A study on illegal gambling domains in the Netherlands reports that traffic to illegal websites has "significantly increased" since the introduction of deposit limits last year.
The Dutch Quality Mark Responsible Affiliate Organization (KVA) plans to release an online analysis indicating that since the deposit limits took effect in October, traffic to domains found by searching for "unlimited casinos" or "no Cruks casinos" (Dutch self-exclusion system) has been steadily increasing.
In October, the traffic to illegal domains was 172,576, which rose to 294,255 in November. By February, the traffic to illegal domains had reached 412,997. This month (as of March 5), the traffic has surpassed the one million mark.
According to KVA's study, the number of domains related to illegal services appearing in popular search results for "unlimited casinos" or "no Cruks casinos" also increased from 19 in October to 72 in March.
KVA is a Dutch advisory committee established by the law firm XY Legal Solutions, responsible for delineating whether affiliate websites comply with Dutch regulations.
The compliance framework of the company is established by the Quality Mark Responsible Affiliate Organization (QMRA), which also analyzes the compliance of affiliate organizations. Both organizations use the SEO analysis tool Semrush to study the monthly traffic of illegal websites.
In response to the continuous increase in traffic to illegal websites, KVA calls for a thoughtful approach to regulate illegal online gambling.
KVA warns: "Further restricting legal advertising may have unintended negative consequences, leading players to switch to illegal platforms more quickly."
KSA Deposit Thresholds
The Dutch regulatory authority Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) introduced a series of protective measures, which took effect last October.
The rule includes a deposit threshold related to a player's net deposits within a calendar month.
If the net deposit exceeds 700 euros (583 pounds/777 dollars) in a month, any remaining deposits will be frozen. For people aged 18 to 25, the limit is set at 300 euros. Players can increase the deposit limit by providing appropriate proof of income to the operator.
Last month (February 14), the regulatory authority released a report finding that since the new rules were implemented, the number of people losing more than 1,000 euros in a month has decreased from 4% to 1%.
However, it recalculated the channelization data. While it found that 91% of gamblers bet with legal providers, it noted that since October, the proportion of funds lost on legal sites has dropped from 60% to 50%. This finding suggests that half of the market's lost funds are flowing to illegal sites.
In its February report, KSA stated: "The introduction of these policy rules has reduced excessive gambling behavior at legal venues."
"However, heavy gamblers are likely to have already turned to illegal providers, while casual players almost continue to play at legal providers."
