German gambling regulator reflects on the year in review

The German gambling regulator, the GGL, has published its year in review, outlining some of the core challenges and the successfully completed milestones during the year. The regulator said that 2024 was a year which presented the watchdog with a variety of challenges, but the GGL remained confident in its ability to leverage expertise and innovative approaches to addressing these issues.

Germany targets black market gambling in 2024

One of the main focuses of the regulator during the year – and moving forward – has been to ensure that illegal gambling websites are not profitable and therefore disincentivized to operate in the country. By imposing payment blocks, geolocation restrictions, bans and fines, the GGL has been actively seeking to limit the impact the black market has had on the regulated market.

The GGL has celebrated combating illegal gambling offers as one of its main achievements of the year.

GGL Board Member Ronald Benter had this to say in a translated statement commenting on the road ahead: "The regulation of the gambling market remains an area of ​​tension between channeling the demand for online gambling into a legally compliant and less dangerous market from an addiction prevention perspective and, at the same time, preventing gambling addiction and protecting young people and players."

The regulator outlined the core strategies that have helped it make headway against the black market, including geo-blocking based on the Digital Services Act, mandating payment blocking, and working closely with Google to revise its advertising guidelines for gambling providers in Germany to ensure that unauthorized businesses have a much harder time getting a foothold into the market.

Despite serious challenges, regulator prevailing against illegal gambling

The GGL has also made sure to use its regulatory heft to issue warnings to providers, and acknowledge misbehavior publicly, raising the stakes for stakeholders who have breached the country’s gambling laws. Yet, the regulator acknowledged the ongoing "serious" challenges from the black market.

In fact, the regulator and the industry have come in head-to-head clashes over the exact reach of the illegal gambling market in the country. The GGL has insisted that industry publications suggesting a very high prevalence of black-market operations were not accurate, and that the GGL has engaged in establishing the true reach of these operations through a scientific study that uses reliable data basis.

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