iGB Affiliate magazine issue 61 Feb/March

NEGATIVE SEO AND HOW BEST TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS

IN THE SHADOWS

ISSUE 61 FEB/MAR 2017

PLUS:

2017: THE PREDICTIONS

IGB AFFILIATE SURVEY: KEY FINDINGS

THE GREAT BRAND PHRASE GOLDMINE

THE HIDDEN COST OF MATCHED BETTING

ISS

UE 6

1 F

EB

/MA

R 2

017

INFORMATION, INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS FOR THE BUSINESS OF INTERACTIVE GAMING

3iGB Affi liate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

Welcome to the LAC issue of iGB Affi liate. This is the time of year when we map out the opportunities for the 12 months ahead, in both established and emerging channels. From PPC to social video, from voice search optimisation to brand phrases, our expert contributors have it covered (from p11). Another essential read is our cover article on increasingly pervasive negative SEO tactics (see p22).

The same focus on actionable insights also informs the refreshed conference format at LAC, reorganised as themed tracks rather than by industry. This cross-fertilisation of ideas and bringing together of delegates working in the igaming and fi nancial spaces refl ects the real-world experience of today’s affi liate now working across multiple sectors, one of the many key fi ndings of the inaugural iGB Affi liate Survey (see p9).

Look out for the red speaker boxes at the end of articles for when and where to catch some of our expert contributors during the LAC conference. In the meantime, iGB Affi liate would like to wish you all a highly successful 2017 and we look forward to welcoming you all at LAC.

Stephen Carter, Editor

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Printed in the UK by: Pensord Press, www.pensord.co.uk

Published by: iGaming Business Ltd, Bedford House,

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© iGaming Business 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this

publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by

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prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing under

the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application for

permission for use of copyright material including permission to

reproduce extracts in other published works shall be made to the

publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source

must be given. iGaming Business Affi liate Magazine is published

by iGaming Business Ltd, Bedford House, 69-79 Fulham High

Street, London SW6 3JW, UK. The views expressed by contributors

and correspondents are their own. Editorial opinions expressed in

this magazine are not necessarily those of the Publisher.

The Publisher does not accept responsibility for advertising

content. Cover image: istockphoto.com. ISSN 2041-6954.

Editor in Chief: Michael Caselli

[email protected]

Editor: Stephen Carter

[email protected]

Publisher: Alex Pratt

[email protected]

Designer: Jem Kargi

Production Manager: Craig Young

[email protected]

Head of Business Development: James King

[email protected]

Senior Sales Executive: Ed Grundy

[email protected]

Sales Executive: James Harrison

[email protected]

CONTENTS

http://on.fb.me/1CGEIgk

@igbaffi liate

www.igbaffi liate.com

Events Calendar 04

News 06

News special: iGB Affi late survey fi ndings 09

The great brand phrase goldmine 11

All you need to know for moving to HTTPS (Part 1) 15

Negative SEO tricks part 1: infl uencer reviews 22

Organic search trends: casino, bingo and poker 25

Using UX design to drive your conversion rate 28

Paid Search predictions for 2017 34

2017: the predictions 38

Going native 42

The hidden cost of matched betting 45

Building authority: SEO and PR 49

Digital media and marketing: what’s next? 51

Diversify your affi liate marketing strategy in 2017 55

Top of the bots 58

4 steps to drive your affi liate business forward 60

4 strategies to engage those elusive Millennials 64

Surviving and thriving in the age of AI 67

Bitcoin and the igaming future 70

Data Centre, including European regulation, H2 Dashboards 73

03-Contents_KY.indd 3 01/02/2017 13:52

AFFILIATE EVENTS CALENDAR

4 iGB Affiliate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

Due to their popularity and wealth of information, analysis and discussion, conferences have become an integral part of the affiliate industry and a key communications bridge between affiliates and affiliate managers. Whether used for networking, education or just as an excuse to meet up with friends, the affiliate conferences listed below provide all the tools you need to improve your business.

NORDIC AFFILIATE CONFERENCE

7TH APRIL 2017 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

www.igbaffiliate.com/events/nordic-affiliate-conference

LONDON AFFILIATE CONFERENCE

9TH – 12TH FEBRUARY 2017 EXCEL LONDON, UK

www.igbaffiliate.com/events/london-affiliate-conference

IGB AFFILIATE AWARDS

11TH FEBRUARY 2017 8PM – 12AM THE BREWERY, LONDON, UK

www.igbaffiliate.com/awards/igb-affiliate-awards

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2017

27TH FEBRUARY - 2ND MARCH 2017 FIRA, BARCELONA, SPAIN

www.mobileworldcongress.com

AMSTERDAM AFFILIATE CONFERENCE

11TH - 14TH JULY 2017 AMSTERDAM RAI, NETHERLANDS

www.igbaffiliate.com/events/amsterdam-affiliate-conference

SMX MUNICH

14TH - 15TH MARCH 2017 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS CENTER, MUNICH, GERMANY

www.smxmuenchen.de/en

04-Events-Calendar.indd 4 01/02/2017 09:19

WEBMASTER NEWS


ECJ OPINION: UK AND GIBRALTAR SINGLE MEMBER STATE FOR SERVICES

IN THE OPINION of European Court

of Justice Advocate General Maciej

Szpunar, Gibraltar and the UK

territory are a single Member State and

European law regarding the freedom

to provide services between Member

States would therefore not be applicable

to the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming

Association’s (GBGA) challenge to the

introduction of point of consumption

(PoC) tax in the UK in 2014.

PoC meant that operators based outside

the UK mainland were to pay a gaming

duty for all remote games of chance placed

with them by UK consumers, regardless of

the tax paid in their own jurisdiction.

GBGA, whose members include most

of the major UK-facing online betting and

gaming operators, challenged PoC from

the outset, saying the tax went against the

freedom to provide services within the EU,

one of the key principles with regard to

trade in the EU. However, for EU law to be

applicable there must be trade between two

Member States.

HMRC on behalf of the UK government

argued that GBGA had no enforceable EU

rights as the provision of services between

Gibraltar and the UK was not covered by

EU law.

AG Szpunar agreed, saying that in the

event that the Court concluded that the

freedom to provide services does apply to

trade between Gibraltar and the UK, then

he did not consider PoC to be a restriction

to that freedom.

He also looked at whether a restriction

to the freedom to provide services would

be justified if the Court disagreed that the

situation was purely internal. Szpunar

explained that in this case it was for the

referring court to determine whether the

grounds of justification put forward by

the UK.

These include to “level the playing field”

between UK and overseas operators and

ensuring the UK could “exercise proper fiscal

supervision over its gaming market”. The

Advocate General’s Opinion is not binding

on the ECJ, whose judges then deliberate the

case and issue judgment at a later date.

PA LAWMAKER EXPECTS LEGALISED ONLINE GAMING BY MARCH

MARIO SCAVELLO, chairman of the

Senate Community, Economic and

Recreational Development Committee

in Pennsylvania, has said that he expects

the US state to legalise online gambling

by March of this year.

Pennsylvania is one of several states

considering introducing a regulated

market, and came close to legalisation

last year when a bill was approved by the

House of Representatives, but was not

passed in time.

However, earlier in January, State

Senator Jay Costa confirmed he will

introduce an online casino bill in the

latest bid to legalise internet gambling.

Scavello has now added further fuel to

the fire by suggesting that online gaming

could become legal in Pennsylvania as

early as March.

“Sometime in March, we’ll have

something done and passed in the House

and Senate,” Scavello said, according to

theCasino.org website.

“It looks like online gaming has

the support to pass; we can look at

other expansions.”

WESTERN UNION FINED $586M OVER ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS

US FINANCIAL SERVICES company

Western Union has agreed to pay a federal

penalty of $586 million (€545.2 million)

after admitting to clearing transactions

related to illegal online gambling activities.

According to the Financial Times

newspaper, Western Union allowed agents

to send money to illicit internet gaming

operations in Costa Rica, thus violating

US laws regarding anti-money laundering.

Western Union pleaded guilty to the

named violations, which included

“aiding and abetting wire fraud”, as

well as failure to maintain an effective

campaign in regards to anti-money

laundering activities.

The company has also agreed to have

its financial transactions monitored by an

independent compliance auditor over the

next three years to help ease any lasting

concerns over its business practices.

In recent years, the firm has admitted to

processing thousands of transactions for a

host of global fraud schemes, with online

gambling the latest addition to this list.

Bill Chandler, chief communications

officer at Western Union, told the

Financial Times that the company has

“worked hard to put these investigations

behind us”.

As a result of the fine, Western Union

anticipates losses of $570 million for the

12 months to December 31, 2016.

FABULOUS BINGO UNVEILS NEW IMAGE

NEWS UK-OWNED Fabulous Bingo

has launched a new marketing campaign

to promote its revamped brand and

website proposition.

The online bingo brand is themed on

Fabulous Magazine, a supplement that

features in weekly newspaper title The

Sun on Sunday and the new site has been

designed to reflect this brand image.

Fabulous Bingo worked with Pulse

Creative, the in-house agency of News

UK, throughout the project, with the

campaign aimed predominantly at

females aged from 30-55.

The online bingo brand operates on

a platform developed by Playtech. Kate

Bird, chief marketing officer for The Sun

newspaper, said: “We’re thrilled with the

results of our brand refresh for Fabulous

Bingo, which is a welcome retreat from the

loud competitor sites. “Our recent move to

a Playtech platform gives us the opportunity

to grow the Fabulous Bingo brand as a

strong competitor in the marketplace.”

News UK agreed a five-year deal

for Playtech to power the brands in

November 2015.

06-07-News.indd 6 01/02/2017 09:20

WEBMASTER NEWS

7iGB Affiliate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

XLMEDIA HAILS ‘SIGNIFICANT’ PROGRESS AS FINANCES RISE

Ory Weihs, chief executive of

XLMedia, has said the company was

able to make “significant progress” in

2016 after posting year-on-year growth

across key financials.

In a trading update, the firm said full-

year revenue amounted to $103 million

(€95.9 million), 15% more than the $89.2

million collected in the previous year.

In addition, XLMedia said

adjusted earnings before interest,

tax, depreciation and amortisation

(EBITDA) increased 21% to at least

$34.5 million.

The company plans to announce its

final full-year results for 2016 in March.

“During 2016 we made significant

progress having now established ourselves

as a dominant player in the performance

marketing arena,” Weihs said.

“We continue to execute our strategic

plan whilst implementing our know-

how, expertise and technology in new

business verticals and key-end markets.

“We are very proud to have delivered

another record year of performance in

2016 and look forward to reporting our

full year results in March.”

KINDRED LAUNCHES NEW HIGH-ROLLER CASINO FOR NORWAY AND SWEDEN

Unibet parent company Kindred Group

has launched a Norway and Sweden-

focused online casino brand called

Storspiller.com aimed at those countries’

high rollers.

The group will target players who

spend £200 (€230) or more per month

in those markets.

Peter Alling, head of Nordic public affairs

at Kindred, said in a statement: “You will

find high rollers within all national and

international gambling companies.

“Instead of pretending as if this group

of players does not exist, we have chosen

to take their needs seriously, and are

launching a safer gambling environment

and a better reward system.”

Kindred stressed that Storspiller would

be the first online casino in the sector

to introduce third party affordability

assessments for all new customers.

This assessment is introduced on top of

things such as mandatory ID checks,

bank ID registration, and personal deposit

and loss limits.

SLINGO DETAILS MAJOR UK MARKETING PUSH

MOBILE GAMING OPERATOR Slingo

has announced the launch a multi-million-

pound television and digital marketing

campaign in the UK.

Slingo began the new marketing push

on January 27 with the launch of an initial

television campaign, which is due to run

until April 30.

Produced by SNAP and brokered by

Concord London on behalf of Slingo’s

holding company Gaming Realms,

the television campaign will feature on

channels in the UK after 9pm.

Slingo will support this with wider

digital activities and will work with

Buzzfeed to run a series of social media

competitions and live activations during the

first half of the year.

Patrick Southern, chief executive

of Gaming Realms, said: “Slingo embraces

moments of fun which people can

experience anytime and anywhere.

“Slingo is very much a ‘fun at your

fingertips’ product and our digital

campaign and ads showcase the light

hearted and enjoyable nature of the brand.”

GOOGLE WITHDRAWS 17M GAMBLING ‘BAD ADS’ IN 2016

TECHNOLOGY GIANT GOOGLE has

said that it took down over 17 million

gambling-related adverts during 2016

as part of an effort to tackle so-called

‘bad ads’.

In its annual ‘Bad Ads Report’, Google

said that gambling was responsible for

just 1% of all bad ads last year, with the

company removing a total of 1.7 billion

ads that breached its advertising policies.

The overall amount is more than

double the 780 million adverts that were

taken down in 2015.

Scott Spencer, director of product

management, sustainable ads, at Google,

said in a blog post on 25 January that

gambling-related ads were removed

as they did not have “proper

authorisation from regulators in the

countries they operate”.

However, gambling is some way off

other industries in terms of bad ads,

with Google reporting that it had to take

down 68 million adverts for unapproved

pharmaceuticals in 2016, a 500% increase

on the previous year.

The firm also withdrew a total of

80 million adverts for deceiving and

shocking users, as well as 112 million

trick-to-click ads containing malware.

THREE US STATES JOIN PUSH FOR EXPANDED SPORTS BETTING

LAWMAKERS IN NEW YORK, Michigan

and South Carolina have introduced

legislation seeking to legalise sports

betting in their respective states.

The New York bill looks to exempt

sports betting from the state’s gambling

ban, and has support from sponsor

Senator Tony Avella, who recently

declared that he would challenge Bill de

Blasio for the position of Mayor of New

York City this year.

The South Carolina bill is similar as it

seeks to amend the state constitution. Both

states require public approval in order to

make such changes.

Meanwhile, the Michigan bill sets out

plans to submit a referendum to voters on

whether the state should introduce a form of

legalised sports betting, with such legislation

requiring the population of any township or

city where this activity would take place to

approve it by majority vote.

However, should any of the bills be passed

in the states, they would still need to get

past the Professional and Amateur Sports

Protection Act (PAPSA), a law introduced in

1992 that bans sports betting in states where it

was not already in existence.

New Jersey has already outlined its

intention to challenge PAPSA and is

currently involved in a case with the US

Supreme Court (SCOTUS) over its efforts to

push through legislation.

However, SCOTUS recenty said it was

to delay its decision over the case after

requesting a brief from the Solicitor General.

Nevada remains the only US state in

which full sports betting is legal.

06-07-News.indd 7 01/02/2017 16:45

NEWS SPECIAL


IGB AFFILIATE SURVEY: KEY FINDINGSThe inaugural iGB Affiliate Survey reveals affiliates optimistic about the igaming sector and poor communication one of the key reasons behind partnership agreements ending.

TWO KEY FINDINGS that have emerged

from an exclusive survey of 270 affiliates

conducted by iGaming Business are that

affiliates are so optimistic about the gaming

sector’s prospects for the next five years that

a third of them are currently considering

becoming operators themselves, while poor

communication and supply of marketing

materials were key reasons as to why they

stopped working with operators.

With 12% of affiliates currently in the

process of becoming operators and a

further 23% thinking about doing so there

is a clear trend of affiliates looking at or

moving into the operator space.

Loud and clearWhen it came to partnerships with

operators, one reason affiliates were so keen

to keep their options open was often down

to the communication issues experienced

with affiliate managers, which was a key

theme emerging out of the research.

Many affiliates suggested they were

unhappy with what they considered to be

low levels of communication with affiliate

managers, and that they would like to be

provided with marketing materials, offers

and promotions far earlier and more

frequently than was currently the case.

“We need to wait for some marketing

materials even for several weeks,” one

respondent said.

Poor follow-up communication was

cited by 43% as a reason not to promote an

operator after signing up for a programme,

while the same percentage also reported

poor marketing materials as a reason.

