Massive rise in betting ads: A call for vigilance
What these teams uncovered was alarming.
Many of these platforms used artificial intelligence to create deepfake videos featuring fabricated testimonials—people claiming they had made so much money from betting that they no longer needed to work. These ads were not only deceptive but dangerously persuasive. In several cases, up to 60 different URLs directed users to the same illegal betting site—an elaborate strategy to bypass detection and takedown measures.
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Even more concerning was how such promotions were embedded in seemingly innocent content. Cooking tutorials, lifestyle tips, and other harmless-looking videos were found to contain hidden links—via tickers, hashtags, or even bio links—leading viewers to betting platforms. Major social media platforms, despite their advanced ad systems, struggled to catch and block these ads.
This raises a crucial question: Who is responsible for ensuring such illegal and misleading ads don't reach consumers? While ASCI continues to do its part through proactive monitoring, there is a clear need for stronger platform accountability to detect such violations of the law, and prevent such ads from appearing in consumer feeds. ASCI works closely with government regulators to report such breaches of the law, who then take them down; however addressing this at scale remains a challenge.
Digital infrastructure growth and smartphone usage, while being critical economic drivers, have facilitated such potentially harmful targeting of consumers. As has the promotion of betting apps by celebrities and social media influencers. A Digital India Foundation report in March said that just four such platforms accounted for 1.6 billion visits in a mere three months. Organic search traffic to these sites was recorded at 184 million visits.
Also read: Brands pile in, ads get shorter: IPL 18 rewrites the rules of cricket-time marketing: Report
Another recent report, by the think tank Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) International, warned about the explosive growth of illegal online gambling platforms, of threats to minors, young adults and national financial integrity. Such platforms, the report said, had estimated annual deposits of about $100 billion and the top 15 illegal platforms logged 5.4 billion visits in FY25. The CUTS report further highlighted that these platforms often bypass basic safeguards such as Know Your Customer and age verification, giving minors and young adults unregulated access to gambling content. Some offshore operators even use tactics like cash-on-delivery, making it easier for minors who may lack digital payment access, to gamble.
Such is their reach that in March 2025, one such platform outranked even universally popular sites like amazon.in, wikipedia.org and google.co, as per reports.
ASCI's recently released annual complaints report showed a sharp spike in the rise of illegal offshore betting and gambling ads. From 1,311 in 2023-24 to 3,081 in 2024-25, the number of cases reported more than doubled. ASCI enhanced monitoring resources and set up a special monitoring cell, under an MoU it signed with the federations representing Real Money Games, which are legally permitted and regulated in most states in India.
Left unchecked, the gambling platforms can lead to addictive behaviour and financial risks. Additionally, they can expose consumers to risks like cyber attacks and unsafe online environments. Such unregulated activity can even threaten national security by acting as channels for money laundering and terror financing.
Also read: From skincare to smartphones: Ads by Apple, Mamaearth, L'Oreal under scrutiny
Hence, there is a serious risk for consumers and society.
As digital infrastructure and access to it grows, such platforms have the potential to target more consumers who are unaware of their illegality and harmful impacts. Regular monitoring and collaborations between industry, self-regulators and the government will be the key to consumer protection in the days to come. In the long term, a comprehensive regulatory framework that addresses some of the challenges of online gambling will need to be established to provide systemic solutions to this large-scale consumer threat.
Manisha Kapoor is chief executive officer and secretary general of the Advertising Standards Council of India.
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