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REGULATION
VICTIMISING THE VULNERABLE
Yield Sec chief executive Ismail Vali explains how illegal gambling operators are targeting self-excluded players across Europe
S ince Yield Sec ’ s debut in 2022 , we ’ ve found ourselves at the forefront of discussions surrounding the intricate dynamics of grey , white and black operators in the gambling ecosystem .
We specialise in fathoming the interplay between the legal and illegal facets of the gambling industry – the duality dilemma – that exists in all regulated marketplaces today .
A critical concern that has surfaced across our tech , AI and machine-learning radar is what we classify as “ VV ”, or Vulnerability Victimisation .
VULNERABILITY VICTIMISATION
Legal , licensed operators are both prevented and regulated against marketing towards children and problem gamblers who have self-excluded from accessing their services .
We are all , no doubt , familiar with instances of breach , often unknowing or unwitting , by legal operators when they have communicated with self-excluded players , and faced
“ Illegal operators navigate the acquisition landscape by targeting audiences shunned by the legal industry , effectively minimising their costs ” investigations , fines and censure from regulators as a result .
From the view of the Yield Sec monitoring and surveillance platform , however , these breaches by legal operators merely scratch the surface . The Yield Sec platform reveals a far more extensive , largely unmonitored landscape where illegal operators are strategically exploiting vulnerable audiences as a basic tenet of their go-to-market strategy .
At the heart of this disconcerting trend are two pivotal metrics : cost per acquisition ( CPA ) and revenue per player ( RPP ). Illegal operators navigate the acquisition landscape by targeting audiences who have been shunned by the legal industry , thus effectively minimising their costs .
By focusing on search terms related to self-exclusion loopholes , these operators harness them as potent tools to provide betting and gaming services to vulnerable audiences at an unprecedented scale .
124 • ISSUE 135 • ICE LONDON 2024