Poor communication was cited by

41% as a reason to cancel an affiliate

programme previously agreed and 73% of

respondents said they would prefer to have

weekly or monthly communication with

affiliate managers, although the responses

suggested this is often not the case.

The changing landscapeAsked about the direction of the market

over the next five years, 83% said they were

‘confident’ about the gaming industry,

while 71% were ‘confident’ about the

affiliate industry.

Casino and sports betting were the core

verticals for affiliates in the igaming space,

with 70% operating within casino and 62%

within sports betting.

Poker (34%) and bingo (33%) were the

next most important, and, interestingly,

lotteries were next at 29%.

The last could be a reflection of the rise

in secondary lottery providers, which are

increasingly challenging the monopolies in

the lottery vertical.

Regulation was identified as both an

opportunity and a threat for affiliates’ future

prosperity, with affiliates stating it was the

biggest factor impacting on their businesses.

In particular, unclear/ambiguous

legislation was cited as a worry, although

clarity does not always work in affiliates’

favour – for example, in Australia the

government is in the process of clarifying

its online gambling laws and cracking down

on sites accepting Australian players.

Given that 36% of those surveyed

stated that they targeted Australia, this is

likely to hit affiliates’ bottom lines as the

government has announced that it will

also pursue action against third-parties

such as affiliates once new laws are passed

in the early months of this year.

Australia was the third most targeted

country by affiliates, according to the

survey, with the UK on top (67%),

followed by Germany (43%).

Fear of markets closing down to

affiliates is perhaps one reason many

igaming affiliates do not have all their eggs

in one basket.

Of those surveyed, 46% said they also

operated as affiliates for other sectors,

with finance (49%), retail (38%) and

internet services (34%) the next most popular.

Affiliates also cast their net wide

within igaming itself, with affiliates

signed up with an average of 37

operators, and promoting an average of

24 at any one time.

Other key findings of the report

included social media being seen as

the most important marketing tool, the

potential of emerging markets and mobile

technology to create new opportunities,

and the fact that almost half of affiliates

saw increased commissions last year.

These findings are part of the iGB

Affiliate Survey 2017, an independent

research project commissioned by

iGaming Business. The full report is

included on the iGaming Business

Intelligence Centre.

To view this please visit:

www.igamingbusiness.com/intelligence

“Interestingly, lotteries were promoted by 29% of respondents, which could be a reflection of the rise in secondary lottery providers increasingly challenging the monopolies in the lottery vertical”

09_News-iGB affiliate Survey.indd 9 01/02/2017 11:29

11

TRAFFIC

iGB Affiliate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

THE GREAT BRAND PHRASE GOLDMINENick Garner of Oshi bitcoin casino and 90 Digital explains why he thinks affiliates can, and should, make money ranking on operator brand phrases.

AT ONE TIME OR another, every affiliate

has thought about doing an SEO campaign

to rank on operator brand phrases, so I’d

like to share my story about affiliates and

ranking on my brand phrases, which will

provide some context into why I think

there’s great money in ranking on brand.

I also want to go into some of the

macro SEO trends which are coming

through for 2017 and how these fit in with

my ideas that:

●● affiliates are a really valuable part of

the ecosystem;

●● affiliates deserve to rank on brand phrases;

●● operators are increasingly dominating

generic phrases; and

●● why I think affiliates will be around for

a long time.

Some historyI have this odd experience of being both an

affiliate and a casino operator.

As Nick the affiliate, I have a large share

of a site called ClubCall.com, which is a

sports news website. And for those who

know, sports news is quite hard to monetise

for affiliates.

As Nick the operator, back in 2015

while running my SEO agency 90 Digital,

I launched Oshi online casino. So I have

this interesting perspective where I love

affiliates and I dread them. Of course, it’s a

lot more love than anything else!

Here’s the conflict: I need affiliates to

bring in business. I work hard to build

brand awareness for Oshi and I know I

don’t want to pay affiliates for conversions

that have effectively come through the

power of the casino’s brand.

If somebody checks us out by going on

a brand search for ‘Oshi casino’ and they

register via an affiliate, we are effectively

paying a ‘revenue share’ tax for our hard

work. At least, that’s how I used to feel.

If you are a tier 1 brand, you’re probably

doing TV, paid advertising, loads of PR and

sponsorships. People will know what your

brand is, so they’ll seek you out and join.

These ‘cheap’ conversions are what makes

mainstream marketing viable.

As an aside, about six years ago I worked

for a large igaming operator as head of

search. Using publicly available information

I did some calculations on what affiliate

commissions would cost a tier 1 operator

per month from conversions that come

through brand phrases. In short, inflation-

adjusted we were looking at around £80,000-

£100,000 in affiliate commissions per month

from brand phrases alone.

If that tier 1 operator got aggressive

with affiliates and pushed them out of the

most converting brand phrases, that would

probably cover the whole of their SEO

spend and give them some change.

Of course, you’re going to say “what

about the lack of conversion information on

Google’s organic search data?” And you’re

right, so any analysis is based on guesswork.

If you are a tier 2 brand, you’ll be doing

less brand building marketing and you’ll

be more reliant on conversions driven by

very relevant marketing. If you are tier 3

and beyond as I am, you’re increasingly

dependent on affiliates.

In the case of Oshi, we live by our

affiliate relationships. We don’t have a huge

amount of prominence on search, because

I’ve deliberately avoided being aggressive

with SEO, so our strategy has been centred

around brand reputation and affiliates.

Brand reputation is why I think affiliates

deserve to rank on brand phrases.

ReputationAs you know, there are three different types

of key phrases: navigational, informational

and transactional.

●● Navigational is obviously “take me to

somewhere I already know about”

●● Transactional is “I want to buy

something now”

●● Informational is “give me background

information to help me make a decision”

For informational keywords there is a

spectrum of intent between mild interest in

the subject and active serious consideration.

When you are seriously considering

something, you are looking for information

to help you make a final decision. When

you’ve made that decision, you go off and

do a transactional search to find the best

price or product to suit your needs.

In other sectors like technology,

consideration phrases are dominated by

online publications which give reviews

of the latest products or whatever. That

whole ‘finding the truth’ ecosystem works

very efficiently in sectors like technology,

because it’s really hard to make big money

as an affiliate if you’re a tech publication,

so they rely more on volume of traffic

advertising revenue.

Gaming affiliation is ridiculously

profitable when you get it right. There

is such a massive economic incentive

to produce content that will influence

11-13-Traffic-The great brand-v3a.indd 11 01/02/2017 10:21

TRAFFIC


potential customers, huge parts of the

igaming keyphrase ecosystem are saturated

with affiliate content.

Over the years affiliates have had a

patchy history on being ‘truth givers’ to

consumers. Very simply, whoever gets

the best conversions and biggest ongoing

revenue stream is the best operator.

Ironically, if an operator helps generate

loads of revenue, it’s because they keep

their customers gambling and happy. This,

in turn, means those operators which pay

out the most, are on the whole the best on

customer satisfaction. Of course, there are

lots of horror stories about rogue operators.

When a random potential customer

starts looking around on the search

engines for the best operator, if the whole

search ecosystem is loaded with different

affiliates telling you which operators

are the best, eventually those potential

customers start forming opinions and

at some point they register with a few

different operators.

It’s a bit like propaganda; if you

tell people enough times and make it

plausible, people will believe it. I think

the igaming search ecosystem is driven by

profit-motivated propaganda. And that’s

okay by me.

I love affiliates ranking on my

brand phrases.

If I was in technology, and I had a

product, I would put it out with reviewers,

they would say what they thought, their

unpaid, unbiased reviews would rank and

that would be it.

In igaming, I have a service, I put it out

with affiliates, they say what they think

and if they like my casino and they think

it has a good chance of making them

money, they will say good things about it.

That’s why it’s okay that AskGamblers

ranks number two after my brand phrase

‘Oshi casino’. AskGamblers has nailed

something very few affiliates have got

right: trust.

People believe what AskGamblers says.

It helps them make a positive decision

about joining Oshi. We are also really

lucky to have GamblingBitcoin.com,

bitcoincasinos.reviews, bestbitcoincasinos.

net rank on our brand phrases and they also

say good things about us.

This happened because Marko Csokasi,

our affiliate manager, did a great job of

building relationships with all of these

affiliates. He is a nice guy who is easy to

work with and he has been able to tell the

Oshi story about product innovation, not

being evil and doing our best with customer

experience. It meant these powerful and

influencing affiliates reviewed us well.

If only one affiliate was nice to us, it

might be interesting, but having every

single affiliate on our most important brand

phrase praise us, means that potential

customers will be more inclined to join

Oshi and so everyone wins.

To summarise about 1,000 words: useful

search results mean everyone is happy.

This neatly takes me into some macro

trends I’m seeing within organic search and

how it’s influencing what ranks.

The search ecosystemAs part of my background research for

this article, I had another look through two

articles which talked about SEO trends for

2017, where about 80 search experts gave

their opinions. I also reread the Searchmetrics

ranking factors report for 2016.

I’ve pulled out some quotes from Search Engine Journal, which summarises the

aggregate view from this herd of SEOers:

IntentSeth Besmertnik, Conductor chief executive:

“The big trend in 2017… will be focused on

understanding who your customer is, what

they want, and using the data from search

engines to better understand customer

intent. By making something your customer

needs – something that solves their problem

– you will win the algorithm of the future.”

Dixon Jones, marketing director, Majestic:

“It’s not about ‘keywords’. It is about being

the stand out leader in the field for, at the

very least, your business name. What one

thing do you really stand for?”

Eric Enge, Stone Temple Consulting

chief executive:

“You need to do a better job of satisfying

the users who come to your pages, and

better matching your content to the intent

they had when they got there.”

LinksBill Hartzer, SEO consultant:

“The search engines are continually

getting better at identifying unnatural

linking and unnatural SEO tactics, as

well as keyword tactics.”

Jonathan Allen, president, L&T Co:

“I believe that you won’t need to earn that

many organic links to see movements in the

right direction.”

Chris Boggs, founder, Web Traffic Advisors:

“Since Penguin will reportedly not count

‘bad’ links against websites, manual actions

likely will rise as more SEOs will come

across links being reported.”

MobileKristine Schachinger, founder & chief

executive, Vetters Agency:

“The next update to most likely follow will

be mobile first indexing. This is not just

an update, but a systematic change to how

Google evaluates and positions websites.”

Searchmetrics reportThis is an annual report which analyses

10,000 key phrases on Google.com and

looks at the correlations between various

“Links are not the ‘prime currency’ of SEO any longer, in my opinion. It’s user satisfaction that counts”

“I think the igaming search ecosystem is driven by profit-motivated propaganda. And that’s okay by me”


13

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ranking factors and rankings.

It states: “Today’s rankings are driven by

the dynamic between individual content

relevance and user intent. The main task

for SEOs and online marketers today is the

creation of relevant content that is targeted

towards the specific user intention, which can

vary greatly depending on the search query.

Generally speaking, content is relevant

when it provides answers to as many

questions as possible, and when it deals

with the most important aspects of a

topic. This is how we define holistic and

comprehensive content.”

Overall, I think there are lots of new SEO

housekeeping issues to take care of, i.e.

getting the mobile experience right, making

sure Google can index your site properly

and so on, but for me the stand-out change

is facing up to the new reality: intent is king.

Why are affiliates failing on generic

phrases? (Clue: intent)

If you say it’s because affiliates can’t get

links like operators do, then plainly you are

somewhere back in 2006.

First, from what I’ve seen, operators just

aren’t doing link acquisition like they used

to. It’s because the benefits are questionable

and secondly it’s very hard to get really

good links without contravening Google’s

Webmaster Guidelines.

Links are not the ‘prime currency’ of

SEO any longer, in my opinion. It’s user

satisfaction that counts.

Let’s say you agree with me, if you look

at big generic phrases like ‘online casino’

or ‘bet online’, all the results are operator

sites. Why? Users want to see operator

websites, because they are looking for a

casino that is online, or they want to make

a bet online through an online bookmaker.

If users wanted to make comparisons

between different casinos, they would

search for ‘best online casino’ because

they’re interested in comparisons, and this

phrase is, of course, dominated by affiliates.

My point is that Google is all about

satisfying user intent and this is why

Searchmetrics says the most powerful

ranking signal of all is, in fact, click-

through rate.

Ranking off directly generated users’

signals makes sense. Google search

results should be a meritocracy, where

the sites that rank the highest are the ones

users want the most. And finally this is

happening. Let’s go back to my point

about ranking on brand.

What is the user intent around a brand?

I think it’s a combination of navigation

and consideration.

If it’s a navigational search, that

prospective customer probably has an

account already with the operator and just

wants to get straight to the website because

they can’t remember the exact web

address, or by using a Google search, it’s

quicker than typing the full web address.

If it’s an informational search, that

person is looking to make a decision about

joining that brand.

There is every reason it’s justifiable for

you to outrank a Facebook page belonging

to a brand or the corporate news for

particular operator, why? Because you serve

a more useful purpose to the user than

some social media, or corporate blah blah

blah. You are helping users make decisions.

And Google knows that.

What’s the outlook?I’ve been thinking about this a lot, because

I had one of those investor interviews and

they asked me what I thought the affiliate

space would look like in five years. In short,

the outlook is good.

The dominant affiliates will come through

because they find the right balance between

satisfying user intent and making money.

AskGamblers does it really well and in a less

commercial way, Casinomeister.

Even those ‘top 10 best bonuses’

websites satisfy user intent in their own

way. They answer a big question: ‘who has

a great bonus’?

Another thing to remember is that

operators invest fortunes in their brand and

the risk of a penalty makes aggressive SEO

with a lack of clear attribution through ‘not

provided’ (https search) , means there isn’t

a good enough business case to really push

offsite SEO. Instead, I’m seeing brands

focus more on SEO housekeeping and

fulfilment of user intent.

Affiliates generally don’t have brand

equity, therefore they have far less to lose

and much more to gain from taking risks

operators won’t. The right links still help to

rank, so affiliates can be aggressive with this.

Once they rank, if they fulfil user intent,

they’re likely to stay in the search results

long enough to make some good money.

Herein lies the reason I think affiliates

are going to be around for years to come.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that

search engines have changed, the game

is about giving users what they want

and my little anecdote about ranking on

brand is a good example of how you can

make money as an affiliate on a highly

converting phrase and please both Google

and the operators at the same time.

NICK GARNER was search manager at Betfair between 2006 and 2010, before becoming head of search for Unibet between 2010 and 2012. He then founded 90 Digital, the successful igaming SEO agency, and in 2015 saw an opportunity to launch Oshi casino.

“It’s not about ‘keywords’. It is about being the stand out leader in the field for, at the very least, your business name. What one thing do you really stand for?” Dixon Jones, Majestic

NAME: NICK GARNER WHEN: 11 FEBRUARY @ 15:00WHERE: ROOM 1


Projet1_Mise en page 1 30/01/2017 17:17 Page1

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Fili Weise from SearchBrothers.com provides a granular guide for webmasters looking to make the transition from HTTP to HTTPS as smooth and painless as possible.

AS GOOGLE’S INITIATIVE IS to get

more websites to use HTTPS1 and given

Snowden’s revelations about the level of

surveillance by US authorities2, the number

of websites moving to HTTPS has steadily

been growing. The switch to HTTPS is a

major technical challenge, which is not to

be underestimated. From an SEO point of

view, it requires resource allocation, long-

term planning and preparation, water tight

execution, and is never free of risk.

This guide will instruct beginner and

advanced website owners how to move

from HTTP to HTTPS, from a SEO

perspective, discussing why it is important

to make this move, selecting the right SSL

certificate for your purposes, and how

much of the website to move at once. It

will also help identify the most common

technical on-page signals which need to be

updated to HTTPS to avoid the sending of

conflicting signals to search engines, how

to configure Google Search Console for

the move to HTTPS, how to monitor the

impact of the move within Google Search

Console and the server log files, and how

to improve the overall performance signals

towards the user with HSTS and HTTP/2.

