A recent poll gauging the reputation of the most visible brands in America, crafted by Axios, suggests there is a growing trust in prediction markets and betting sites ahead of well-established companies, including Bank of America, Walmart, and DoorDash, among others.
The news will provide some welcome relief for both sectors, which have been under increasing pressure from lawmakers around state capitols over the last six months.
Social media companies struggle in survey
Social media companies struggled most in the poll, with the likes of X, Meta, and TikTok featuring in the bottom five of the rankings. However, the same could not be said for some of America’s burgeoning prediction market sector.
Robinhood ranked No. 42 in corporate reputation rankings, ahead of DraftKings at No. 66 and slightly behind Polymarket. The rankings measure consumer trust and reputation across factors including ethics, transparency, products, vision and social responsibility. Robinhood received a trust score of 76.4 out of 100, classified as “very good” under the Harris system, while DraftKings scored 70 and Polymarket 73.9, both rated “good.”
The poll also revealed that women expressed higher levels of trust in prediction markets and sports betting platforms than men. Polymarket received a trust score of 79.7 from women compared with 73.8 from men, while DraftKings scored 74.5 among women and 71.9 among men. Harris said younger men may be growing more skeptical of the platforms as gambling and speculative trading increasingly affect their finances and personal relationships.
The role of social media in the current gambling landscape was laid bare in some recent research by Cambridge University. Young men are exposed to gambling ads on Facebook and Instagram at more than twice the rate of women, according to an analysis of 411 ads from 88 licensed operators in Ireland. Adults ages 25 to 34 saw the most ads, accounting for more than 6.2 million impressions. The study, published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, used Meta Ad Library data released under EU digital transparency rules.
Over half of Gen Z believes gambling can help alleviate economic woes
In the 2026 Axios Harris Poll 100, 64% of Gen Z and millennials say “the only realistic way to build significant wealth is ‘alternative methods’ such as crypto, gambling or retail stocks.” That belief, though, is at odds with findings of damning research into prediction markets.
Recent analysis shows more than 100,000 accounts on Polymarket lost at least $1,000 since the start of 2025, nearly double the number of accounts that made that much. The data, broken down by Bloomberg News, focuses on blockchain trading data. The report found most profits were captured by a small group of accounts that appeared to be automated trading bots, while all other traders collectively lost about $131 million.
The findings offer a rare look into the financial outcomes of prediction market users as the industry rapidly expanded into sports, politics and global events. Nearly half of the roughly two million wallets active on Polymarket since early 2025 gained or lost less than $10, suggesting many users were casual participants, though most still ended up losing money overall.
There are concerns that the losses afflict among young men the most. Jonathan Cohen, policy lead at the American Institute for Boys and Men, said in an interview with Axios back in March: “The harms of sports gambling are disproportionately concentrated among younger men, and so the prediction markets are clearly the new frontier in this conversation about sports gambling.”
Polymarket blocked in Indonesia
Meanwhile, Indonesia has blocked access to prediction market platform Polymarket as part of a larger restriction on online gambling, officials said, after users wagered on the possible early end of President Prabowo Subianto’s term. Authorities said the platform violated national laws banning gambling and speculative betting.
Communications ministry official Alexander Sabar said Polymarket’s markets relied on uncertain outcomes and amounted to illegal online betting under Indonesian regulations. Gambling is prohibited in the country, where officials have intensified efforts to curb digital betting platforms and related social media activity.
The site drew attention in Indonesia after a market appeared asking when Prabowo would be “out as president,” despite his term running through 2029. The wager surfaced shortly after the president unveiled plans to centralize oversight of key commodity exports, including coal and palm oil, policies that have unsettled some investors.
Director General of Digital Space Supervision at Komdigi, Alexander Sabar, was direct about the government’s position. “The government will not allow any form of online gambling in Indonesia,” he said, adding activities involving “betting and speculation over events that are inconclusive” violate Indonesian law regardless of whether they use blockchain or cryptocurrency infrastructure.
