1) The new AI ad stack
Google: Performance Max & AI Max for Search
Google’s AI now optimizes bidding, budgets, audiences, creative and attribution across channels in one campaign. New 2025 features add more controls and reporting, but the system remains largely automation-first. Expect better scale; trade some transparency.
Meta: Advantage+ automation
Meta’s Advantage+ suites automate placements and targeting, with fewer manual levers than in 2023–24. For gambling, ads still require written permission and strict age gating (18+). Build creative/offer testing into the plan because audience knobs are limited.
AI in search results
Google is expanding ads inside AI Overviews/AI Mode, which can change click flows from SERPs. Monitor assisted conversions and incrementality as AI summaries grow.
Privacy reality check
Chrome didn’t fully kill third-party cookies in 2025; the UK CMA noted Google’s revised approach. Still, expect more consent controls and signal loss—lean into 1P data and modeled conversion.
2) Platform & policy shifts marketers must track
- Google Ads (Gambling & Games): Country-specific requirements change; April/July 2025 updates tightened definitions and certification rules in some regions. Re-verify eligibility and landing-domain scope before scaling.
- Meta gambling ads: Permission required; minors strictly excluded. Expect stricter enforcement against unlicensed operators.
- Creator platforms: YouTube introduced stricter rules for gambling mentions/links and age-restrictions in early 2025—factor into influencer plans.
3) KYC, fraud & deepfakes: AI at the door
Synthetic IDs and real-time deepfakes are surging; vendors report a material share of failed verifications are now deepfake related. Defensive patterns include passive liveness, document forensics, behavioral biometrics, and device intelligence—ideally orchestrated by ML.
Pair this with data-protection guardrails. The UK ICO’s AI guidance emphasizes fairness, transparency and lawful basis for personal-data processing; the EU AI Act phases in obligations (prohibitions effective Feb 2025; GPAI rules Aug 2025). Map models, data sources, and risk class now.
4) Safer-gambling AI in production
- Entain ARC uses behavioral indicators and AI to score risk and trigger pre-harm interventions. Evidence-based nudges beat purely reactive rules.
- neccton (OpenBet) provides real-time RG/AML/fraud analytics at scale; OpenBet integrated it to bolster player protection across operators.
- Playtech BetBuddy powers personalized risk analytics and interventions and expanded to more brands/jurisdictions through 2024–25.
- Evolution (live casino) reports AI that verifies behavior at tables in real time; AI detected 35% of suspected addiction cases in 2024 (up from 22% in 2023), with increased moderator coverage.
- Impact signals: Some groups report declines in high-risk revenue after tightening controls and processes, suggesting the approaches can scale.
Governance tip: Align RG models with privacy law; document features, thresholds, human-in-the-loop escalation, and contact strategies.
5) Game design & QA: what AI can (and can’t) change
Regulatory constraints drive UX
UK Remote Technical Standards updates (effective Jan 17, 2025) ban or limit features like autoplay, “turbo/slam-stop,” celebrations of returns ≤ stake, and require a minimum 5-second spin for casino games (p2p poker excluded). AI can optimize art, pacing, and tutorialization—but cannot bypass these timing/feedback rules.
AI-assisted production
Teams increasingly use AI for ideation, asset generation and localization (e.g., Unity Muse/AI) and automated play-testing with QA bots to find crashes and regressions during rapid content drops. Treat outputs as drafts; keep human sign-off for math/UX fairness.
6) Sportsbooks: pricing, micro-markets & personalization
Sportsbooks have long used ML for pricing and same-game correlation; the pace is accelerating. Expect more ML-driven odds updates and micro-markets generated in real time, expanding bet surfaces far beyond human traders’ capacity. Build controls for latency, limits, and RG triggers tied to rapid-fire wagering.
Micro-betting engines (e.g., tech acquired by major operators) broaden “every moment is a market,” boosting engagement—and risk—during live events. Balance with session limits, velocity caps, and clear UI friction.
7) A 12-point 2025 action checklist
- Map your AI: Inventory every ad, KYC, CRM, and in-product model; record data sources, objectives, and human oversight.
- Re-certify ads: Re-check Google/Meta gambling eligibility by market; confirm landing domains and disclosures.
- Prep for AI search: Track traffic shifts as ads appear in AI Overviews/Mode; update attribution.
- Harden onboarding: Add passive liveness, document forensics and behavior ML; monitor deepfake rates in QA.
- Design for RTS (UK & similar): Respect 5-second spins, no autoplay/turbo, and truthful feedback effects.
- Deploy RG models: Calibrate thresholds; prove efficacy via A/B holdouts and operator KPIs.
- First-party data: Strengthen consent UX and server-side conversion measurement amid cookie policy shifts.
- Creative ops: Treat AI assets as drafts; maintain art QA and IP checks; watermark where required.
- Odds governance: Monitor latency, model drift, and bet-velocity triggers for in-play/micro markets.
- Train support/moderators: Pair AI flags with trained agents for rapid, empathetic interventions.
- Audit vendors: Document model lineage, data handling, and incident response from KYC to RG.
- Plan updates: Revisit policies quarterly; 2025–26 will add EU AI Act obligations and further platform changes.
8) FAQs
Is AI-generated personalization allowed in real-money games?
Yes for UX/placement and tutorials; no for altering certified game math on a per-player basis in regulated markets. Follow local technical standards and testing strategies.
Do we still need cookie workarounds in 2025?
Yes—despite Google’s change of course on full third-party cookie deprecation, consent and signal loss remain strategic issues. Invest in 1P data and modeled conversions.
What proves AI improves player safety?
Suppliers and operators report measurable results when models are paired with human oversight (e.g., Evolution’s AI-assisted detections; BetBuddy expansion; Entain ARC). Publish your own outcome metrics.
Sources & further reading
- UKGC Remote Technical Standards update (Jan 2025) and summary page.
- EU AI Act (application timeline & phased obligations in 2025–26).
- Google Ads: Performance Max & 2025 feature updates; AI Max for Search.
- Meta gambling-ads permission & age rules.
- Privacy Sandbox oversight & third-party cookies update.
- Deepfake/KYC & fraud trends (2025).
- Entain ARC; OpenBet × neccton; Playtech BetBuddy; Evolution AI moderation.
- Ads inside AI search experiences.
- YouTube gambling-content restrictions (2025).