What is HTTPS and why should you care?If you have a website, or visit websites

online, you have to care about HTTPS.

HTTPS is short for hypertext transfer

protocol over TLS. This a protocol that

allows secure communication between

computer networks, such as the browser

on a local computer or the server serving

the content being accessed. Every website

on the world wide web uses either HTTP

or HTTPS. An example of the address bar

of a website using the HTTPS protocol is

shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Address bar of website secured with HTTPS

The benefits of HTTPS are numerous,

but the ones that stand out for regular

users are:

●● Security, for example, HTTPS prevents

man-in-the-middle attacks;

●● Privacy, so no online eavesdropping on

users by third parties;

●● Speed (will get into this later).

For website owners, HTTPS also brings

a number of advantages to the table, which

are as follows:

●● Security, allowing processing of sensitive

information such as payment processing;

●● Keeps referral data in Analytics, as

HTTP websites that have visitors coming

from a HTTPS website to a HTTP website

lose their referral data of those visitors.

However, HTTPS websites retain their

referral data from visitors coming from

either a HTTP or HTTPS website;

●● Potentially improves rankings3 in Google

search results;

●● HTTP websites show up as insecure4 in

future browser updates, whereas HTTPS

shows as secure;

●● Speed (will cover this later).

However, HTTPS is not without

challenges, which is why, until now, only a

mid-percentage5 of the World Wide Web

has been using this secure protocol - but

this number is growing steadily. Some of

the challenges include:

●● Additional cost, as commercial SSL

certificates cost money, and also modern

server infrastructure is necessary to not add

a RAM/CPU cost;

●● Technical complexity, as implementing

SSL certificates on a server is far from easy,

and until recently, one HTTPS-enabled

domain used to require an unique IP

address - luckily, there is now the Server

Name Indication6, which is supported by

most major browsers7;

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR MOVING TO HTTPS (PART 1)

1 https://security.googleblog.com/2016/09/moving-towards-more-secure-web.html2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden3 https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html4 https://security.googleblog.com/2016/09/moving-towards-more-secure-web.html5 http://httparchive.org/trends.php6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Name_Indication7 http://caniuse.com/#search=sni

15-19-Traffic-All you need to know for moving to HTTPS_v2.indd 15 01/02/2017 10:23

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●● Switching from HTTP to HTTPS is

considered to be a content move by search

engines, resulting in lower rankings until

all new HTTPS and old HTTP URLs have

been re-crawled and reprocessed;

●● Conflicts with the original design of the

World Wide Web, where the additional “S”

in the HTTPS protocol breaks hyperlinks (a

fundamental pillar of the World Wide Web)8,

●● Switching to HTTPS is a long-term

strategy. Once committed, it will be

difficult not to operate a HTTPS version

of the website. Even if the HTTPS version

redirects only traffic back to the HTTP

version, a HTTPS version needs to be kept

live to continue redirecting external link

juice and visitors to the HTTP version. In

other words, once a website is live and has

operated for at least a little while on HTTPS,

it is unlikely that it will ever be able to shut

down the HTTPS or HTTP version as long

as the website is up and running.

However, the long-term benefits do

outweigh the challenges. This guide

primarily focuses on addressing the content

move challenge of moving content from an

SEO point of view.

Getting ready with SSL CertificatesBefore going further into the SEO aspects

of moving to HTTPS, let’s make sure the

setup of the server is correctly implemented

and nothing stands in the way of

continuing with the content move.

Buy a commercial SSL certificate

Although it is possible to use self-signed SSL

certificates9 or free community-provided SSL

certificates10 and most public SSL certificate

types do have a certificate authority11

behind it, the one thing that commercial

SSL certificates offer are extended validated

SSL certificates (EV)12. These EV SSL

certificates require additional verification of

the requesting entity’s identity and can take

some additional legwork to get approved.

Users see this reflected as green bars with

company names in the browser address bar.

When choosing a SSL certificate type,

keep in mind that community-provided SSL

certificates are still in their early days and that

in the last few years, prices for commercial

SSL certificates have dropped significantly

to lower than $10 USD per year per SSL

certificate. As such, using commercial SSL

certificates for now is recommended for

commercial websites, as it will still be possible

later on to switch to other options13.

When choosing a commercial SSL

certificate, also consider that there are several

validation types of SSL certificates that can

be bought/used. Any certificate is fine in

principle. In my experience, for Google it

makes no difference and any SSL certificate

is fine, but it can make a difference for the

users of the website (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Google Chrome displaying different HTTPS URLs

Encryption

Several options are available when creating

a SSL certificate (commercial or self-

signed). It is better to choose a SHA2

certificate (e.g. SHA256) as this is more

secure than a SHA1 certificate. SHA1

certificates have been downgraded for this

reason by most major browsers. By the end

of 2016, websites using SHA1 certificates

will appear as insecure, thereby defeating

the purpose of using HTTPS.

Server implementation

To implement the SSL certificates on the

server infrastructure, check with the hosting

provider, the IT team or the

web developers.

If using server name indication, double

check in the Analytics data of the current

website if certain old browsers, which

do not support SNI14, still frequently visit

the website.

Once the server has been setup with a

SSL certificate for the domain name on port

443, the setup and the server environment

needs to be checked and validated. The SSL

certificate can be validated using the SSL

Shopper tool15, and the server setup can be

checked with the SSL Labs tool16. All errors,

if any, have to be resolved before continuing.

Note: To avoid any issues while updating the

website for the move to HTTPS in the next steps, it is recommended to create a separate home directory on the same server or another server instance and forward the HTTPS traffic to this.

Preparing for the move to HTTPSBefore discussing the next steps, this guide

is based on a few assumptions:

●● No changes to the content (except link

annotations) are made;

●● No changes to the templates (except link

annotations) are made;

●● No changes to the URL structure (except

for the protocol change) are made;

●● The HTTPS version of the domain

name is live on port 443, and validated as

described in the previous chapter. Most

likely, the root of the domain name on

HTTPS returns an empty directory listing.

If any of the first three mentioned

assumptions are incorrect, then be sure

8 https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Security-NotTheS.html9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-signed_certificate10 https://letsencrypt.org/11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Validation_Certificate13 https://letsencrypt.org/14 http://caniuse.com/#search=sni15 https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html16 https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html


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to read: How to move your content to a new location17 on the official Google

Webmaster Blog.

Define a content move strategy

The next step is to choose a strategy for

moving to HTTPS. Moving a small website

(e.g. less than 10,000 URLs) or a large

website (e.g. more than one million URLs)

to HTTPS can result in different options for

moving content, for example:

●● To move the entire domain to HTTPS,

including all subdomains, in one go;

●● To move only one or more subdomains

and/or subdirectories to HTTPS, before

moving the rest;

●● Move the content and operate two

duplicate sites on HTTP and HTTPS18,

before finalizing the move.

As part of the strategy, the following

question also needs to be answered: How

long will the HTTP version still be accessible?

The factors to consider will be different

depending on the size of the website, the

availability of the IT support team, and

the organizational structure behind the

website (e.g. the internal company politics).

While this guide cannot address the last

two points for every website, the first point

is definitely something to consider from an

SEO point of view. This translates to the

available crawl budget.

Importance of crawl budget

In order for search engines to process the

protocol change, its bots have to re-crawl a

significant part of the HTTP URLs and all

of the new HTTPS URLs of the website.

So, a website with one million URLs will

require search engine bots to roughly

re-crawl at least two million URLs (or a

significant amount of this) to pick up the

301 redirects and recalculate the rankings

for the new HTTPS URLs, based on the

history of the HTTP URLs. If a search

engine bot crawls an average of 30.000

unique and non-repeated URLs per day of

the website, it can take roughly 67 days to

re-crawl all URLs (see Figure 3). During

this time, the website may suffer in search

engine rankings, assuming there are no

“crawl budget wasted URLs”.

Figure 3: Example of volume of pages crawled by Googlebot per day

Utilise server log files

To make sure search engine bots do not

waste crawl budget, first double check the

server log files and find out which URLs

have been crawled by each search bot in

the last two years (or longer, if possible).

It will also be helpful to know how often

each URL was crawled (to determine

priority), but for this process all the URLs

are needed anyway. Moving forward, this

guide will focus primarily on crawl data

from Googlebot.

For smaller sites, Screaming Frog Log

Analyser19 can do this task rather easily. For

larger websites, talk to the IT team and/or

utilize a big data solution such as Google

BigQuery20 to extract all URLs.

Figure 4: How to export URLs from server logs using Screaming Frog Log Analyser

It may also be necessary to ask the

hosting provider of the website for the log

files. If there are no log files available for the

last two years (assuming the website is not

brand new), start logging as soon as possible.

Without log files, the organisation will miss

out on vital and crucial SEO data, and

ignore important analytical business data.

Save the extracted URLs in a separate file (one URL per line), for example, as logs_extracted_urls.csv.

Extract sitemap URLs

Assuming the website has one or more

XML Sitemaps, and these sitemaps contain

all the unique canonicals of the indexable

pages of the website21, Google Search

Console22 will report how many URLs of

the XML Sitemaps are currently submitted

to Google. Download and extract all the

unique URLs from the XML sitemaps.

Save the extracted URLs in a separate file (one URL per line), for example, as sitemap_extracted_urls.csv.

How much of the website to move?

At this point, there is enough data to

determine the next step: How much of the

website to move to HTTPS?

To calculate the number of URLs to move,

gather the following data:

●● A list of unique URLs crawled by

Googlebot extracted from the server log files;

●● An average number of how many

17 https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2012/04/how-to-move-your-content-to-new.html18 https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2015/12/indexing-https-pages-by-default.html

19 https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/log-file-analyser/20 https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/

21 https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/13906622 https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/sitemap-list?pli=1


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URLs Googlebot crawls per day, based

on numbers from Crawl Stats23 in Google

Search Console, and the server log files;

●● A list of unique URLs extracted from the

XML sitemaps.

If the average number of URLs crawled

by Googlebot per day (based on the server

log files) is anywhere between the 5% and

100% of the total volume of unique URLs

extracted from the XML sitemaps, it is

relatively safe to move the entire domain in

one go to HTTPS. Chances are, in this case,

that the entire domain will be re-crawled

by search engine bots within three to four

weeks - depending on the internal linking

structure and several other factors. Let’s

call this scenario 1: “move in-one-go.”

If the average number of URLs crawled

by Googlebot per day is anywhere between

1% and 5% compared to the total size of

unique URLs extracted from the XML

sitemaps, it is safer to move one or more

subdomains and/or subdirectories in

phases to HTTPS. Chances are that, in this

case, it will take a long time for Googlebot

to re-crawl all URLs of the entire domain,

and as such it may take longer than the

standard few weeks to recover in Google

search results. Let’s call this scenario 2:

“partial move.” This phase is repeated as

many times as necessary until the entire

domain has been moved to HTTPS.

If the site is really big, then another

option is on the table. This option

involves operating two websites next to

each other, one on HTTP and one on

HTTPS. While waiting for a significant

number of URLs to be re-crawled,

the canonicals are used to move the

content. For this to work, site owners

are dependent on the website canonicals

signals to be trusted by search engines.

Let’s call this scenario 3: “move through

canonicals.” Once adequate number of

URLs have been re-crawled, scenario 1

or 2 can be applied to finalize the move

to HTTPS.

Crawl the HTTP website

Next, utilise a crawler, such as Screaming

Frog SEO Spider24, DeepCrawl25, Botify26

or OnPage.org27 to crawl the entire website

or relevant sections of the current website

on the HTTP protocol, and extract all

unique URLs that search engines can

crawl, which are internally linked. This

includes all assets internal to the website,

such as robots.txt, Javascript, image, font,

and CSS files. This data will be necessary

towards the end of the prcess, to double

check if the move has been successful.

Save the extracted URLs in a separate file (one URL per line), for example, as crawl_extracted_urls.csv.

Note: If the website is too big, e.g. more than ten million URLs, either the “partial move” or “move through canonicals” scenario is recommended because it is the safest course of action to pursue. Try to split up the website in manageable sections, based either on the subdomains and/or subdirectories, and crawl these one by one instead to get as many unique URLs as possible.

Blocking search engine bots

The “move in one-go” and “partial move”

scenarios, and depending of the size of

the website, and how quickly the next

steps can be completed, it may be useful

to block search engine bots from crawling

the HTTPS website while this is being set

up to prevent the possibility of sending

conflicting signals to search engines.

This can be done by utilising robots.txt

on the HTTPS version, and the entire

HTTPS version can be blocked from being

crawled, or just a part of it.

Use the following code snippet in the

robots.txt on the HTTPS version to block

all bots completely:

User-Agent: * Disallow: /

Note: This step is optional and heavily dependent on how quickly the website can be moved. If it can be moved in less than a few days, there is no need for this. This method can also be used to safely test most aspects of the move, before letting search engine bots know about the move.

In case of the “move through

canonicals” scenario, this particular step is

not recommended.

ConclusionPart 2 of this series in the next issue of

iGB Affiliate will cover the actual move to

HTTPS in great technical detail, together

with the necessary next steps within

Google Search Console.

FILI WIESE is a renowned technical SEO expert and former senior Google Search Quality team member. At SearchBrothers.com he successfully recovers websites from Google penalties and offers SEO consulting with SEO audits and workshops. Email: [email protected] and web: https://www.searchbrothers.com

23 https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/crawl-stats24 https://online.marketing/guide/screaming-frog-in-google-cloud/25 https://app.deepcrawl.com/signup?currency=GBP&package=v2demo&utm_medium=organic%20social&utm_source=external%20blog%20&utm_campaign=v2%20trial&utm_content=SEO%20advice%20for%20https%20migration%20(fili%20wiese)26 https://www.botify.com/27 https://en.onpage.org/

“In the case of the ‘move in one-go’ and ‘partial move’ scenario, it may be useful to block search engine bots from crawling the HTTPS website while this is being set up to prevent the possibility of sending conflicting signals to search engines”


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Think you’ve got an untouchable online reputation with a swathe of positive reviews? Your organic rankings could still be under threat if you’re the target of a negative SEO campaign, warns Irene Castañeda of The Media Image.

WHEN GOOGLE’S WEBMASTER

trends analyst John Mueller was asked

recently how a business should respond to

negative SEO, his response was that it was

keeping the business’ competitors “busy

while you get to move forward”.

This advice may feel like cold comfort,

however, if you find yourself a victim of a

negative SEO campaign.

What is negative SEO?Simply put, negative SEO is a tactic often

explored by online businesses that aim to

devalue a competitor’s organic performance

through lowering their organic rankings. This

strategy is largely executed as an attempt to

rule out competition in especially competitive

niches, to improve the competitor’s

positioning in Google’s rankings.

Negative SEO can be achieved in multiple

ways, but for the purposes of this article

we’ll focus on one of the tactics available at

present, ‘influencer reviews’.

Some time ago it was enough just to point

thousands of spammy links at a competitor’s

website and that would form the basis of

an effective negative SEO campaign. But

today, negative SEO requires more thought

and strategic planning. In the first part of a

three-part series, we’ll be taking a closer look

at the use of influencer reviews as a negative

SEO tactic.

Influencer reviews

Often initiated as part of an offsite SEO

strategy, influencer reviews contribute to

improving a business’ reputation online

and boost credibility. However, they can

also be used by black hat SEO specialists in

a more negative way as part of a negative

SEO campaign.

How important are reviews?

●● Econsultancy has quoted research stating

that 61% of consumers read reviews before

making a purchase decision

●● TripAdvisor identified that 77% of

holidaymakers would not proceed with

booking a hotel without reading its

reviews first

●● 90% of consumers read reviews before

visiting a business

●● 31% of consumers are likely to spend

more on a business with excellent reviews

●● 72% of consumers will take action only

after reading a positive review

The research clearly illustrates that reviews

are very important for online reputation

management and increase the probability of

a consumer converting on a site that they’ve

shown interest in. This might be why black

hat SEO specialists have focused on them for

more negative SEO purposes.

