since the new maximum stake of £2 was introduced. All bookmakers were forecasting a slump so recent losses in takings are not a shock and maybe the Armageddon that everyone was gloomily anticipating may not materialise. Despite fears, there has been no wholesale shutting of high street shops (up to 900 in William Hill’s case), though the group has written to many of its landlords and asked for rate reductions. What is glossed over is that the company’s online takings actually rose by 8% and that their business in the USA has taken off since the federal lifting of a ban on sports betting. As with all multi-national companies, the big picture should not be forgotten.