How to stop seeing so many gambling ads

Why it matters

Every ad is a small nudge: “What's the harm in one?” When you're trying to stop, fewer nudges means fewer moments that set off an urge. The settings below take a few minutes.

Google, YouTube and Discover

Google lets you limit ads on sensitive topics, including gambling. The setting applies to Google Search, YouTube and Discover.

1. Signed in to your Google account, open myadcenter.google.com.
2. Go to Customize ads and choose the Sensitive tab.
3. Turn off the switch for Gambling. It's then shown as limited, and the change saves automatically.

Worth knowing: it only works while you're signed in. If you search for something gambling-related, ads can still appear. Sensitive topics are allowed by default, so gambling ads aren't limited until you switch this off.

Instagram and Facebook

If both apps are linked in the same Accounts Center, the setting applies to both.

1. On Instagram, go to your profile, tap the three lines at the top right and open Accounts Center. On Facebook: Settings & privacy → Settings → Accounts Center.
2. Open Ad preferences, then tap See all next to Ad topics.
3. Scroll down to Special topics and switch off Gambling.

If a gambling ad still shows up, tap the three dots on it and choose Hide ad or Not interested. Menu names can differ slightly by app version and country.

Text messages

Promotional texts from betting sites tend to arrive at exactly the wrong moment: a free bet, a deposit bonus, a new login link. On iPhone you can send them to the Junk folder.

They won't vanish, but they'll thin out

None of these settings brings gambling ads to zero; you'll still see them during matches, on the street and around the web. But when there are fewer of them on your phone, there are fewer small moments that set off an urge. That's a good return on a few minutes of settings. For blocking the sites themselves, see how to block gambling sites and apps on iPhone.