A difficulty exists in separating authentic

reviews from the spammy inauthentic

reviews, which is why they are often used

for negative SEO purposes. As intelligent

and advanced as Google’s algorithm might

be, there are still many black hat SEO

specialists that are successfully getting away

with creating fake reviews as part of their

negative SEO campaigns, with the intent of

harming their competitors’ reputation.

Using social media for fake influencer

reviews

Did you know that your competitors can

now use social media to manipulate a real

user’s attitude towards a specific company,

brand or a product in autopilot?

Here’s how it works.

1. Black hat SEO specialists will set

up a negative campaign using “popular

bot” for example, a social plugin from

the famous black hat SEO tool provider

Xrumer. The Free SocPlugin, as Xrumer

developer Botmasterlabs describes

it, is allowed in four social networks

“Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Mamba and

Facebook, to post messages, comment on

photos and videos…” and automatically

bypasses the protections from bots,

including captchas.

2. SEO specialists will contact thousands

of people on social media networks with

annoying, intrusive, frustrating sales

messages, which will include a victim’s

website address. SocPlugin can bypass

modern protections and can decode most

modern captchas, making it difficult for

social networks to stop the bot and if they

manage to stop it, the botmaster team

(i.e, Xrumer’s developers) will work really

hard to include new captcha decoding in

a new release.

“The program during the registration

and submitting process can decode and

bypass more than 500 types of popular

graphical captcha like ReCaptcha,

Facebook and VKontakte captchas, etc,”

says Botmasterlabs.

NEGATIVE SEO TRICKS PART 1: INFLUENCER REVIEWS

“As intelligent and advanced as Google’s algorithm might be, there are still many black hat SEO specialists that are successfully getting away with creating fake reviews”

22-23-Traffic-Dirty Seo.indd 22 01/02/2017 10:25

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These bots can contact the same users

repeatedly from different fake social

media accounts with the same or slightly

modified message.

3. The final phase entails the bot contacting

the same users, again, thanking them for

using the service/ buying the product and

asking them to leave a review on Google

or on any other review site. This stage is

the most important part of the campaign,

as frustrated, annoyed people will often

leave a negative reply, expressing all the

frustrations experienced from previous

communications with the bot.

These reviews are very strong signals and

while a third party might have triggered or

led to the negative feedback, the reviews were

essentially still created by genuine users and

their behaviour will not trigger the review

websites’ spam alert.

Many individuals are confident they will

never confirm a stranger’s friendship request

on Facebook, and for this reason believe that

they will not be susceptible to bots or spam.

This can be true, but it’s important to be

aware that SocPlugin, the black hat SEO tool,

can send invites, comments and messages

from multiple accounts; provides automatic

support of dialogue; and allows automatic

access to account content, photo likes, shares

and much more. This just demonstrates that

you can never be entirely sure whether you’re

friends with a spam robot or not.

How expensive is it to set up a campaign

like this?

●● Access to Xrumer with the free SocPlugin

licence fee is $240

●● Abuse-free VPS has an estimated cost of

$250 per month

●● Negative SEO rates vary depending on the

country the SEO specialist is working from

and it is possible to hire someone from Russia

for as little as $500 per month

In the greater spectrum of things, the total

budget of a negative SEO campaign like this

could be as little as $990, but the impact it

could yield is staggering for online businesses.

How can you stop it?

Unfortunately, not much can be done to

completely stop these negative SEO tactics

as there are no definitive tools available to

completely remove the negative feedback

spread. However, you can minimise the

damage and safeguard your business to

a degree, by constantly monitoring your

online reviews to identify early if you have

been attacked by a negative SEO tactic.

There are many tools you can use, but

the below are some of the best options to

have in place.

Google Alerts

●● You can setup Google Alerts to inform

you about any mentions of your company,

brand or product. The set-up is quite simple

and there are no advanced features, but the

service is completely free.

Reputology

●● Reputology is a dedicated service which

manages online reviews with analytics

and automatic feedback collection and it’s

priced reasonably, from $29.00.

Reputation.com

●● Reputation is an online review tracking

service, with a single dashboard to monitor

reviews from multiple sources.

What if you’ve been hit?Most website review platforms do not allow

business owners to delete negative reviews.

In most cases they can delete a negative

review only if it violates their terms and

conditions.

Reputation management experts

have recommended that the best way to

counteract negative reviews is by replying

to negative feedback. If a review has been

triggered by spam, making it null and void

or fake, you can always provide clarity to

your audience by replying and explaining

the real reason for the negative feedback.

Furthermore, the option also exists to

flag it up with Google.

The relatively little that you can do

to erase the effects of a negative SEO

campaign is a bitter pill to swallow for

many online businesses. If a review

matches the review websites’ T&C’s, in

most cases it will prove problematic to

remove. It’s highly probable that your legal

team won’t really be able to help either,

even if you receive hundreds of negative

reviews from different users.

We recommend minimising damage

from negative and unauthentic reviews

by responding to any negative review in a

professional way, and by motivating your

happy clients to leave you positive reviews

on as many review sites as they can.

When deletion is not an option, the

quantity and quality of reviews counts. It

would be wise to ensure that you sign up

to the online reputation management tools

mentioned in the article, just to ensure that

you’re always aware of what’s being said

about your business.

While it’s easy to recover from a negative

review here and there, an onslaught of

negative feedback, which is often made

possible through negative SEO, will be

much more difficult to recover from. They

say prevention is better than cure and we

encourage you to be on guard against

negative SEO tactics.

IRENE CASTAÑEDA is an SEO executive at the Media Image, where she specialises in optimising rankings, providing data-driven results and contracting negative SEO tactics, an area where her criminologist education comes into play.

“Negative SEO rates vary depending on the country the SEO specialist is working from and it is possible to hire someone from Russia for as little as $500 per month”

22-23-Traffic-Dirty Seo.indd 23 01/02/2017 10:25

Bingo PokerCasino

TRAFFIC


Data-driven SEO platform provider PI Datametrics analyses trends in organic search value for casino, poker and bingo over the trailing 12-month period, as well as operator market share across these products.

Search themesMeasured against Pi Datametrics’ Organic

Value Score from December 2015 to

November 2016, we have trended the

overall organic value of each search theme

throughout the year to:

●● Reveal when each search theme peaks

and declines in demand; and

●● Highlight which themes present the most

commercial opportunity online.

Key takeaways from the search theme

analysis, as shown in Figure 1:

●● The most organically valuable search

theme of ‘casino’ peaks highest in

February and May;

●● ‘Bingo’ is the second most organically

valuable search theme, and peaks highest

in January.

●● ‘Poker’ trends far lower in comparison to

other search themes with no distinct peaks,

but still displays high organic value relative

to other sectors.

ORGANIC SEARCH TRENDS: CASINO, BINGO AND POKER

Figure 1: Trended gambling search themes (December 2015-November 2016)

Source: PI Datametrics Gamma Report

Aug 2016

22M

20M

18M

10M

4M

0

12M

14M

16M

2M

6M

8M

Dec 2015 Feb 2016 Apr 2016 Jun 2016 Dec 2016

25-26-Traffic-PI Datametrics data.indd 25 01/02/2017 10:44

TRAFFIC


Operator market shareThe graphs in figures 2, 3 and 4 showcase

traffic and organic performance across

the main gaming search themes of casino,

bingo and poker.

Rather than focussing on search volume

alone, we have applied our Organic Value

Score to discover the brands with greatest

market share across the highest value

commercial terms.

Pi Datametrics’ Organic Value Score

takes into account all of the metrics used

to determine a search term’s intrinsic value

and potential to convert, including, but

not limited to: search volume, competition

value and CPC bid.

Casino – In the most valuable vertical

of casino, Skyvegas.com and Casino.

paddypower.com lead the way over

the 12 month trailing period, with an

approximate 8% market share respectively

(see Figure 2). Also noteworthy here is the

38% of organic search value accounted for

by brands outside of the Top 20, reflecting

the more fragmented nature of this market

compared to bingo and poker, where

organic search value is more concentrated

among the Top 20 brands.

Bingo – In bingo, shown in Figure 3,

GalaBingo.com heads the rankings with

nearly 15% market share, ahead of Cozy-

powered Bootybingo.com with 12%.

Referrers also command a higher share of

organic search value in the bingo vertical than

in casino, with WhichBingo.co.uk the fifth-

ranked site overall, with Bestnewbingosites.

co.uk and Bingosites.co.uk also cementing

positions in the Top 20.

Poker – In poker (Figure 4) PokerStars

inevitably dominates with 23% market

share, well ahead of second-ranked

PartyPoker and 888 with 8% respectively

of organic search value. Affiliates

such as Pokerlistings, Cardschat and

Top10pokersites.net also figure in the top

20 brands with greatest market share across

the highest value commercial terms.

Figure 2: Best performing brands across ‘casino’ search theme


Figure 4: Best performing brands across ‘poker’ search theme


Figure 3: Best performing brands across ‘bingo’ search theme


rocketbingo.co.ukbestnewbingosites.co.uk

bingosites.co.ukrobinhoodbingo.com

newlookbingo.comcomfybingo.com

skybingo.com

sunbingo.commeccabingo.com

twitter.com

luckyladiesbingo.commirrorbingo.com

itunes.apple.comtombola.com

whichbingo.co.ukbingo.paddypower.com

foxybingo.combootybingo.com

galabingo.com

bingo.ladbrokes.comOthers

Organic Value Score

24 266 14 224 12 2010 188 1620

14.57%

12.07%

7.21%

7.06%

6.22%

4.01%

2.73%

2.68%

2.25%

2.03%

2.02%

1.80%

1.54%

1.46%

1.29%

1.25%

1.19%

1.13%

0.76%

26.11%

0.62%

Pi Datametrics specialises in providing search

performance data to global enterprises through their

market leading SEO platform. PI Datametrics’ Gamma

Reports deliver insight into the potential value of an

organic search market and selected search terms,

based on metrics including search volume, cost-

per-click, PPC competition, organic positions and

click-through-rate. For more information and a demo,

please visit www.pi-datametrics.com

3820 28 3618 26 3416 24 3214 4022 30121086420

21.co.ukfreeslots.com

casino.netbet.co.ukcasino.org

virgingames.combootybingo.com

meccabingo.comgames.paddypower.com

casinoeuro.comhigh5casino.com

mrsmithcasino.co.uk

grosvenorcasinos.comwinkslots.com

galacasino.comstarwins.co.uk

32red.comslotboss.co.uk

casino.paddypower.comskyvegas.com

Others

Organic Value Score

8.08%

8.03%

6.25%

5.14%

3.94%

3.86%

3.83%

3.05%

2.91%

2.37%

2.02%

1.94%

1.81%

1.65%

1.62%

1.61%

1.48%

1.36%

0.90%

38.15%

1910 14 189 13 178 12 167 11 156543210 20 24232221

grosvenorcasinos.com 1.80%

top10pokersites.net 1.71%

cardschat.com 1.61%

signupbonuses.co.uk 1.51%

pacificpoker.com 1.37%

pokernews.com 1.18%

unibet.co.uk 1.81% thepokerpractice.com 1.88%

247freepoker.com 2.69%

fulltilt.com 6.23% replaypoker.com 6.29%

coral.co.uk 3.16% pokerlistings.com 3.93%

skypoker.com 6.99% uk.888poker.com 7.47%

partypoker.com 8.30% pokerstars.com 22.86%

aol.com 1.11%

poker.williamhill.com 1.04%

Others 16.07%freeslots.com 0.99%

Organic Value Score

25-26-Traffic-PI Datametrics data.indd 26 01/02/2017 10:44

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USING UX DESIGN TO DRIVE YOUR CONVERSION RATEWith Google privileging user satisfaction as its key ranking factor, John Wright of adventures.io provides some timely advice on what you can do now to upgrade the UX design of your website and improve performance.

THIS TIME LAST year, for the 2016 LAC

issue of iGB Affiliate magazine, I wrote an

article titled 2016: the year of design. That

showcased how important design is for any

website and if we look at the top-ranking

affiliate sites today, particularly those

that were acquired last year, it’s clear the

popular sites have strong designers. Even

the biggest igaming companies all have

their own design teams, which include user

experience (UX) designers.

My journey over the past five years

has taken me on a long, winding road

that started with SEO, then led me down

the path of conversion rate optimisation

(CRO), which in turn then led me to UX

design. I haven’t given up on SEO, but I

do think too many affiliates and operators

put too much emphasis on it and end up

making sites more for a search engine than

they do for a user.

To play devil’s advocate, you don’t need

an attractive website for it to be effective.

Part of the reason you may see dated sites

do well despite looking ugly is because they

have quality content, they format their site

properly and sometimes that ugly look earns

the trust of the user. They don’t feel like they

are being sold to by professionals — to them

it just feels organic, as in natural.

Ideally, you’d have money to be able to

invest in a quality UX designer, but you

don’t need money to be successful or to

have a well-designed website — there are

principles you can apply yourself that will

make a difference until you’re in a position

to outsource this to a specialist.

Whether you’re looking to hire UX help

or improve your design yourself, below are

some of the most important things to take

into consideration.

Sketch versus PhotoshopFor those who use Sketch, I don’t need to say

anything further. For designers who are not

using sketch or website owners who don’t

know what Sketch is, it is the premier design

tool for website designers, and many agree

Sketch is a superior program to Photoshop.

If you’re a website owner who doesn’t

do any design work, why should you care

about Sketch?

Sketch is the new standard of website

design and it is a faster tool for creating

designs. I can make websites faster in

Sketch than I can in Photoshop and once

you start using Sketch it is impossible to

use Photoshop again to design websites.

Sketch is also extremely fast and easy to

make website wireframes and layouts with

before you apply a design. No doubt there

are amazing website designers out there

still using Photoshop, but when I know a

designer is using Sketch, I know they are

an up-to-date designer. I treat it like a filter

for talent.

As much as I use Sketch as a filter for

finding good UX designers, I think by the

end of the year more and more designers

will be using Sketch. Therefore, using

Sketch as a keyword filter for finding talent

will become less relevant.

One thing to keep in mind is that Sketch

is available only for Apple computers (aka

Macs) and most likely won’t be available on

other operating systems anytime soon. By

limiting yourself to only Sketch designers,

you would be cutting off a massive part of

the world that uses Windows. Many poorer

countries have amazing designers that just

can’t afford a Mac. Furthermore, Sketch

designers are probably going to cost you

more than what’s available in the global

workforce of Photoshop designers.

Tip: When searching for designers

or posting a job, mention Sketch as a

required skill. You’ll filter out a lot of

designers with sub-standard portfolios.

Put mobile UX firstJust making a website responsive is not

good enough anymore. Even I have been

guilty of making a desktop website first,

“Prototyping tools have come out of nowhere and they make mapping out your wireframe, layout and testing faster than previously possible”

28-33-Traffic-Using UX-v2.indd 28 01/02/2017 10:47

29

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with mobile as an afterthought and telling

programmers how things should work

on a mobile phone. For most webmasters

and operators, mobile can’t be ignored

anymore, especially with casinos having

three times more mobile players than

desktop users. Betting on sports? That

should be done on a phone. Lottery tickets?

The process of buying a lottery ticket will

be mainly a mobile thing. Knowing how

important mobile is, it is important to map

out the entire user experience for mobile

users and put more emphasis on your

mobile design than you do for your desktop

design. With design tools like Sketch, it

makes it much easier to have your mobile

designs alongside the desktop version —

so your only excuse for not doing mobile

wireframes and designs would be laziness.

If you want to take your mobile user

experience to the next level, you can

prototype the entire experience with one of

the numerous prototyping tools that exist.

Although these are tools I haven’t used yet,

I have seen them touted as critical tools

for mobile design and for creating layouts.

