Dutch regulator cracks down on affiliates

In Holland, the Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has taken action to stop 23 affiliate marketing websites from promoting online gambling brands.  

The KSA stated that its latest campaign involved reviewing 44 affiliate websites that were examined based on the regulator’s observation and reports from other third parties. It identified iGaming adverts on 26 of the websites with 20 immediately withdrawing the ads after being contacted by the regulator.  

A further three only agreed to remove the adverts, after the KSA warned that a penalty could be imposed. 

The three remaining websites are still being investigated and the KSA has opted not to disclose or identify these websites.

The agency noted that its latest actions were part of its task to protect local gamblers, especially vulnerable groups such as young people. This is the second time when the KSA has opted to investigate affiliate marketing in the online gaming sector, with an initial study conducted from 2016 to 2017 leading to 17 sites pulling iGaming ads.

Online gaming and the advertising of such activities are currently illegal in the Netherlands, but this will change soon after Dutch Senate in February passed the Netherlands’ Remote Gambling Act. Kansspelautoriteit is set to begin accepting license applications from mid-2020, and the market will open on January 1, 2021. The regulator has recently revealed that it has received 183 expressions of interest from online gambling companies, with 89 of them coming from foreign companies.