Betfair criticised for misleading advertising

Both television and website advertisements by online gambling group Betfair came in for scrutiny by the UK Advertising Standards Authority recently, which ruled against the gambling company on an issue over a money back promise.

The marketing publication The Drum reports that four consumers challenged whether the ads, which featured text such as “2014 Wimbledon first bet only money back if Murray wins”, were misleading because they understood that consumers actually received a free bet token.

Betfair responded that as the ads were restricted by space, it used “Money Back” rather than “Money Back as a Free Bet” to describe the offers as it claimed the term was “well understood” by the average consumer of gambling services, and when clicked on pop-up messages appeared which clearly set out all the conditions.

The betting company added that as it was not possible to take part in the promotions without seeing the pop-up message, they believed that the ads were not misleading.

The ASA ruled that although it welcomed Betfair’s willingness to amend its ads, they were nevertheless deemed misleading as the terms of the “money back” and “refund” offer were not made immediately clear to consumers.

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