These tools have come out of nowhere and

they make mapping out your wireframe,

layout and testing faster than previously

possible. You could save your designers and

programmers a lot of time by being able

to provide an answer to how your entire

mobile user experience should be. One tool

that is receiving a lot of praise is proto.io.

Typography mattersYou may wonder if typography is really

that important. It is more important

than you think and affects everything

you do every day, including reading this

article. Typography covers the choice of

font, font colour, font size, typeface, line

spacing and even line length. Imagine

if everything you read had ONLY this

choice of font. You’d struggle to read

emails, do anything on your phone and

have problems driving or finding your way

through London.

If you start adjusting all of these aspects

of your CSS for your website, you will

definitely influence your website metrics

such as bounce rate, time on site and pages

per visitor.

The reality is there are many website

designers who don’t understand the

rules of typography and don’t have any

knowledge of how it can positively or

negatively influence a website. When hiring

a designer, it’s a good idea to ask if they

include in their designs or have examples

of typography UI kit in their portfolio. If

they don’t have a good answer on their

typography preferences, it means they

probably haven’t studied it or don’t care

enough about it.

Some examples of typography that will

negatively impact your website include

too many types of fonts used, too light

of a font on a white background, similar

fonts and backgrounds with too little

contrast, and line spacing that is too large

or too small.

To learn a bit more about typography

check the Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Typography) page for it, which

ironically enough is one of the best

examples of typography that everyone

takes for granted.

Tip: When hiring a designer, ask if they

include in their designs or have examples

of typography UI kit in their portfolio.

If they don’t have a good answer on

their typography preferences, it means

they probably haven’t studied it let alone

care for it.

Content marketing and formattingMaybe content marketing is a bit of a

distraction from the point of this article,

but if you are going to make the effort

of making a site look good, make sure

you also put effort into the quality of the

content. A good design is no mask for poor

content. Good content doesn’t always have

to be a lot of words, but usually it is, with

articles exceeding 1,000 words.

For some people that initial impression

always makes a big difference. Giving your

users a summary of your content with

hotlinks and breaking things down into lists

is what can elevate your content and make

it more effective. Just hitting your users with

long paragraph after paragraph doesn’t make

your content inviting enough for people to

read and stay on your page. Their decision

to read it all or not happens quickly.

This takes us on to formatting your

content. This is something that many

websites totally miss the mark on. Your site

metrics such as bounce rate, time on site

and pages per session will all be influenced

by the formatting of your content. Imagine

Wikipedia without formatting, it would be

a nightmare to use and wouldn’t be the site

it is today.

Here is a quick checklist for your content

formatting:

●● Headlines

●● Images or video

●● Bold, italics and underline

●● Internal links

●● Lists

CASE STUDY: THEPOGG.COMThepogg.com had a large number of pages that lacked formatting. Hundreds of pages were updated to improve the readability and user experience and the improvements recorded were a 4% drop in the bounce rate, an improved average session duration of over 50 seconds and an increased pages per session by 0.65 pages per session.

It takes time to write a good article and

it takes even more time to add in all the

formatting. This means breaking your

content into sections using headlines and

sub-headlines, using images and/or videos

to enrich the content. Using bold, italics

and underline helps to accent the important

parts of your paragraphs.

“Examples of typography that will negatively impact your website include too many types of fonts used, too light of a font on a white background, similar fonts and backgrounds with too little contrast, and line spacing that is too large or too small”


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If there is one single thing you can do

to help yourself then it is adding internal

links for your articles. Putting aside the

SEO arguments, if you add more internal

links and don’t go overboard, you help

users find more content on your website

that would be of interest. It’s up to them

if they want to click on a link. However,

statistics show that users are more likely

to click on links when available, and that

means more time on your site and more

pages for them to visit rather than leaving

them high and dry and bouncing away.

Watch out for trends and fadsTwo fads I’ve seen come and go were the

use of video backgrounds on websites

and parallax scrolling. Some prominent

gaming sites like PokerStars and a few

others adopted these between 2014 to

2016 but they don’t seem to use them

anymore. My guess is that they realised

they looked cool but didn’t perform well.

If you look up the big name companies

that used these in the past, you’ll struggle

to find any continued use of them. In

addition to adding more for a user to

download and slowing down the website,

my assumption is that part of the problem

was that video is a distracting element.

The video would get users to watch what

was happening but it was without sound

and not much in the way of text. The

call to action becomes the furthest thing

from their mind and you have a site that

probably underperforms compared to one

with a static image.

Regarding parallax scrolling sites, these

were trendy in the past few years and

you might see some examples of this on

affiliate programme pages. They might

be great to use if you are a design agency

but I don’t think they have much practical

purpose. Ultimately, these have the same

issue as the video background website —

it impresses users, but at the expense of

losing them from making the next step of

signing up or getting to the next page.

The good and bad of affiliate sitesEvery so often I get asked for help on a

website or network of websites that were

once shining stars but have fallen from

grace. I have also seen the evolution

of some affiliates and their network of

websites. Many years of experience have

given me enough insight to see what I

think is important for affiliates to focus

on for this year and beyond. So here is

my take on what some affiliates are either

not doing right — or at all — and what

others are doing that makes them more

competitive.

My picks for…

BEST DESIGNED CASINO

SlotsMillionMy personal opinion of the best designed gaming site is SlotsMillion and I’d put Casumo as a close second. I’ve always thought the design of SlotsMillion was ahead of its time and this remains the case today. When it comes to presenting its slot games, it has reduced the clutter and the data that other casinos list and the end result is it’s easier to scan the catalogue of games on the site. Surprisingly, I see more casino sites copying the Casumo design than SlotsMillion.

BEST DESIGNED AFFILIATE PORTAL

AskGamblersWhen AskGamblers was redesigned for the second time in the past two years, I wasn’t a fan of the new design but it grew on me, much like the previous design. This portal design is one of the easiest to look at and its use of ‘cards’ to guide the user is not by mistake either. I expect its design to continue to be the most copied affiliate design out there for this year, much like in the past few years.


33

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Sinking fast:

●● Non responsive websites

●● Slow loading websites

●● Sites with thin content

On the rise:

●● Fresh designs

●● Fast loading websites

●● Enhanced content

If your website isn’t mobile ready then

expect it to fade away. Slower loading

websites are going to struggle to outrank

faster loading websites. Not only is this an

SEO problem, but slow loading websites will

lead to lower sales, higher bounce rates and

less page views. Sites with thin content are

eventually going to be outranked by sites with

richer content. By richer content, I’m not just

talking about better researched articles and

pages that are at least 1,000 words long, but

also content that is well formatted with more

images and videos. It helps to work smart but

this all comes down to who hustles the most.

If your competitor is creating better content,

and more of it, then they might be winning a

slice of the pie at your expense.

How to design well on a budgetIf you are an affiliate, it’s nice to know

you can pull off a well-designed site on a

budget by using a content management

system (CMS) such as WordPress or Ghost.

Both provide free software and there are

many additional free templates which

you can use. If you want to use a paid

template, these can vary in price but remain

affordable, from only USD $20 to $50.

You can find good Ghost templates at

marketplace.ghost.org and WordPress

templates at wordpress.org/themes. There

is also a large supply of free themes at

github.com. Simply search for the CMS

you use and you’ll find numerous free

templates you can download and use.

If you are looking for a better design you

can find numerous themes for either CMS

at themeforest.net.

Finding a UX DesignerIf you have a budget and want a custom

designed website then your job should

be finding the right UX designer.

Good places to find talented designers

include: Dribbble.com, Upwork.com and

adventures.io.

By specifically searching for a UX

designer rather than a website designer,

you are going to notice a different skill

set of applicants. Some website designers

might not know what UX stands for and

you don’t want these people. A designer

will make your website how you ask for

it, a good user experience designer will

challenge you and ask tough questions

help make sure you design the best site

for your users.

●● Dribbble.com

Dribbble (not a typo, there are three

b’s) is one of the most popular websites

for designers to showcase their work.

Here you’ll find talented designers that

make logos, website designs and graphic

design. You can use the site to type in

any keyword like logo, casino or UX and

you’ll find all sorts of images with these

tags and the designers that made them.

●● Upwork.com

Upwork is probably the biggest freelance

site around. You can post a job looking

for UX designers or you can search for

candidates. If you want great designers,

search keywords and categories for UX,

user experience design and maybe throw in

Sketch as a keyword if you want designers

who use Sketch.

●● adventures.io

What’s an article without a shameless

plug? If you need a designer, we can help

and whatever the budget is, we can find

a solution.

Tip: By specifically searching for a UX

designer rather than a website designer,

you are going to notice a different

skillset of applicants. Some website

designers might not know what UX

stands for and you don’t want these

people. A designer will make your

website how you ask for it, a good

user experience designer will challenge

you and ask tough questions to solve a

problem to help your users.

Is it time for a new design?Look at the four casino portals listed below,

all of which were redesigned in 2016, and

this should give you enough reasons to

consider having your site redesigned.

●● AskGamblers.com

●● CasinoBonusesNow.com

●● ThePOGG.com

●● LatestCasinoBonuses.com

Whether you are creating a new

website, redesigning it or rejigging just a

part of it, every time you do this there’s a

chance to test what is working and what

isn’t working. Your designs should be an

evolution of your site. It shouldn’t take

long for you to realise whether or not your

new designs are performing better than

previous versions.

JOHN WRIGHT is an igaming veteran with over 15 years’ experience in the industry. He is the founder of adventures.io. He has launched many affiliate websites, focusing on both players and webmasters, and offers a unique webmaster coaching service. While he wears many hats, his main focus is on UX design and conversion rate optimisation.

“Just hitting your users with long paragraph after paragraph doesn’t make your content inviting enough for people to read and stay on your page. Their decision to read it all or not happens quickly”


TRAFFIC


Branded3’s group head of PPC, Melanie Hyde, pinpoints the developments set to impact the paid search landscape in 2017 and how we should adjust our strategies accordingly.

THE START OF a new year is always a

great time to take stock of the exciting stuff

that’s happened over the past 12 months.

In the world of PPC, that’s meant Google

dropping the right hand-side ads, onscreen

ad space doubling and new extensions

being rolled out at an ever faster pace, to

name just a few.

2016 also saw paid search become

an increasingly vital part of the digital

marketing mix.

No longer is it simply a box-ticking

exercise; it’s now an integral part of any

ROI-focused business plan.

This year looks set to be another

eventful one for developments in search.

Switched-on marketers and agencies are

always looking for a way to keep ahead

of the curve, and 2017 will provide plenty

of opportunities for those agile enough to

embrace them.

Here are the key things on my radar for

this year and some thoughts on how we as

an industry may need to adapt to capitalise

on them.

The dataBig data isn’t new – detailed tracking has

led to a huge amount of data being put at

advertisers’ disposal and this year will see

that trend continue – but we need a new

approach in how we use this data to inform

our paid campaigns.

We already have tools like RLSA,

Google customer match and basic

demographic targeting in search, but this

year we’ll see many more advanced ways

to target customers, based on previous

browsing history, journeys onsite and

audience profiling.

The more advanced advertiser will be

very familiar with the robust targeting

methods available in display and social sites

like Facebook – it’s about time paid search

caught up and started to think less about

the keyword, and more about targeting on

audience level.

Whilst we wait for those features to

develop, we need to embrace a deeper

understanding of data analysis applied to

customer behaviours – who they are and

why they’re buying.

In basic terms; are we speaking to

customers in the right way and giving

our searchers what they want to see when

they click?

Getting this right is critical to PPC

performance and delivering efficiency. If

we don’t understand our existing customers

and how to engage new ones, we’re

destined to tread water, until we’re left

behind by the brands who do.

Additionally, in the not-too-distant future

we’ll see PPC ads which are customised

to a searcher’s characteristics and profile,

not just demographics like age, gender and

parental status.

Mobile and voice2017 will be an exciting year for mobile,

especially with the launch of local ads in maps,

promoted pins and an increase in searches

happening through voice commands.

The key driver of mobile success this

year will be to make the most of local

traffic, by ensuring your campaigns are

equally broken out by local store or

physical location.

Always serve a specific ad to your

searchers’ location, if you own a physical

store/shop front.

The same goes for promoted pins,

once it’s rolled out of beta. Get ahead by

testing and trialing new products as soon

as they release.

One commonly quoted ComScore

statistic is that by 2020 an estimated

50% of all searches will be by voice.

Regardless of whether this turns out to be

true, voice search is definitely becoming

far more commonplace.

With integrated assistants like Siri

and Cortana rapidly increasing their

understanding of request context,

advertisers need to also feed questioning

search phrases and context into our

targeting, answering the searcher’s

questions directly within the SERP, if

we can.

As a result of voice search, we’ll see

longer-tailed terms on mobile, so ask

yourself about the worth of investing

in all parts of the funnel and not just

the bottom.

Covering searchers’ demands at the

research/questioning stage builds trust

and you’ll reap the rewards later on.

We now have, as standard, doubled the

onscreen real estate for our messaging,

with much more emphasis on paid ads

than ever before.

The usual suspectsThis year will continue to showcase

new products from the usual suspects,

like image sitelinks, new extensions and

possibly new audience-targeting options.

With all these extra features that

we can ‘bolt on’ to our ads, the search

PAID SEARCH PREDICTIONS FOR 2017

“In the not-too-distant future we’ll see PPC ads which are customised to a searcher’s characteristics and profile, not just demographics like age, gender and parental status”

34-35-Traffic-Paid serch predictions for 2017.indd 34 01/02/2017 11:03

TRAFFIC


result page is going to start to look very

busy with competitors fighting for share

of voice.

The key for me here is not just to use

these new features, but really target and

understand what messaging and which

features will work best to help you

achieve your goals.

Try not to just fill the space for the

sake of it, but actually think about

whether you are being relevant enough to

the searcher.

Test continually too. Don’t assume

that anything in its current state is the

best version that it could be. If you’re

using a testing matrix for your ads, create

new sitelinks, callouts and snippets and

creatively test everything! There are lots

of third-party tools out there to help bulk

testing of ads if the task is daunting.

Channel integrationMy final thought for 2017 is on Google’s

announcement of its intention to share

customer data between its own channels –

i.e YouTube targeting video ads based on a

user’s search data.

Channel integration as a whole will

need to be a key focus for marketing teams,

not just with the obvious paid channels,

like social and display, but also with SEO

and CRO. The insights gained from PPC

can help with optimising a website’s overall

performance.

According to a study undertaken by

McKinney, companies which invested in

their digital capabilities and had multiple

touch points were 2.5 times more likely to

result in a conversion or purchase.

As the number of different touch points

grows, developing an understanding of

attribution is more important than ever – as

the potential for opportunity grows, so does

the potential for wastage.

2017 is a year ripe with opportunity – from

hyper-relevant search results to talking to our

AI assistants.

Those who try, test and embrace the

challenges of this rapidly changing discipline

will quickly find themselves leading the pack

and soon be looking forward to the evolutions

and revolutions 2018 will inevitably bring.

All in all, an exciting year ahead!

MELANIE HYDE is group head of PPC at Branded3, with numerous years of eperience leading some of the UK’s largest PPC accounts. She is adept at utilising multiple channels to deliver best-in-class strategy and performance.

Bringing Affiliates & Operators Closer Together in 2017 & Beyond

We’re 15… Let’s Celebrate!

Affiliate Software | Network & Management Services | incomeaccess.com

A WORLD OFOPPORTUNITIES

POKER

SPORTS

BINGO

VEGAS

CASINO

Enjoy gambling responsibly. www.gambleaware.co.uk 18+ © Barcrest Group Ltd 2015

A WORLD OFOPPORTUNITIES

POKER

SPORTS

BINGO

VEGAS

CASINO

Enjoy gambling responsibly. www.gambleaware.co.uk 18+ © Barcrest Group Ltd 2015

FEATURE

38 iGB Affi liate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

2017:

ORY WEIHS, CEO, XLMEDIA

M&A - We will most likely see the wave of consolidation

continue with larger groups buying up smaller affiliates.

