UK boasts of having removed three million illegal gambling addresses from search engines in six months

The Gambling Commission has reported the removal of 3,038,969 URLs from search engine results between April and September 2026, a figure that reflects the intensification of its actions against the illegal offer of online gambling.

The data was presented by Sarah Gardner, acting CEO of the regulator, during her speech on November 5, officially published the following day.

In the first six months of the year, the agency notified search engines of 7,824,932 URLs, compared to the 397,527 reported during the whole of the previous year. Removals go from 266,667 to more than three million.

The Commission also counts 1,668 websites deactivated or geo-blocked, compared to 1,134 registered during the previous full year.

Notifications of cessation of activity addressed to operators and advertisers reached 1,005, exceeding the 741 of the previous year.

The distinction between the numbers is essential: removing a URL from search results does not necessarily mean shutting down an illegal platform. Nor can the number of addresses removed be equated with the number of operators that have ceased to operate.

Gardner links the increase in actions to the reinforcement of the resources of the regulator, which has an additional funding of 26 million pounds over three years to combat the illegal market.

The figures show an increase in supervisory activity, but they do not allow us to determine for themselves how much the economic volume of illegal British gambling has been reduced.