UK Gambling Commission fights back against unlicensed gambling sites
The UK Gambling Commission has reported more than 7.8 million URLs associated with illegal gambling to search engines during the first six months of the financial year, substantially exceeding its enforcement activity throughout 2025/26.
Acting chief executive Sarah Gardner revealed the figures in a speech published on November 6, outlining the regulator’s expanding efforts to disrupt unlicensed gambling operators targeting British consumers.
Between April and September, the Commission reported 7,824,932 URLs to search engines, resulting in 3,038,969 removals.
That compares with 397,527 URLs reported and 266,667 removed during the entire previous financial year.
The regulator also issued 1,005 cease-and-desist notices during the six-month period, exceeding the 741 issued throughout 2025/26.
Another 2,201 websites were referred to search engines for delisting, while 1,668 websites were taken down.
Gardner said the increased enforcement activity followed additional government funding allocated to tackling illegal gambling.
The UK Government committed £26 million over three years to strengthen the Commission’s enforcement capabilities, with the first £7 million becoming available earlier this year.
“We have continued to push forward with our world leading approach to disruption and now, just over six months since the first £7 million of the new funding arrived, we have been able to really start to scale up our capacity,” Gardner said.
The figures follow new research estimating that approximately 1% of British adults had used an illegal gambling website during the previous 12 months.
Gardner acknowledged that enforcement priorities could change as the regulator develops better methods of measuring illegal gambling activity.