The benefits of scale are very real, and the heavily funded

affiliates with serious technology behind them are at a

significant advantage in such a competitive environment.

Technology - There is a stronger need for advanced

technologies than ever before, both on the yield

management side as well as in media buying (bidding,

optimising, data management and so on). Affiliates lacking

these capabilities will be left behind. Those that have

invested heavily in both their back end and optimisation

system to be able to work in scale, and have a diversified

revenue stream across different products and platforms, will

have the edge.

Regulation - New gambling regimes are an opportunity for

affiliates with the bandwidth to take advantage, founded

on a combination of better offerings and products on the

publishing side as well as know-how and tech to exploit new

media opportunities in regulated environments.

Corporate governance - Given regulatory changes, we

should see the larger players address regulatory issues and

ensure they are working according to local laws.

THE PREDICTIONSWhile 2016 for affi liates was arguably shaped more by the consolidation of existing trends than the emergence of new ones, this certainly didn’t render it any less of a defi ning year for the sector, which saw the emergence of its fi rst serial large-scale acquirer in the shape of Catena Media. So what will 2017 hold for the affi liate space? IGB Affi liate asked its carefully selected panel of experts for their predictions on the year ahead.

RICHARD MOFFAT, CEO, OLBG.COM

I see 2017 being a fantastic year for sports betting affi liates. TV advertising of gambling products pre-9pm will

end with affi liates being the biggest winners, as some of the millions of pounds spent here is shifted to affi liates, who will show a far better return than TV.

Bookies will continue to fi nd smarter ways to attract new customers and reduce reliance on large free bet offers, which are reportedly costing the industry £20m a month in matched betting-related bonus abuse. This will be great news for most sports betting affi liates with a lower cost of sale, meaning accounts generated will become more profi table, and more quickly.

Bookmakers focused on smaller margins, better odds, acceptance of larger bets and that don’t limit or close winning accounts so easily will grow market share signifi cantly.

Many betting shops will be forced to close as stricter regulation on machines makes them less profi table, meaning even more attention will be diverted online and to sports betting affi liates.

“I see 2017 being a fantastic year for sports betting affi liates."

38-41-Feature-Predictions.indd 38 01/02/2017 16:56

FEATURE


FEDA MECAN, OWNER, PLAYINGLEGAL.COM

2017 should be a year of big

movement in the igaming industry

on all fronts. I see a year full of

M&A, and am sure we will see much

more venture and existing capital

being spent on buyouts in the affiliate

business. In addition, the igaming

business itself will continue to

change. Once dominant brands such

as William Hill look vulnerable and

exposed now, so a big merger would

protect them. I have seen a lot of strong, small brands built over the last three-to-four

years and many are now ripe for acquisition.

The betting business should profit further from AI. If done properly, this will

lead to near 100% automated trading. However, there is a trend among affiliates

towards self-built and tailored solutions, away from platforms such as WordPress.

Cross-platform tracking and additional ad-blocking will continue to be a

headache for the operators and, of course, affiliates. The primitive “create a bonus

code” response creates the wrong kind of competition and is not a real solution.

Getting to grips with voice search. Alexa and other assistants are only the

beginning. Voice search needs one question and provides only one answer, eliminating

the need to click links. This will be a real challenge for affiliates, and unlike much

hyped developments such as smartwatches, this isn’t going away any time soon.

NICK GARNER FOUNDER AND CEO, OSHI CASINOCONSOLIDATION IN THE AFFILIATE WORLD:●● Organisations like Catena will keep

growing and growing, so expect more

big purchases from them and other

mega affiliates;

●● Don’t be surprised if you see other well-

funded networks forming this year;

●● As a result of this concentration of

power, expect these networks to get

much more aggressive on deal pricing

with operators;

●● The big affiliates which became brands

in their own right; AskGamblers, OLBG,

Oddschecker et cetera, will carry on

growing, effectively killing off lots of

smaller sites.

GOOGLE GETTING HARDER TO MANIPULATE:●● We’ve already entered the age of

artificial intelligence with Google.

Gaming this version of Google is much

harder than it ever has been and will

continue to only get tougher;

●● Those who play by Google’s new

rules will win. Engagement is the new

currency. Do everything you can to be

that engaging affiliate site people love.;

Long-tail ‘satisfying’ results will be more

important than ever. It’s because Google

understands content and searches better

than it has ever done.

STILL GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LITTLE GUYS:●● As the big affiliate sites grow and

others get sold to well-financed

corporates, quality is likely to dip on

many web properties, and that’s where

opportunities will arise;

●● Since engagement and user satisfaction is

number one priority, smaller, ultra-niche

websites will be able to plug those gaps.

●● Smaller site owners will cut better deals

than the big networks, because they can

work ‘economy’, so will get relatively

more attention from operators.

GRANT MACFARLANE CEO, THE MEDIA IMAGE

Performance - 2017 will be tough

for slow non-mobile websites, so

websites must be built for mobiles

and load instantly.

Reputation - Gaming companies with

physical offices, prominent contact

details and multi-location support will

have the advantage over “hidden in the

dark” websites, so ensure your business

details are visible and consistent across

all web properties. It is beneficial to

monitor not only backlinks, but also

reviews and mentions. Due to high

competition in the industry, some

competitors will use negative SEO tactics, so make sure you monitor your backlinks

profile daily. Stay well away from any black hat techniques to avoid penalisation.

Data-driven services will play greater role. Analyse your visitors’ behaviour, use machine

learning to improve users’ journeys, and try to predict their needs.

IOT - Users will use more non-standard devices for internet browsing, smartwatches, ultra-

wide smart TVs, fridges and ovens; make sure your website is cross-device compatible.

VR - We can officially call 2017 the year of virtual reality. There are many consumer-

affordable VR devices: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and others.

Consumers have not only started playing games and watching videos in VR, but are also

about using it to browse the internet and use Google search. Make sure you do not miss

an opportunity to ride the VR wave.

Progressive web apps, which “feel like an app, work like a website” will challenge

traditional apps, especially in the gaming industry where UX and functionality are vital.

By utilising progressive web app technology you can achieve better user experience,

superior visitor engagement and increased conversion rates.



FEATURE

JESPER SØGAARD, CEO, BETTER COLLECTIVE

The affiliate landscape has always been,

and continues to be, very competitive.

In order to rise above the competition in

2017, there will be more M&A activity.

Larger affiliates adopted this strategy in

2016, and we can only expect more to

do so this year.

With newly inaugurated President Trump and his relationship to the industry,

affiliates should keep a keen eye on the US market in 2017.

The continuous collection of data and feedback from users and the ability of

platforms to seamlessly adjust strategies to improve conversion rates remains as

important as ever.

Ad-blockers continue to be an issue for affiliates. We need to be very aware of

the potential traffic we are losing, and operators need to react by improving their

tracking options.

Transparency is a crucial component for the affiliate system to continue to be

successful, which is achieved by having access to good tracking links and bonus codes.

MARK MCGUINNESS CMO, BETOLIMP

THE BOOM AND BUST CYCLE HITS SUPER AFFILIATES. 2017 shall continue

to see the evolution of super affiliate networks

into digital media agencies, after last year saw

significant investment and M&A in the space.

With Paysafe Group buying Income Access for

CAD$40m cash and Catena Media plc acquiring

Askgamblers for €15m; money appears no object in

the race to be category leader. Or is it now a race to the bottom with inflated valuations

and problematic price-to-earnings ratios? It looks like the boom and bust cycle could be

getting underway in the gambling affiliate space.

REAL-TIME REPORTING AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Leading

on from the heating up in the affiliate category outlined above, as margins come

under further pressure and competition for traffic intensifies, the platforms that will

survive and thrive will be those that focus on real-time reporting for conversion rate

optimisation, remarketing and behavioural marketing. This of course means continued

investment into technology and data scientists to crunch all the big data and develop

deep learning models, in turn impacting margins and ROI.

IBM WATSON ANALYTICS. Big data is the key to unlocking revenue opportunities

in the affiliate marketing vertical. And yes, smart data analysis and visualisation,

combined with cognitive, heuristics, artificial intelligence and algorithmic thinking, are

coming to you very soon.

JUDITH LEWIS, FOUNDER AND CEO, DECABBIT CONSULTANCYWhile affiliates have been a bit battered in the last few years, there are still opportunities to differentiate and

win. I spoke some years ago at LAC about “Branding Without Burning” where I asserted that affiliates would

have to become brands in their own right and deliver some sort of added value over and above just ranking

well for key terms. Google’s changes have demonstrated that this approach is rewarding for affiliates.

Building websites for mobile-first. It isn’t just about betting on the bus–it’s about ensuring you aren’t

subject to future ranking suppressions for a poorly optimised site. You also have to think about conversions

on a mobile-first basis, how you use the web–mobile and tablet while watching TV from an internet-

connected device–and how others are too.

It’s no longer just about 10 blue links. It’s about answers to questions, best odds on whatever match,

familiarity, trust, and links, the latter earned carefully for good reason. Optimising the site technically and

for content, adding value and being in the right place (social, search, forums, etc.) sounds like the internet of 1996, but that’s where we’ve

come back to, just with RankBrain and a much faster web.

NICKY SENYARD MD, INCOME ACCESS

NEW MARKETING CHANNELS. As we’ve seen

historically, the best predictor of new marketing trends

is user behaviour. In 2016, we saw the transition to user

acquisition via mobile continue on both smartphones

and tablets. This year, we can expect to see marketing

channels evolve and expand to meet this trend, and

for savvy brands and affiliates to capitalise on these

opportunities. New channels include app store

advertising, where there is little competition and a big

opportunity for low-cost acquisition.

MARKETING EVOLUTION. With increasing

levels of data capture and analytics, we can expect

to see the connection between user acquisition data

and retargeting marketing become even stronger. In

2017, there will be an evolution towards more holistic

customer marketing across platforms, channels and

points in the sales funnel. This means brands will be

able to capture more data at each phase of the sales

process and use this data to develop a comprehensive

view of the customer and their behaviour, creating a

tailored experience with the least amount of effort.

NEW MARKETS AND VERTICALS. 2016 created

a strong foundation for new market growth into

2017. Markets in South America, Africa and Asia

will continue to gain traction, and they will likely

attract larger brands from mature European markets

looking to expand. These markets also represent an

opportunity for affiliates to diversify their operations

in regions with lower competition. They will serve

to educate the users of the new brands and products

in these markets. We can also expect to see brands

building partnerships with affiliates that have emerging

market knowledge and traffic.development for both

affiliates and punters.


TRAFFIC


Given the competition and cost pressures in traditional SEO and PPC channels, Louis Meletiou of Illuminate Agency suggests it’s time for affiliates to look at display again... but not as they may know it.

IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY, display

advertising has not traditionally been a

cornerstone of affiliate marketing. As

a channel that is predominately used

for less tangible metrics, such as brand

awareness and reach, display has been a

discipline dominated by operators. On top

of this, display has a poor reputation in a

lot of verticals. If you purchase a coffee

machine from Amazon, I guarantee that

for the following fortnight you will be

chased around every major publisher you

visit by horrible adverts, offering you the

same machine you have probably already

purchased. Instead affiliates have tended

to stick to more performance-focused

channels that provide them with direct

traffic and conversions.

With recent changes to online gaming

legislation, the already hypercompetitive

SEO landscape, and the volatile and

increasingly costly PPC, affiliates’

traditional channels are becoming ever

more problematic. These changes are

driving affiliates and super affiliates to seek

out new and emerging channels in a digital

arms race for cost-effective, high-quality

traffic. Of these emerging disciplines, only

one is currently being seriously considered

as having the ability to bridge the void

created through recent legislation changes,

as well as supplement current traditional

channel efforts such as SEO, and that is

display… But not as you might know it.

Native advertising Native advertising is a form of display

marketing that can achieve the same

cost-effective scale of impressions that

made display so popular, but native has the

advantage of bringing through high-quality

traffic that is engaged and ready to convert.

On a programmatic level, native advertising

can connect your adverts to thousands

of publishers, in real time, to show your

creatives to consumers in a form that fits

the website they’re currently browsing,

making it look like a sponsored article amid

relevant content.

Not only do these adverts look like

“native” articles (hence the name), but

they can bypass traditional ad-blocking

software and most importantly, consumers

do not get turned off by the eyesores

associated with traditional display. There

are also a plethora of formats to choose

from. What we have seen working well

for affiliates over the past year has been

cinemagraphs – high resolution images

with a slight element of movement – they

are subtle yet eye-catching.

Strategic tipsThis new format is as perfect for direct to

landing page marketing as it is for content

amplification, and for both approaches, we

have found the following strategies effective:

1. Turbo-charge your SEO strategy

While you are not going to increase

your website authority with direct links

from native advertising, what you can

do is syndicate the content you’re using

for your current SEO strategy. Native is

extremely flexible, and it can supplement

your efforts in a multitude of ways,

for example, it can be a cost-effective

method of getting your infographics

on national publications, or pushing

your super targeted blog posts to niche

websites. When using native as an SEO

catalyst, results have shown over 33%

incremental gains in organic branded

search volume.

2. Focus on performance-driven metrics

With new channels, leveraging a new wave

of performance-driven metrics has proven

invaluable for optimisation. For example,

you can break down each publication by

how much you’re spending per second spent

viewing your content. This is called cost per

time on site, and it enables you to assign a

value to onsite engagement pre-conversion.

Using native purely to fill the audience

pot that sits at the top of your marketing

funnel has also proven effective, which

means native can supplement your existing

marketing efforts as easily as it can be an

alternative to them.

Finally, as native is a brand-new channel

and brands utilising it are technically still

early adopters, the best native ad providers

out there are operating on a performance-

related fee mode, meaning you can

currently trial it risk-free, and provide an

incentive for the DSPs to make sure they are

outperforming your current marketing mix.

This is only the beginning. Every day

more top publishers are adding native

placements to their publications, and

more advertisers are trying out unique and

innovative formats like cinemagraphs and

parallax scrolling. It’s definitely an exciting

time to test the channel for yourselves.

GOING NATIVE

“What we have seen working well for affiliates over the past year has been cinemagraphs – high resolution images with a slight element of movement”

LOUIS MELETIOU is Digital Marketing Coordinator at Illuminate Agency. Louis has been working in digital for over five years, and in that time he has pioneered innovative solutions for some of the world’s largest gaming clients.

42-Traffic-Going Native.indd 42 01/02/2017 11:08

INSIGHT


THE HIDDEN COST OF MATCHED BETTINGJulian Rogers examines the rise of matched betting advice sites and their impact on the online betting industry.

“EARN A TAX-FREE and risk-free second

income of up to £1,500 a month”. With

head-turning messages like these, it is

perhaps no surprise more people are being

seduced by the concept of matched betting.

For those unfamiliar, matched betting

is a technique where people take up free

bookmaker signup offers and other bonuses

to back one outcome of a sporting event, then

place a lay bet at a betting exchange such as

Betfair. Because the back bet was essentially

free, they profit whatever the outcome.

For those willing to put in a bit of

legwork, there are genuine and consistent

profits to be bagged. Of course, matched

betting is nothing new. Yet Google searches

for the term ‘matched betting’ have soared

in recent years (see Figure 1).

However, the practice has become

noticeably more organised of late as a

slew of slick-looking sites armed with

odds-matching software, calculators,

tutorials and forums have burst onto the

scene. An odds-matching process that was

once plotted using spreadsheets and by

trawling the internet for matched betting

opportunities is now automated, making it

considerably simpler and quicker.

Profit Accumulator, which charges

paying subscribers £22.99 a month or

£150 a year, only launched in 2014 but

has quickly mushroomed into the space’s

recognised leader, with over 20,000

monthly members. Even by conservative

estimates, the site is raking in seven figures

annually just from subscriptions.

According to web traffic statistics

specialists SimilarWeb, Profit

Accumulator attracts around one million

visitors a month, with users hanging

around for an average of 11 minutes and

clicking on 19 pages.

