Paid traffic and media buying in iGaming affiliate marketing

A media buyer buys traffic, in search, social or display, and sends it to operators for commission. Operators have particular reasons to look closely at it: paid placements can reach people their licence says must not be reached, and because paid traffic can be bought to trigger payouts. Know the rules and keep the evidence, and paid traffic is welcome. This guide covers both.

Programme terms quoted here were read in October 2026. Clauses change, so check the current version before you launch.

Brand bidding: banned in every programme we read

All eight programmes whose terms we read ban brand bidding, meaning paid search ads on the operator's own brand terms.

Add every brand you promote to your negative keyword lists before launch, including misspellings, and keep a dated export of the list. bet365's wording covers terms "similar to" its marks, so exact match alone is not enough.

Restricted keywords

888 (3.12) and William Hill (5.20) also ban keywords on the "UK Industry Keyword Black List", which they treat as confidential: ask your affiliate manager for it. Entain bans keywords aimed at self-excluded or vulnerable people, including "self-excluded" or "GAMSTOP" (5.15(l)).

Platform rules we can confirm

Platform policies change often and differ between paid ads and creator-led paid partnerships. These are the ones we checked on 4 October 2026.

• X ads. X allows online casino, sports betting, bingo and lottery ads targeting the UK only if the advertiser is licensed by the Gambling Commission, with pre-approval by certification. The policy covers affiliates and bonus codes.
• X paid partnerships. Separately, gambling is a prohibited industry for organic paid-partnership posts in the UK, the EU and Australia, with case-by-case exceptions.
• Instagram and Facebook branded content. Real-money gambling needs written permission from Meta for both the business partner and the creator, posts targeted to people aged 18 or over, and restriction to the permitted jurisdiction.
• TikTok branded content (policy effective 31 August 2026). In the UK, gambling branded content is restricted to users over 18 and to the market where it was posted. In markets including Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal it is not allowed at all.

We have not covered Google's or Meta's paid ad policies for gambling here. Read each platform's current gambling ads policy, and its certification process, before you spend.

Targeting and under-18 rules in Great Britain

Where your ads run

CAP rule 16.3.13 bars directing gambling ads at under-18s through the selection of media or context. CAP's media placement guidance applies a 25% test: no medium should carry gambling ads if more than 25% of its audience is under 18. Marketers must show proactive, reasonable steps, such as choosing placements where adults are at least 75% of the audience and using the targeting tools available. CAP says its age-restricted ads guidance should also be used by affiliates and agencies acting for a marketer.

Keep your evidence. In the White Hat Gaming ruling (16 September 2026), the ASA rejected referral data as evidence of a site's audience, because successful referrals are all over 18, and said social media data did not establish a website's audience. It decided on content and context instead. Placement reports and the audience data behind your targeting choices are what count.

What your ads show

• Strong appeal. CAP rule 16.3.12 bars gambling ads likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s, especially through youth culture.
• Nobody who looks under 25. Rule 16.3.14 bars anyone who is, or seems to be, under 25 from featuring in gambling or a significant role. In the Midnite ruling (16 September 2026), a paid TikTok ad made by an affiliate used an AI-generated character who appeared under 25. It breached the rule, and the ruling was made against both the operator and the affiliate, although the operator said it had not sanctioned the ad.

For the regulator's own guidance, read CAP's age-restricted ads online guidance. This guide is not legal advice.

Operator view

Generated creative is quick to make and quick to get wrong. We need to see paid creatives and landing pages before they run, because the ruling lands on us whether or not we approved the ad.

