The Guardian gives gambling advertisements the boot

By Dave Sawyer, Last updated Jun 30, 2023

The Guardian newspaper have today announced that they will no longer accept advertisements from betting companies, which comes as a surprise, as one would have thought that they had already taken this stance many years ago.

Anna Bateson, the Chief Executive of Guardian Media Group (GMG), explained on The Guardian’s website that the decision was driven by research findings, a shift in public attitudes, and The Guardian’s own reporting.

Bateson stated: “Studies have clearly shown a correlation between exposure to gambling advertising and an increased inclination to engage in regular gambling… Ultimately, we believe our primary obligation is to act in the best interest of our readers, which is why we have concluded that there are alternative methods to generate revenue.”

According to The Guardian’s Chief Advertising Officer, Imogen Fox, gambling advertisements globally account for less than 1% of their revenues, although she noted that this figure has changed over time and is difficult to quantify.

A spokesperson for The Guardian revealed that the newspaper’s global ad revenues from gambling have ranged between £250,000 and £500,000 in recent years.

According to its latest financial statements, GMG reported an annual revenue of £255.8 million. These statements also unveiled The Guardian’s first cash surplus in many years and its highest revenue in the past decade.

Imogen Fox clarified that the majority of The Guardian’s gambling advertisements were programmatically served, rather than directly purchased, which interestingly means that the ban will not terminate any existing advertiser partnerships.

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