As well as an accomplished video

extolling the virtues of matched betting,

together with member case studies, rival

subscription-based site OddsMonkey

includes caricatures of the 18-strong team,

mimicking the vibe of a tech start-up.

Moreover, though, a headcount of this

magnitude – if it’s true – underlines the

money to be made from this niche. It’s no

cottage industry.

Even so, Michael Rasmussen, head

of acquisition at Panbet (Marathonbet

Group), describes matched betting today as

organised bonus abuse. “The whole concept

of matched betting is that there is zero risk

and you just extract value from offers.

“Translated, it is organised bonus abuse.

As soon as you have got a new company

out there that opens up a bonus they have

an army of matched bettors killing them on

their bonusing.”

Figure 1: The rise of “matched betting” Google search queries since 2004

45-46-Insight-Hidden cost of matched betting.indd 45 01/02/2017 11:10

INSIGHT


Despite this criticism, some industry

veterans have diverted their attention

towards matched betting. David Archer

founded sports betting affiliate network

Biggerbet in 2009 but recently launched

MatchedBets.com from his base in

Marbella, Spain.

Meanwhile, Pierluigi Buccioli ran

Bookmakers Review for a decade before

later establishing MatchedBetting.com.

Buccioli, who habitually buys and sells

domains, says he’s received multiple five-

figure offers for his Matchedbetting.com

url over the past few years as suitors realise

its potential value. “In early 2015 I started

looking for a new project – I received a six-

figure offer for the domain and decided right

there and then to build it into a website.”

A different type of customerCuriously, matched betting sites seem to cast

their nets far wider than the existing pool of

sports bettors, deliberately targeting students

and those looking to earn a few extra quid.

Not only has matched betting appeared

in articles by The Guardian, The

Huffington Post and The Telegraph, it

regularly features on sites such as Save the

Student, The Student Guide, Money Saving

Expert and Mumsnet.

In these sites’ comments sections and

forums you will find gambling neophytes

trying to wrap their heads around the

somewhat esoteric methods of exploiting

bookmaker offers and how to lay a bet.

They don’t tend to be your typical gambler.

“I know our general punter but I know

you will see the stay-at-home mum doing

matched betting in between the school runs.

It’s a different segment,” says Rasmussen.

“It’s a segment that betting companies are

never going to turn into profit.”

However, Buccioli says: “Subscription

sites like Profit Accumulator have done an

incredible job at making matched betting

popular with non-gambler demographics,

and in particular with those looking to

make money online or working from home,

but in my experience, the typical matched

bettor is someone who already has an

interest in sports betting and starts looking

for ways to profit from his hobby.”

One of the most popular free-to-access

matched betting services (29,000 Twitter

followers) is Matched Betting Blog, owned

by Matthew Kirman. A profits target on the

homepage was set at £16,000 for 2016. Yet

by the time New Year’s Eve revellers locked

arms to sing Auld Lang Syne, Kirman had

eclipsed £18,000. Although perhaps not a

life-changing sum to most, risk-free profits

like this are certainly not to be sniffed at,

especially if a cash-strapped undergraduate.

“Since the money is a relative small

gain per offer it is not really worth it if you

already have a decent salary, but if you are

student or stay-at-home mum, this money

can make a difference,” says one operator’s

head of sportsbook speaking to iGaming

Business on an anonymous basis.

However, our source is quick to

highlight how from the industry’s

perspective, “[n]ew operators are the ones

that are being hit the hardest since we

cannot afford the abuse to the same extent

as the more mature operators, and this

puts us at a competitive disadvantage.”

‘We’re not talking small numbers’The average European sportsbook shells

out €180 to acquire each new customer

these days, according to betting tech

supplier Bettorlogic, with freebies and

bonuses part of this outlay.

Traditionally a low-margin operator,

Marathonbet decided to provide its first

new customer offer in August 2015. Bonus

abusers and matched bettors were quick to

pounce, says Rasmussen, adding that the

promotion cost his firm seven figures.

He estimates similar amounts are lost

to matched bettors across the industry.

“Let’s say an organised matched bettor

can make £1,000 a month and you have

one site with 20,000 subscribers, that’s £20

million extracted from the industry from

pure speculation and trading offers on a

monthly basis.

“It’s difficult to estimate how many are

super-organised and manage to get away

with it [but] I don’t think we are talking

small numbers across the industry. A lot

[of operators] probably don’t realise how

much their offers are abused amongst

matched bettors.”

Many matched betting sites offer advice

on how to fly under the radar and try to

avoid being ‘gubbed’ (no longer eligible for

free bets and offers). This includes placing

the occasional ‘mug’ bet, playing some

casino, or, if they are sharp, locking in the

profits on the exchanges. That way, the

bookmaker just sees a losing account.

Buccioli, unsurprisingly maybe, refutes

the suggestion that this is all organised

bonus abuse. “There is no doubt that when

it first became popular 10 years ago, the

matched betting technique was presented,

discussed and refined by groups of players

and forums that had a history of bonus

abuse, but these days I don’t know of any

major matched betting site that encourages

or caters to bonus abusers.

“It’s also important to mention that

matched betting, if done right, doesn’t cost

anything to the bookmaker as the matched

bettor wants to move his profits and cash

out on a betting exchange, where it will be

either a market maker or another punter to

pay for them.”

As it stands, matched betting continues

to be a lucrative activity, especially so for

those established sites with loyal paying

subscribers, not to mention the facilitators

of the lay bets – exchanges like Betfair,

Betdaq and Matchbook.

In fact, it’s reaching the stage where

consolidation in the matched betting arena

is a distinct possibility, suggests Buccioli. “I

see more matched betting sites launching

in 2017 and I most definitely expect

some M&A activity within the matched

betting niche, and possibly a media group

taking over one of the more established

subscription sites.”

For our anonymous source, the

situation is simple: “I think we will see

more and more of these sites until the free

money stops.”

“Let’s say an organised matched bettor can make £1,000 a month and you have one site with 20,000 subscribers, that’s £20 million extracted from the industry from pure speculation and trading offers on a monthly basis”Michael Rasmussen, Panbet

45-46-Insight-Hidden cost of matched betting.indd 46 01/02/2017 11:10

INSIGHT


BUILDING AUTHORITY: SEO AND PRAndy Barr, co-founder and head Yeti at 10 Yetis Digital, provides some tips on making your SEO work harder by adopting some PR-led strategies.

NOWADAYS IT IS not enough to just

say that public relations and search engine

optimisation have blurred. The two

disciplines have not only gotten married,

they have gone on to have some amazing

link-building babies!

Let’s take a step back though and give a

Janet and John guide for those who are not

sure what I am going on about.

You have a fantastically well-built

site. Your on-page SEO is the best it can

be, with optimised titles, amazing meta

descriptions and a page load speed that

would impress Usain Bolt. That’s it, you

have built it and people will come... Sadly

not. Getting people to link to your website

is still pretty much key and this is where

SEO and PR work best together.

First up, the two teams need to work

together to think up campaign ideas that

can attract links back to the site. PR land

has a rich pedigree when it comes to getting

high domain authority news and online

sites to naturally link back to a site, and

this is what can make the difference when

it comes to search rankings. One of the

fastest ways to build both links and also a

company’s brand profile is to piggyback on

the news agenda.

When a big story breaks that your

company is well positioned to comment

on, you can get links by being super quick

in getting your reactive statement out to the

media, and by super quick, I mean within

minutes of a story breaking.

A few rules for this: you have to make

your statement interesting and quirky,

something that will stick in the minds of

journalists and news editors. If you have

related content on your site, make sure that

you include this link with your statement to

give journalists a reason to link to you.

Great link-building success for brands

can also come from creating content that is

hosted on their own site which is interesting

to both consumers and media and very

shareable. This can be anything from fun

microsites, e.g. “What type of animal do

you most sleep like”, through to on-site

quizzes, widgets or interactive infographics.

There are thousands of online tutorials

about how to create brilliant content

that will get interest from the media and

ultimately links, but the benchmark is

simple: “Can you imagine your mates

chatting about the content or story down

the pub?”. When you are brainstorming

ideas, this is the test you should apply to

every idea. In addition, you need to think

about how you can position the story or

content in a way that makes the journalist

or news site need to link to your on-site

content in order to help the consumer, or

better tell their story.

So far we have talked about how public

relations people can get links to help

the SEO team out, but one of the best

examples of the two areas working hand

in hand is strategic guidance with regard to

the types of links to get.

Quite often a PR team will be given a

list of websites that the SEO people want

to get links from, based on a competitor’s

backlink profile. Sometimes these sites are

quite niche, so bespoke content or articles

will need to be thought of, pitched to

the relevant journalists, written and then

submitted. This is not a quick and easy

task and can be far more time-consuming

than other types of public relations link-

building, but the pay-off makes it more

than worthwhile.

The final area where I think a public

relations approach can enhance SEO

performance is link reclamation. This is

where a big news or high-authority website

has written a story about your website but

not necessarily given a link back. This is a

good example of where the two disciplines

have very different approaches.

SEO has historically been a bit clumsy

about this and a first date is probably a good

analogy. When the SEO team approaches

link reclamation (the first date) they just

thunder in and try for a big old snog straight

away (ask for the link). The PR approach

is more about building the relationship,

getting to know the person and then, when

they think the moment is right, leaning in

and going for a more delicate kiss, probably

getting this job done quicker and more

successfully in the long run.

“Give journalists a reason to link to you”

NAME: ANDY BARR WHEN: 10 FEBRUARY @ 12:30WHERE: ROOM 1

ANDY BARR is co-founder and the gobby one from the award winning international public relations agency 10 Yetis.

INSIGHT


DIGITAL MEDIA AND MARKETING: WHAT’S NEXT?Kathryn Farrell of Digital Fuel Marketing unpacks the factors and trends set to shape and disrupt digital media and marketing over the next 12 months.

THE ONLY THING in life that is constant

is change. That old pearl of wisdom has

never rung truer than in the world of

technological innovation, where change

happens fast and often. Mobile is surpassing

desktop, social is crushing search, and

messaging apps are outdoing email.

Late last year, Henry Blodget, the Global

editor-in-chief and CEO of Business Insider,

took to the stage in New York City at his

company’s flagship annual conference,

IGNITION 2016, to touch on what he sees

on the horizon for digital media.

To kick-start the high-profile gathering

of some of the biggest business leaders

in tech and media, Blodget’s presentation

introduced some interesting points

applicable to our sector. Here, we take

a look at some of his observations,

combining this with some predictions

for the year ahead from the team here at

Digital Fuel Marketing.

Digital is inheriting the EarthThe notion that “Digital is inheriting the

Earth” was presented by Blodget as fact,

illustrated by the use of some graphics that

supported these points:

●● US digital media consumption is

growing year on year, while all other forms

of media, i.e. print, radio, TV and other,

are all, without exception, on the decline;

●● This shift is a generational one. The

16-24 age group watch the least amount

of TV, rarely read a printed newspaper or

magazine, and is the least likely to listen

to the radio. They are, however, glued to

their smartphones more often than any

other age bracket.

So, when we also consider that US

advertising revenue from digital sources is

growing (while ad revenue from TV, radio,

print and outdoor remains flat), it’s also

noteworthy that this 16-24 year-old age

bracket, the biggest users of smartphones

today, will be the mass market at which this

advertising is targeted in 10 years’ time.

While Blodget’s insight referred to the

US, it’s fairly safe to say that this trend is

a global one that extends way beyond that

country’s borders, encompassing the UK

and Europe.

It’s Google, Facebook and “other”Blodget also made the point that in terms

of global digital advertising revenues, it’s

pretty much a duopoly. There’s the two

mega-giants in Google and Facebook, and

then there’s everyone else! While several

other platforms such as Twitter, Instagram

and Snapchat have tried to stake a claim to

that elusive third position behind Google

and Facebook, none of them, not even

Yahoo or AOL, have ever come close.

By way of illustration, a slide

prepared by Business Insider Intelligence

demonstrated that in the first half results

to June 2016, Google and Facebook grew

in US digital advertising revenue by 23%

and 68%, respectively, while everyone else

collectively shrank by 2%.

So for now, Google and Facebook own

the social landscape, and their upward trend

doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon.

The bell tolls for legacy TVBlodget also argued that for the next 20

years, digital disruption will focus on TV.

According to Blodget, traditional TV has

passed its peak and the average time spent

watching linear TV is falling. While the

50-65+ age group are watching more TV

than they were five years ago, every other

age group’s TV consumption is declining.

In fact, the 18-24 age group’s time spent

watching traditional TV is down 40% in the

same time-frame.

Meanwhile, the growth of modern TV

networks or OTT (over-the-top) networks

has been explosive. Subscriber-based services

such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu,

plus Apple TV installations, are growing

rapidly in user numbers in the US and in

international markets where available.

Modern TV networks are better in

providing the kind of service we all demand

in 2017. OTT networks allow us to watch

what we want when we want to, anywhere,

on any screen. The convenience of this

speaks to the way we want to consume our

entertainment in 2017.

So, what does it all mean?Blodget maintained that: “Old media don’t

die. They get niche-ified.”

He qualified this by explaining that there are

three areas of “TV” today: modern digital TV

networks and access providers, both of which

will continue to thrive, and traditional TV

networks, which will go through decades of

consolidation and pain.

With there are many legacy networks, too

few of these have sustainable viewer bases

and access to the great content needed to

attract new audiences, which is scarce and in

great demand.

Couple this with the declining audiences for

traditional strongholds such as televised sports,

and mergers and partnerships will become the

way for many traditional networks to survive.

Thankfully, underlying ad revenues are still

substantial enough to allow these networks to

weather the storm as combined entities.

51-52-Insight-Digital Marketing What next.indd 51 01/02/2017 11:15

INSIGHT


The next big thing Many hailed smartwatches or VR glasses

as the next big tech trend, but they simply

haven’t caught on the way Apple or Google

had hoped.

Instead, Blodget pointed to social video

as the next big thing. Between Q1 of

2015 and Q1 of 2016, daily social video

views were up 200% on Facebook alone,

with similar upward trends happening

on Snapchat and on YouTube, albeit to a

slightly lesser degree.

At Digital Fuel, we saw our video

advertising spend grow exponentially

in 2016 compared with 2015, with the

appetite for video production growing,

it’s easy to get your ad in front of a mass

media. The likes of Veeroll, Animoto and

Kizoa offer both free and paid-for video

production tools highly compatible with all

of the main social media networks.

What’s interesting to note is that social

videos can travel across social platforms, so

provide extra mileage if they get the initial

hoped-for traction.

Social video is fundamentally different

from standard video, Blodget hailed it

as a “New kind of story” with several

components setting it apart:

●● Must be a “thumb-stopper”: you have

a second to make someone stop scrolling

through their newsfeed and watch your

video on social

●● Sound is optional: it must make sense

without the sound turned on

●● Intimate and conversational in style: the

content must speak to the individual

●● Highly shareable: evocative and

compelling enough not just to watch, but to

share with others

Social videos can be evocative,

entertaining and effective at changing

behaviour and compelling action, but they

have to be produced with the right touch

and intention. When your social video

content ticks all of the above boxes, the

opportunity is massive for marketers.

Additionally, a ‘one size fits all’

solution won’t work. What resonates

well on YouTube won’t necessarily hit

the sweet spot on Facebook. The key is

testing messaging and video length, and

optimising for audience types.

Our crystal ball says ‘big data’ ‘Big data’ is a hazy term, but when we

expand the definition to include insight

and predictive analytics, it shows the value

of specific marketing techniques; big data

marketing applications include market and

customer insight and predictive analytics.

You don’t have to be a big business to use

data to make better decisions either. Even

small brands can watch analytics to iterate

and improve results faster. Look at what

worked best over the past year and double

down on those channels, topics and tactics.

