Yield Sec: Black market gambling ads present on almost half of illegal Olympic Games streams

Published today (21 August), the report outlines the scale of illegal streaming of events at the Paris Olympic Games. This year’s Games ran from 26 July to 11 August.

Yield Sec estimates there were 266.7m illegal stream views of 90 seconds or more during the Olympics. 

“Illegal streaming is not about getting something for nothing – it’s about the serious risks users unknowingly expose themselves to,” Yield Sec said.

“Users believe that they get premium entertainment content for ‘free’ but in fact settle their ‘bill’ through the unknowing provision of their data, devices and device processing power to illegal streamers and the often criminal groups that back them.”

Users do not get something for nothing – they are the product, Yield Sec added.

Illegal gambling taking advantage of Olympics streams

Gambling – specifically unlicensed operators – featured heavily across these streams, ranking the top industry in terms of ad placement. It estimates 46% of all streams featured illegal gambling adverts, with many including content based on the Olympic Games.

Putting this into context, the second-highest industry was online games, with ads shown on 18% of all streams. Adult entertainment ads featured on 11% of streams and cryptocurrency 9%.

Stream delays used to manipulate bettors

Yield Sec says people viewing illegal streams were subject to unregulated gambling advertising on a regular basis. It estimates that gambling ads appeared an average of four times every 10 minutes on such streams.

The report did not go into detail as to which brands featured in the adverts. It did, however, flag the dangers of these black market ads appearing on illegal streams.

“The […] feed on the illegal streaming was provided with a delay,” the report said. “Bets placed on the match directly from watching that illegal stream would be placed on events that the illegal gambling operator already knew the outcome for, effectively cheating the consumer of their betting stakes.”

In terms of the where streams came from, Yield Sec identified 11,958 online locations. It also uncovered a further 120,000 spots that were used as mirrors and redirects for streaming.

Geographically, Asia was the main hot spot, accounting for 36% of all illegal streams, ahead of Europe and the UK where 21% of streams came from.

Latin America followed on 17% then North America (16%) and Africa (9%). Australia and New Zealand were the source of just 1% of illegal Olympics streams.