Sneaky ad placement

Users on social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of gambling ads on the site, despite rules against them. Specifically, they are annoyed with “hidden” ads from crypto casino Stake.

aking advantage of their reach by putting the gambling site’s logo on images they post

The advertisements aren’t hidden so much as they are inserted into viral images that end up getting millions of views. Stake has sponsored several aggregation accounts on X, taking advantage of their reach by putting the gambling site’s logo on images they post.

These accounts tend to steal viral images from other accounts without giving proper credit to the creator. One of the most prolific of these accounts is “pics that go hard,” which has nearly 315,000 followers at the time of writing.

The account’s pinned post is a photo of a Cartoon Network billboard for the show “Adventure Time” on November 23, which has accumulated 3.8 million views. That post, along with many others on “pics that go hard” and other accounts, has an attached community note stating that the image has an ad for Stake, which is not permitted on X.

Clearly violating the rules

According to X’s Paid Partnerships Policy, a paid partnership is “the involvement of a third-party brand providing compensation or incentives to a user, such as an influencer or content creator, to promote their product or service,” which certainly applies with these types of accounts.

Among the prohibited industries for paid partnerships is “gambling products and services,” of which Stake is one.

Interestingly, many posts on the Stake-sponsored accounts do not get many views in relation to the number of followers the accounts have. The ones that do rack up views in the six-and-seven-figure range are typically the ones that end up with community notes, perhaps a form of the Streisand effect.

One account called “fuck stake” reposts many of the viral images after removing the watermark so as not to spread Stake’s advertising (though because of its name, it is also bringing attention to the gambling site).

Stake isn’t big on rules

Stake has never exactly been a site that plays by the rules. In fact, its sheer existence is a great indicator that it doesn’t quite want to toe the line. That Stake uses cryptocurrencies is a tell.

And in some cases, Stake just creates its own rules, or lack thereof. About two years ago, Twitch banned streams featuring gambling from unregulated sites. The rule specifically targeted crypto casinos such as Stake.

gambling is not only allowed on Kick, it is encouraged

In response, Stake’s co-founders created Kick, a streaming site that nearly mirrors the look and feel of Twitch. Gambling is not only allowed on Kick, it is encouraged; online slots and casino is one of the most-watched categories on the site. And naturally, most of the top streamers are heavy Stake Streamers.

Stake also backs many of the most popular high stakes gambling streamers on Kick.

Kick is notorious for its lax rules and has been a haven for many of the internet’s most notorious streaming personalities. It did just announce new rules for “community safety,” however, including an upcoming requirement that gambling-related content can only be streamed from sites that verify that users are at least 18 years old.