FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2026

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A majority of top YouTube podcasts with host-read ads promoted at least one online gambling sponsor in the past year, according to a new analysis by nonprofit watchdog group Campaign for Accountability (CfA). 53% of these shows ran gambling ads, and the number rose to 66% for shows hosted primarily by men, 83% for sports podcasts, and 93% for podcasts hosted by male stand-up comedians.

Read CfA’s report.

CfA’s report follows a survey that found YouTube is the most frequent place where teen boys encounter gambling ads—even more frequently than they do on social media or live TV. While YouTube has specific advertising policies designed to prevent minors from seeing programmatic gambling ads, host-read gambling ads integrated into episode content are often completely accessible to children of any age on YouTube. This includes every gambling-sponsored podcast episode CfA logged in its review.

There is also research suggesting that the parasocial relationships young fans form with podcast hosts and influencers may make these host-read ads especially potent. One study concluded that ads “delivered by a media personality as a seamless part of the programming content [are] perceived as more authentic and memorable than a traditional ad.”

Alongside this advertising blitz, experts are reporting an alarming lack of gambling literacy in younger generations. According to a survey by the National Council on Problem Gambling, 18- to 34-year-olds were more than three and a half times more likely than people aged 55 and older to agree that “Gambling is a good way to make money.”

In March 2025—presumably in response to growing concern around youth exposure to gambling ads—YouTube posted on its community “Help” site that it would begin age-restricting videos that included “depictions or promotions of online casino sites or apps” “to protect viewers from potentially harmful content.” Yet, at the same time and without explanation, YouTube exempted “online sports betting and depictions of in-person gambling” from the new age restrictions.

Under these new rules, users must be logged into an 18+ account to view any podcast with host-read ads promoting online casino gambling. Yet, CfA’s review surfaced multiple episodes containing ads for online casino products that were viewable without logging into an account. This suggests that YouTube is failing to enforce even the meager gambling policies it already implemented.

CfA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “When public health experts raise the alarm about how unrestricted gambling advertising is impacting young people, they don’t carve out an exemption in their concern for sports betting—and neither should YouTube. If the platform is truly interested in protecting kids from harm, it must enforce the rules it already has on the books and re-examine its willingness to let some of the most frequent online gambling advertising slide.”

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.