Other markets

• Netherlands. From 1 July 2023, untargeted online gambling advertising is banned: no TV, radio, print or ads in public places. Online advertising is allowed under conditions, including a results obligation that at least 95% of people reached are aged 24 or over; if that is not met, the advertising must stop. Ads must not be aimed at minors, at 18 to 24 year olds or at self-excluded people, and may not appear in games or on sites or apps offering games. Only KSA-licensed operators may be advertised.
• Germany. No internet advertising for virtual slots, online poker or online casino between 6am and 9pm (GlüStV 2021 §5(3)).
• Ontario. Standard 2.05 bans public advertising of bonuses and inducements, which the AGCO's guidance says includes targeted and algorithm-based ads.
• Sweden. Commercial gambling messages must show the minimum age and, except on radio, contact details for a problem-gambling support organisation (Spellag 15:3).
• Ireland. The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 will, once commenced, allow social media advertising only to users who have subscribed to the licensee's account (s.146). That section had not been commenced as at the latest orders we found, up to 30 June 2026.

For the Netherlands, the KSA's own summary of the main advertising rules is the place to check. This guide is not legal advice.

Tracking and fraud scrutiny

Several of the affiliate fraud prohibitions in programme terms are aimed at paid traffic, so expect review, and keep records that answer it.

What the terms prohibit:

• Cookies without clicks. Entain bans ads relying on "cookies dropping on an ad impression" (5.15(g)) and opening its site other than by a user clicking (5.15(i)).
• Pop-ups and pop-unders. FDJ United bans pop-up and pop-under framing on sites the affiliate does not own (3.9(7)).
• Incentives. Entain (5.15(a)) and FDJ United (3.9(1)) ban incentivised traffic; Super Partners does not pay for it "in any form", including sharing the CPA with the customer.
• Low-intent sign-ups. Rank treats encouraging registration only to obtain CPA, with no intent to deposit, as dishonest (7.10). 888 allows one Lead per household device (4.5).

What happens when traffic looks wrong: FDJ United (6.7) and LeoVegas (5.3.3) can withhold CPA for accounts flagged for bonus abuse or fraud. 888 can withhold commission during fraud reviews of up to 180 days (5.19). LeoVegas deducts adjustments for invalid traffic in its net revenue definition.

Keep the evidence that lets you answer a query fast: campaign and placement exports, keyword and negative keyword lists with dates, creative versions, and click logs.

Affiliate view

Paid traffic draws questions, and a blanket hold on a whole balance can stall the next month's spend. Keep exports you can send the same day, and ask the programme what it holds and for how long before you scale.

Which deal types suit paid traffic

You pay for media now. How you are paid back decides your cash flow.

• CPA pays once per qualifying customer, so spend comes back sooner. Read the qualification rules closely: bet365 allows six months for a first deposit, 888 90 days and LeoVegas 60 days, and Super Partners adds minimum wagering agreed with your affiliate manager. LeoVegas treats the first 50 CPA players as a test phase, after which it may change pricing or volumes (5.3.2).
• Revenue share pays over the player's life, which can be worth more but leaves you funding the gap.
• Hybrid deals mix the two. Check whether a negative revenue share month can reduce your CPAs; William Hill's terms say it can (8.4).

Some markets decide for you. Germany's GlüStV §5(6) bans variable pay, including revenue share and deposit- or stake-based CPA, for internet advertising of products covered by the OASIS exclusion system, which leaves a flat fee. Massachusetts, New York and Illinois bar revenue share for the products their rules cover, and Connecticut's wording also reaches per-player payments.

Test your own numbers with the deal calculator before you agree a rate, and compare models in CPA vs revenue share.

Checklist

• Every promoted brand, and close variants, on your negative keyword lists
• Restricted keyword list requested from each programme
• Platform gambling ad policy and certification checked for each channel
• Placements chosen so adults are at least 75% of the audience, with evidence kept
• No one who is or seems under 25 in creative, including generated characters
• Creatives and landing pages approved by the operator before launch
• Market rules applied: Netherlands 24+, Germany 6am to 9pm, Ontario bonus ban
• Campaign, keyword and click records kept and dated
• CPA qualification, test phase and withholding terms read
• Deal type checked against market rules on variable pay