The United Kingdom’s advertising regulatory body, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), supported a grievance regarding promotions by Lottoland displayed on Bing and Google search results.

An individual lodged a complaint, expressing that the advertisements were deceptive as Lottoland provided wagers on lottery outcomes, not participation in the lotteries themselves. Lottoland’s advertisements on the search engines stated phrases like “Irish Lotto – Only £2” and “£2 Charity Combination. Enhance your odds on Charity Lotteries + 5x on BRC Scratch. Back UK charitable organizations here.”

Although Lottoland consented to modify its advertisements, the ASA determined in favor of the complainant because technical issues with external advertisement templates hindered the implementation of Lottoland’s revisions.

Moreover, the ASA concluded that employing terms such as “Lotto,” “Irish Lotto,” and “US Power Lotto” – devoid of supplementary information – had the potential to mislead customers into believing the advertisements offered opportunities to partake in official lotteries. The ASA also found that referencing UK charities contributed to the perception that Lottoland functioned as an official lottery administrator.

These conclusions indicated that Lottoland violated the CAP Code regulations 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading Advertising). Consequently, the ASA mandated that Lottoland’s advertisements must cease to be displayed in the manner that prompted the complaint, specifically on Bing or Google.

The ASA issued a warning to Lottoland, stating that upcoming promotional materials cannot deceive the public. For instance, they should not give the impression of selling genuine lottery entries when it is actually wagering on the results.

Furthermore, they emphasized that Lottoland must include unambiguous disclaimers regarding betting, and these disclaimers must be prominently displayed in all advertisements.