There is a parallel market thriving in the shadows of Italy’s digital economy. Worth an estimated €20 billion, it involves millions of active users and continues to expand despite regulatory crackdowns, domain blocks, and enforcement operations by authorities. It is the world of illegal online gambling, a fast-evolving digital ecosystem built around smartphones, social media platforms and a sprawling network of disposable websites designed to stay one step ahead of regulators.

A clearer picture of the phenomenon has emerged through the first report released by the Data Room Nexus Observatory, presented at Palazzo Wedekind in Rome. The figures are striking. During the first three months of 2026 alone, more than 4.5 million Italians are believed to have accessed unauthorised gambling platforms at least once, generating over 13 million sessions overall. Analysts behind the report stress that the true scale of the market is likely even larger. The monitoring activity covered 500 websites and focused primarily on Instagram, leaving significant areas of the digital ecosystem outside the scope of the research.
 

Italy’s regulatory paradox

Italy operates under one of Europe’s strictest gambling advertising regimes. Since 2018, the so-called “Decreto Dignità” has prohibited all forms of gambling promotion involving cash winnings, including sponsorships and social media advertising. Yet the advertising itself has not disappeared. It has simply migrated to less visible, more difficult-to-monitor corners of the internet.

The outcome is something of a paradox. Legislation designed to protect consumers has unintentionally pushed gambling promotion towards loosely regulated digital channels, where illegal operators move far faster than institutions are often able to react. “When illegal content circulates on platforms perceived as trustworthy, it becomes increasingly difficult for ordinary users to distinguish between what is authorised and what is not,” explained Isabella Rusciano, General Director of Data Room Nexus.
 

Smartphones at the centre of the illegal gambling boom

If one figure captures the transformation of illegal gambling more than any other, it is mobile traffic. According to the report, more than 90% of visits to illegal gambling platforms now come via smartphones. That is no coincidence. Illegal operators design their platforms to be immediate, frictionless and permanently accessible. A link shared through a private chat, a push notification or a banner encountered while scrolling online is often enough to draw users directly into the ecosystem within seconds.

The user profile closely mirrors trends already evident in the regulated market. Around 78% are male, and almost half are under 35, with the largest concentration between 25 and 34 years old. Activity peaks tend to occur in the afternoon and evening hours, between midday and midnight.
 

No safeguards, no accountability

The key difference between licensed gambling platforms and illegal operators goes far beyond legality alone. It concerns the level of protection users unknowingly give up when entering unregulated environments. On illegal platforms, there are no guarantees regarding personal data protection, no certainty over how deposited funds are managed and no reliable responsible gambling safeguards. If disputes arise or money disappears, players effectively have nowhere to turn.

“The issue of responsible gambling becomes even more sensitive when discussing unregulated markets,” said Filippo Pucci, Scientific Director of Data Room Nexus. “The complete absence of controls significantly increases users’ exposure to risk.” There is also the broader economic impact. A €20 billion market operating outside official channels represents a major loss in tax revenues, diverting substantial resources away from the state and the regulated economy.
 

A thousand sites blocked, a thousand more appear

Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency has stepped up enforcement activity in recent years. According to the report, more than 1,000 illegal gambling websites were blocked during 2025 alone. But each shutdown appears to have only a temporary effect.

Within hours – or at most a few days – a replacement site often emerges using a different domain but identical content and infrastructure. This is the mechanism behind so-called “mirror sites”: platforms that are visually indistinguishable from the originals and operate on shared technological systems. User accounts, digital wallets and stored data frequently survive the shutdown process, allowing operations to continue with minimal disruption. The entire system is built around resilience.
 

Influencers, cloned content and silent customer loyalty

Instagram, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp have become the primary gateways into the illegal gambling ecosystem. Sponsored content, creator referral links, video streams and hidden promotional material blur the line between entertainment and advertising to the point where many users struggle to tell the difference.

Particularly concerning is the spread of “clone content”, banners, websites and adverts designed to imitate well-known brands, licensed operators or even institutional imagery. In some cases, illegal campaigns reproduce the aesthetics of popular television formats or mainstream entertainment content in order to increase credibility and familiarity. According to the Observatory, fake applications distributed through imitation app stores may also be circulating online, carefully designed to resemble legitimate and secure environments.

Perhaps the most worrying signal, however, is the rise in so-called “direct traffic”. Increasingly, users are no longer reaching illegal sites through adverts or social media promotions. They are returning voluntarily, typing domain names directly into their browsers or accessing saved links shared privately via chats and messaging apps. This marks a shift from casual exposure to genuine customer loyalty, from occasional users to habitual participants in illegal gambling networks.
 

A fragmented ecosystem that is difficult to dismantle

Contrary to the perception of a market dominated by a handful of major operators, Italy’s illegal online gambling landscape is highly fragmented. It consists of dozens of medium- and small-scale platforms that constantly appear, disappear, and rebrand. That fragmentation is precisely what makes the system so difficult to dismantle effectively. There is no single organisation to target. Sites emerge and vanish rapidly. Users migrate continuously from one platform to another, attracted by bonuses, promotions and perceived convenience. Traffic disperses across an ever-changing network. As a result, the battle cannot be fought solely through enforcement measures.

The real battle, therefore, is not fought solely through enforcement. The challenge facing institutions and regulators is to develop legal and technological frameworks capable of evolving at the same pace as the market they are trying to contain. Illegal online gambling is no longer a hidden niche; it has become a widespread digital ecosystem. While licensed operators remain constrained by increasingly restrictive regulations, illegal networks continue to operate with far greater freedom, adapting in real time to changes in the online landscape and to shifting user behaviours.

 

 

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