A fine has been issued by the German regulator for advertising violations

An operator, whose identity remains undisclosed, has been fined a five-figure amount by the Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), the German regulator, for breaching advertising regulations. The exact amount of the fine has not been disclosed.

The GGL penalized the operator for intentionally advertising its services on websites that also promoted illegal gambling activities, as per the regulator. This act was a breach of Germany’s Fourth State Treaty on Gambling, which became effective in July 2021.

The GGL was established under the Fourth State Treaty on Gambling, which granted it control over all aspects of gambling regulation in Germany starting from January 1, 2023, and also took over the responsibility of enforcing illegal gambling on July 1, 2022, from various state-level ministries.

“We consider these advertising regulations to be very reasonable and fair,” said Ronald Benter, CEO of the GGL. “The GGL consistently monitors the offerings of legal providers and in the event of any violations, we impose substantial fines. We are not hesitant to revoke the license in the case of repeated breaches of the provisions of the State Treaty on Gaming.”

According to Benjamin Schwanke, a board member at GGL, operators that advertise on websites promoting illegal gambling are also harming their own reputation. “Legal online gambling providers should not have any interest in advertising on sites that also promote illegal gambling,” he said. “This will damage the reputation of the providers.”