Research Methodology

Building a platform record

Each cell in the platform matrix is a record with these fields: country, platform, ad products, advertiser type, product category, license requirement, approval route, targeting rules, disclosures, exceptions, effective date, the source and its exact section, the source's own date, and the date we reviewed it. The full set downloads as a CSV from the matrix page.

A record gets one of three statuses:

• Allowed with approval when the platform's own country entry lists gambling ads as permitted or eligible, subject to its approval or certification and a local license, without describing the country as restricted.
• Restricted when the platform's own country entry uses its own restriction label, such as "permitted with restrictions" or "partially restricted".
• Unknown / verify official policy when we cannot confirm the position from an official page. This is the default.

The status follows the platform's own label, not our view of how narrow the product list is. Product lists are recorded exactly as the platform words them in the product field, so two markets with similar products can carry different statuses when one platform labels its entry restricted and another does not. National law can still ban products a platform lists; Australia's ban on online casino-style games applies whatever a platform's entry says.

We never record "Allowed" or "Not allowed" without an official source, and a law firm or trade summary can inform a note but not a status.

Country rules

Definitions of the terms used in records are in the glossary. For each market we read the regulator's rules, the advertising codes and, in the US, state regulations. Where a rule is long, we quote the operative words and give the section number, such as Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) Standard 2.05 or 205 CMR 256.05. If we read a rule through a reproduction, such as a legal database, we say so and suggest checking the official text.

Dates

Every page shows when it was last updated, and every source shows its own date or "no date shown". Platform pages often change without a date, which is why our review date matters. This edition was checked on October 28, 2026.

Gaps and conflicts

Some official pages do not return readable text, name no countries or disagree with each other. We state the problem on the page and in the record, keep the status at "Unknown", and list what we tried. The data sources page lists these cases, and every page that uses them can be found in the research archive.

Updates and corrections

We recheck when a platform or regulator announces a change, add real changes to the change tracker and update the affected records. Readers can report errors through the contact page; the process is in our editorial policy.