A screenshot of William Hill advertising on Twitch.tv - a popular video gaming website.

Victoria's newly appointed Commissioner for Children, Liana Buchanan, said "children were particularly susceptible to gambling advertising" and it was important legislation kept pace with changes in digital technology.

"It's a concern to see gambling advertising apparently being targeted specially to arrive on the computer screens and smartphones of young people," Ms Buchanan said.

"We know young people of all ages are using these platforms on a regular basis, and the research tells us young people are particularly susceptible to gambling advertising, so it's important to monitor this approach by industry"

"The digital space and how we use it is constantly evolving so it's important to make sure regulation of this type of advertising stays up to date"

The Victorian government is concerned about the prevalence of gambling advertising in the community. Credit:Victor J. Blue

William Hill local competitor ASX-listed Tabcorp has long called for changes to Australian gambling advertising.

Pushing the boundaries

Tabcorp chairwoman Paula Dwyer said at the company's annual meeting in October that a well regulated gambling industry was in everybody's best interests, and this included "nationally consistent and clear regulations around gambling advertising".

"The growth in online betting, wagering advertising and the propensity of some wagering operators to push the boundaries has created challenges for regulators and the communities in which we operate," said Ms Dwyer.

"Last year [2014], there was $89 million spent on wagering advertising across Australia. That was up 34 per cent on the prior year. Our concern is not only that advertising is regulated differently in every state and territory, we also share the community's view that there is too much gambling advertising."

Last year, there was $89 million spent on wagering advertising across Australia. That was up 34 per cent on the prior year. Tabcorp chairwoman Paula Dwyer

Fairfax's attempts to contact William Hill were unsuccessful. The bookmaker is one of several which has started wagering on video games or e-sport.

According to Deloitte almost 150 million people across the world watch e-sport, with the industry's overall revenue leaping 25 per cent to to $US500 million ($663.78 million) in the past year.

It is tipped for another 25 per cent revenue jump in 2016, and 75 per cent of its audience are millennials, aged 18-34, Deloite added.

The industry's growth has seen a flurry of corporate activity. Online retailing giant Amazon bought Twitch.tv for nearly $US1 billion in 2014, while Swedish media company Modern Times snapped up a majority stake in ESL, the oldest e-sport company for $US87 billion in 2015.

Locally, resource company Volta Mining has transformed itself into eSports Mogul, which has secured a 10-year licence to operate the online platform of eSports Hero – a New York-domiciled company – across the Asia Pacific region, including China. eSports Hero director Gernot Abl said his children spent more time watching other people play video games than regular television.

But advertising on websites is vastly different from spruiking on regular television.

'Limited control'

Ben Willee, the general manager of Melbourne-based advertising agency Spinach, said both advertisers and site owners had "limited control" on where their ads appeared online.

"It would be a complicated process to understand exactly how a particular advertisement ended up on a particular site," Mr Willee said.

"Depending on how and when they [a site owner] are receiving those ads, they have limited control over who the advertisers are. Basically there is a tool called an SSP, or a sell side platform, and that's a computer that controls what ads they receive from an advertising exchange."

But an advertiser can override the technology, Mr Willee said.

"You can remove specific sites from your campaign if there is a concern they are not your target audience or it may be construed as outside your category guidelines.

"It's the same argument that's been kicking around tele forever and a day, if you advertise booze in a sporting match, kids are going to see it. Until the technology gets better, they are going to have that limited control."

Nevertheless, the Victorian government is concerned about the prevalence of gambling advertising in the community, particularly when it comes to children and young people.

"This is a complex issue which crosses borders and we need to start having a national conversation about how to best tackle this issue," a government spokeswoman said.