In a move to help users self-exclude from gambling websites, BetBlocker has launched a new mobile feature which gives punters restrict gambling-related apps on Android devices and desktops.
The tool can give punters the chance to restrict devices from accessing over 5,900 gambling operator websites, and over 1,000 mobile applications.
Manager of BetBlocker, Duncan Garvie, praised the launch of the new feature. He commented: “With more and more people accessing gambling via their mobile devices it is more important than ever that there is a resource available for those who feel that gambling is getting on top of them to take action to help themselves limit their exposure to this addictive activity.
“Restricting gambling apps further improves our service for Android users, limiting one more avenue of access.”
The feature hopes to become a ‘community project’ by allowing its users to report sites and apps that may have been missed by the blocking system in place.
Drawing upon an ‘exact match’ system, the tool’s developers – the team that runs ThePOGG.com – have launched a system which only restricts sites that are confirmed to be related to a gambling url, as opposed to a keyword frequency system which may result in ‘false negative/positive’ pages.
Garvie added: “Having managed thousands of disputes for ThePOGG.com I’ve come into contact with a large number of users who were in desperate situations. Often what we could do to help them as an Alternative Dispute Resolution service has been limited and we wanted to offer something that could genuinely make a difference to those people who came to us.
“We looked referring these users to other services that charged subscription fees, but I was never comfortable with the economics of this model. BetBlocker was born of this discomfort.
“It is intended to be entirely free to users, without upfront fees, advertising and restricting data collection to only that which is used to assist our users with technical issues and improve the service.”
When opting into the Gambling Self Restriction tool, users can choose their own restriction length, anywhere from 24 hours to 5 years. Once activated the user will not be able to deactivate the restriction until the full selected restriction period has concluded.
Users can also choose to include gambling information sites in their restriction, to ensure that they are not exposed to advertising for gambling or other sites that might challenge their self-control.
