Italian authorities continue to zone-in on reforms needed to reclassify gambling advertising and marketing and customer communications and incentives.

This week the media agency of AGCOM confirmed the launch of a new consultation on “responsible gambling communications”.

The consultation follows a public window that drew more than 20 stakeholder submissions, citing that clarity was needed in how gambling licences communicate promotions and updates with consumers.

Marketing communications and engagements are viewed as grey matters since Italy’s near-total ban on gambling advertising as of 2019, under the laws of a much-contested Dignity Decree of the short-lived Lega-5Star coalition government.

While AGCOM insists the review does not amend the terms of the Dignity Decree itself, the regulator is attempting to establish clearer rules ahead of any wider reform of Italy’s advertising framework.

Initiated in 2019, the Dignity Decree prohibits virtually all gambling advertising and sponsorship activity across television, radio, digital media, sports partnerships and social platforms. The restrictions also extend to indirect promotion, affiliate marketing and engagement-led campaigns.

At the centre of the AGCOM review is the question of customer engagement and what constitutes “informational” versus “promotional” communication.

Operators continue to seek clarity on whether bonuses, odds boosts, VIP programmes, retention messaging, influencer campaigns and affiliate activity breach the existing framework.

Clarity is needed on the boundaries of gambling marketing communications, as AGCOM remains at the centre of high-profile multi-million-euro legal disputes involving Meta, Google and YouTube — cases that Italian courts are increasingly seeking to resolve decisively.

AGCOM is expected to tighten interpretations around any communication capable of indirectly incentivising gambling participation.

The review arrives amid mounting political pressure to revisit the Dignity Decree as Italy advances broader gambling reforms, including new online concessions and discussions over restoring betting sponsorships in football. The mandate has been handed to Sports Minister Andrea Abodi to negotiate with Italian football and the Olympic Committee.

ADM cracks whip

Alongside AGCOM’s communications crackdown, Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) continues to intensify online enforcement against illegal operators.

This week ADM added a further 146 domains to its blacklist of unauthorised gambling websites, taking the number of blocked sites in 2026 to more than 500. 

Since 2019, Italian authorities have blocked over 12,000 illegal gambling portals.

The dual enforcement strategy highlights Italy’s increasingly aggressive posture on gambling oversight, as regulators attempt to balance consumer protection, black-market suppression and growing pressure to modernise one of Europe’s toughest advertising regimes.