7.7 Million Illegal Gambling Links Reported in UK

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) reported 7.7 million illegal gambling URLs to search engines between July and September 2026. Of these, 3,019,291 were removed, and 1,835 websites were reported for delisting from search results. The figure marks a significant increase compared with the 147,721 URLs reported between April and June.

Acting Chief Executive Sarah Gardner said the regulator had substantially increased its enforcement activity after receiving additional government funding. The Commission will receive a total of £26 million in new funding over three years. Gardner said the organisation began expanding its capacity about six months after the first £7 million arrived. Gardner said, “There is still a lot of work to do.”

Between April and September, 1,005 cease-and-desist and withdrawal notices were sent to advertisers and operators. In the whole of the previous financial year, that number was 741. In the first six months of the 2026/27 financial year, the Commission reported 7,824,932 URLs to search engines, and 3,038,969 URLs were removed. In the 2025/26 financial year, these figures had been recorded as 397,527 reports and 266,667 removals, respectively.

In the same period, 2,201 websites were reported for delisting, compared with 1,068 in the previous financial year. Between April and September, 1,668 sites were closed or geographically blocked. This first-half total is above the figure of 1,134 for the whole of the 2025/26 financial year. According to the Commission's dashboard data, action was taken against 311 illegal gambling sites in the second quarter of the 2026/27 financial year. This is 38 percent higher than the previous quarter.