Analytics can also help bring about

predictive customer service, providing

personalised experiences for consumers

based on likes and preferences. This

technology will also predict what

consumers need based on patterns in their

customer journey, allowing for customer

service agents to reach out before a

problem even arises. Predictive analytics

will become a must-have to understand

and retain users. New standards will allow

reach and engagement to be meaningfully

compared across Instagram, Snapchat,

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Plus, put your pedal to the metal a little

if you can. More frequency will give you

more data, which in turn leads to increased

chances to see what’s working and what

isn’t. If you can keep quality up while

publishing more frequently, you might be

surprised at how well the added content

catapults you to the next level of visibility

in less time, particularly if you factor in

SEO strategy.

Influencer marketing will take a bowAuthenticity will take centre stage and

brands will return to micro-influencers to

build it. Brands need to lean on real-world

influencer events and activations to create

more organic non-scripted content that

naturally drives higher engagement, while

agencies will gravitate toward live-streaming

and real-time social media platforms.

Equally, brands will depend increasingly

on those micro-influencers that

demonstrate high engagement in niche,

more targeted verticals.

With improvements in influencer

marketing tech, agencies will be able to

hit precise target demographics, verticals,

locations, etc. Smaller agencies will need to

adopt the use of marketing tech platforms

in order to compete, especially as the

industry looks toward using mass numbers

of micro-influencers.

“Brands need to lean on real-world influencer events and activations to create more organic non-scripted content that naturally drives higher engagement, while agencies will gravitate toward live-streaming and real-time social media platforms”

KATHRYN FARRELL is Head of PR, Content & Engagement - Digital Fuel Marketing Ltd. An experienced PR professional specializing in the gaming sector, her career spans more than 18 years and three continents for both land-based and online gaming entities - Crown Casino Melbourne and Mansion.com amongst them - within a wide variety of verticals, including poker, casino, and sportsbook.

51-52-Insight-Digital Marketing What next.indd 52 01/02/2017 11:15

WIDEST VARIETY OF ONLINE SLOTS,CASINO GAMES AND PREMIUM BINGO ROOMS!

INSIGHT


DIVERSIFY YOUR AFFILIATE MARKETING STRATEGY IN 2017Alexandra Bogdanova of Income Access discusses some of the main opportunities for affiliates to develop their businesses over the coming year.

LIKE CHINESE NEW YEAR, the

igaming affiliate year begins a few weeks

later than 1 January. More specifically,

the London Affiliate Conference in early

February marks the unofficial start of the

industry’s 2017.

As such, now is the perfect time for

affiliates to update their marketing

strategies for the year ahead. In today’s

mature market, it’s vitally important to

maximise conversions with a strategy based

on the latest digital and content marketing

trends, and which also takes advantage

of the promotional opportunities of new

verticals and markets.

From AMP and VSO to App Store adsA report from Hitwise last August revealed

that an unprecedented 58% of Google

searches took place on mobile devices.

Google’s algorithm updates had already

pre-empted the smartphone and tablet

tipping point, with the #Mobilegeddon

update of April 2015 penalising sites that

weren’t mobile-friendly.

The search giant’s mobile focus can be

seen elsewhere. Last February, it launched

the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

project, allowing affiliates to develop

mobile web pages that load up to 80%

faster than conventional ones. Given that

Akamai reveals that 19% of consumers will

abandon a web page if it takes more than

three seconds to load, it’s essential from a

user perspective for affiliates to redevelop

their sites with AMP-certified pages. In

addition, when the AMP ‘lightning bolt’

logo accompanies a site’s description in

search results, it serves as another reason

for a potential player to click through.

It also seems likely that AMP will soon

play an even bigger role in the conversion

funnel. Although AMP’s lead product

manager Rudy Galfi has denied that AMP

certification is currently a ranking factor,

it seems almost certain that it will soon

become one. Savvy affiliates will therefore

get ahead of the mobile search curve by

obtaining AMP certification for their sites

in 2017.

Also linked to the mobile shift, voice

search using intelligent personal assistants

such as Apple’s Siri and Google Voice

Search will continue to rise this year.

Currently, 20% of US searches on Android

devices are made verbally rather than

typed, according to Google. While Google

Voice Search’s speech recognition word

error rate is today as low as 8%, as this

improves further, users are almost certain

to prefer voice to conventional search.

How will the rise of voice search impact

affiliates’ organic search strategies? Verbal

search enquiries are typically more detailed

than typed searches due to the respective

effort involved. Effective voice search

optimisation (VSO) requires answering

the ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’

and ‘how’ questions that affiliates’ targeted

users will ask, rather than focusing on

long-tail and especially short-tail keywords.

“Siri, find me the best odds for the Queen

Mother Champion Chase next month

at Cheltenham” is not something a user

would type, but which they would certainly

ask their iPhone 7.

The very same iPhone user interested

in a horse racing punt will also search for

apps within the App Store. If an affiliate’s

VSO and SEO strategies don’t manage to

convert the potential player, their app and

App Store marketing might succeed where

these approaches have failed. According

to a recent Income Access survey, 10% of

igaming affiliates have apps, though this

will likely rise following the recent news

that App Store marketing is diversifying.

In October, Apple launched Search Ads

for the US App Store, allowing developers

to pay to promote their apps in search

results. With the tech firm almost certain to

roll out App Store advertising (ASA) in UK

and European App Stores this year, regional

affiliates with apps will soon have the App

Store equivalent of PPC to complement

their App Store Optimisation (ASO).

“It’s essential from a user perspective for affiliates to redevelop their sites with AMP-certified pages”

55-56-Insight-Diversify your affiliate strategy.indd 55 01/02/2017 11:17

INSIGHT


Get ready for content 2.0ASA and VSO provide affiliates with new

digital marketing channels to target traffic.

However, shrewd affiliates will be as much

focused in 2017 on their messaging as the

mediums with which they communicate this.

Igaming affiliate marketing’s early days

of building a site with thin content to host

operators’ ads are long gone. In a recent

Income Access survey, 83% of affiliates

said they were more focused on content

development than on promotional banners.

In keeping with this trend, forward-thinking

affiliates will ensure that their sites’ content

not only provides users with genuine value,

but is also engaging, topical and employs

a diverse range of formats (video and even

audio podcasts as well as images and text).

In 2017, casino affiliates can go beyond

merely writing the occasional slot and

casino review to accompany their partners’

banners. They can consider filming

talking-head video reviews of new casino

content. Topicality is also key, so affiliates

can restyle themselves as brand journalists

for their operator partners. Commentary

on Guns N’ Roses’ current world tour, for

instance, could provide a subtle opportunity

to promote NetEnt’s branded slot and the

online casinos featuring the group.

Beyond their own content, affiliates can

also enrich their sites using the written

and video content of the brands and

software providers they promote. For

higher traffic affiliates, this could include

sponsored advertorials and guest posts

from operator partners. Even if an affiliate

isn’t paid directly for these type of native

advertising campaigns, they will still serve

to complement accompanying banner ads,

increasing their conversion rates.

As much as they focus on expanding

their on-site content, affiliates are advised

to ensure that individual content pieces

are concise. Given that a majority of site

visitors will be using a mobile device,

affiliates can focus on developing dense

content, where the headline and opening

paragraphs of a piece are packed with

information and the total text doesn’t

exceed 300 words.

Dense content pieces and short videos

are highly supportive of social media

marketing. With users scanning their

Twitter and Facebook feeds, only content

with really engaging headlines and meta-

descriptions will ensure users click through

to an affiliate’s site.

Recent social media platform

developments also offer affiliates new

marketing opportunities. Facebook Live,

unveiled last April, and Instagram Stories,

launched in August, allow affiliates to

target players with live videos. As a Premier

League match progresses, a sportsbook

affiliate can provide live commentary on

how the game plays out.

New promotional opportunitiesOf course, at the heart of affiliate

marketing are the brands an affiliate is

partnered with. In 2017, affiliates can

increase their revenue opportunities by

diversifying the verticals they promote and

also targeting emerging markets.

In terms of verticals, the rise of eSports

betting – wagering on competitive video

gaming such as Dota 2 and League of

Legends – allows sports betting affiliates to

target traffic beyond their usual customer

personas of traditional sports fans and

dedicated punters. With established

sportsbooks like Pinnacle and standalone

operators such as Unikrn offering

eSports betting, affiliates have multiple

opportunities to promote the vertical.

With industry researchers Eilers & Krejcik

Gaming projecting eSports wagering to

total $12.8 billion by 2020, the vertical has

enormous growth potential.

Affiliates can also consider expanding

in new markets in 2017. Latin America’s

largest economy and population centre,

Brazil will vote on legislation regulating

igaming before April. Ahead of possible

regulation, affiliates can consider

experimenting with developing sites

targeting the Portuguese-speaking country

of 205 million.

While Brazil poses a language barrier

for many affiliates, this is not the case for

Pennsylvania. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming

considered it “plausible” that the US state

would legalise the online casino and poker

verticals last year. However, the latest

legislation is still awaiting approval by the

state Senate after passing the House in

October. 2017 could be the year igaming

expands again in the US, so affiliates which

aren’t already promoting regulated New

Jersey brands will likely do so this year in

preparation for the Pennsylvania market

going live.

Forward-looking European affiliates will

look west to the US and Brazil in 2017,

while considering new verticals like eSports

betting that diversify their offering and

allow them to target different traffic sources.

At the same time, they will also ensure

their content marketing becomes more

sophisticated in 2017, featuring live video

and dense content, and that they leverage

the new channels of app store advertising

and voice search as well as AMP-certifying

their web pages. Using such tactics, they can

also look east with the hope of a prosperous

‘Year of the Rooster’.

“Affiliates should focus on developing dense content, where the headline and opening paragraphs of a piece are packed with information and the total text doesn’t exceed 300 words”

ALEXANDRA BOGDANOVA is supervisor of affiliate services for Income Access. Her role focuses on overseeing the in-house team of affiliate managers for igaming brands operating in Europe, the US and other global markets. She also manages the Income Access Network, igaming’s longest-serving independent affiliate network. Alexandra holds a master’s degree in commerce with a specialisation in marketing from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

55-56-Insight-Diversify your affiliate strategy.indd 56 01/02/2017 11:17

INSIGHT


TOP OF THE BOTSWith Sky Bet already dipping their toe in the water, conversational user interface and chatbots are set to have a big impact this year, writes Mark McGuinness of BetOlimp.

AS WE ENTER 2017, there is a sense of

trepidation in some quarters of the igaming

affiliate world. Why? Because last year they

witnessed many high-profile trade sales as

businesses within the supply chain sought

future growth opportunities and scale or

to protect market share within their part

of the igaming ecosystem. Some felt this

signalled the industry was in contraction,

however it is far from it.

For others, 2017 heralds change to

existing business models due to mergers

and buyouts, as well as access to smarter

technology, which assists in the battle to

attract and retain gambling traffic sources.

The affiliate industry in igaming is

coming of age, can compete with the very

best digital marketing agencies, and is

poised to lead the charge and unleash a

wave of evolution and innovation.

What’s trending? HTD (human to device)The buzz and hyperbole around

conversational commerce and the evolutionary

transition from mCommerce continue to

dominate Silicon Valley and media headlines.

It is easy to understand why ‘conversations’

are now the central transaction platform.

Humans love to chat and are using messaging

platforms for just about everything in our busy,

connected lives via mobile devices.

Messaging is so straightforward and

intuitive it can be regarded as a killer

application. Conversational user interfaces,

personal assistants, AI and chatbots where

users request data in the natural language form

that sit on top of the messaging platform’s

infrastructure, are here to stay.

Some gambling companies are already

dipping their toe in the conversational

space. Sky Bet recently launched its new

virtual recruitment chatbot, aimed at

improving recruitment of the brightest

minds in its business (see Figure 1).

Likewise, many sports fans are turning

to another Sky Bet chat application, once

again virtually hosted by Sky Sports

presenter Jeff Stelling. Aptly named ‘Jeff

Bot,’ it provides a new and immersive way

to follow Soccer Saturday and the Premier

League on Facebook Messenger or Skype

(see Figure 1).

Echoing the futureNot only are we experiencing a wave of

message-initiated chatbots, but now have

conversational interfaces and devices that

can hear, understand and respond to your

every need.

Amazon is leading the way and has

invested multi-millions in developing an

ecosystem for the Echo product family.

Amazon Echo is a wireless speaker and

voice command device that springs to

life with the voice prompt ‘Alexa’. The

services range from voice interaction; music

playback, playing games, making to-do

lists; setting alarms; streaming podcasts,

playing audiobooks, and providing weather,

traffic, and other real-time data rich

information. It can do all the mundane

‘daily stuff ’ allowing us mere carbon-based

life forms to get on with living our lives!

Figure 1: CTAs for Sky Bet’s virtual recruitment chatbot and “Jeff Bot”

58-59-Insight-Top of the bots.indd 58 01/02/2017 11:19

INSIGHT


For the doubting Thomases out there,

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners

has estimated that Amazon has sold 5.1

million of the Echo product in the US, with

Amazon, notoriously non-committal on

divulging numbers, stating they had sold

nine times as many Echoes in the run-up to

Christmas 2016 compared to the previous

period. That’s some growth trajectory.

The new Lex-iconWhat’s more, Amazon has opened the

floodgates to developers with its Lex

platform. It’s incredibly clever move,

similar to how Apple cornered the

digital download space with iTunes.

The Lex service allows developers to

build conversational interfaces into any

application using voice and text; thus

Amazon starts to control the whole

ecosystem with bots that can be deployed

directly to chat platforms, mobile clients

and IoT devices.

These conversational interfaces will

continue to become meshed into the digital

fabric or our lives. Why? We simply have

too much information at our finger tips and

too many apps to navigate. We need a filter

or an equivalent of a PA, and a personal

digital assistant provides that, a single point

of contact, conversational interface that

effectively helps control our working and

social lives.

Bots for user acquisition?It’s not a daft as it may seem. Many start-

ups are using bots as a way to scale their

business and user base quickly. Take for

example Swell Yeah!, an app for seeking

crowd-sourced opinions, which used bots as

a new marketing/user acquisition channel.

A bot deployed on Facebook Messenger

had over 100,000 users. Of course, the

bot’s success all depends on what you

are targeting as well as the UI and UX

performance, but the potential is clear.

For the igaming affiliate industry looking

to attract a younger, more digital-connected

audience that has some affinity to slots,

bingo, poker, sports betting, or indeed

esports, conversational bots just might be

the way to go. Messaging platforms and

connected smart devices may be largely

unchartered territory for affiliates. But

given these are the new digital hangouts

for potential consumers, the development

of a chatbot that seeks the best odds or

non-deposit bonuses’, to the placing of

in-play bets, or just provides a companion

app, is but a message sentence away.

MARK MCGUINNESS has more than 20 years’ experience in digital betting and entertainment marketing director roles within the iGaming industry. He is the resident iGaming futurologist of BetOlimp and one of the co-founders of esportsbet, a resource for gamers and sports bettors who wish to start betting on eSports.

NAME: MARK MCGUINNESS WHEN: 10 FEBRUARY @ 10:45WHERE: ROOM 2

The new website brings you:

• A resources section fi lled with magazines, articles, webinars, videos and interviews to provide you with in-depth information about the igaming affi liate industry.

• The new and improved online directory where you can fi nd out information about all of the industries suppliers and operators, as well as seeing who is exhibiting or sponsoring at the iGB Affi liate events.

• All the iGB Affi liate events hosted in one place!

The new website brings you:

• • A resources section fi lled with magazines, articles, webinars, videos • A resources section fi lled with magazines, articles, webinars, videos • and interviews to provide you with in-depth information about the igaming affi liate industry.

• The new and improved online directory where you can fi nd out information about all of the industries suppliers and operators, as well as seeing who is exhibiting or sponsoring at the iGB Affi liate events.

• All the iGB Affi liate events hosted in one place!• All the iGB Affi liate events hosted in one place!•

VISIT WWW.iGBAFFILIATE.COM TODAY

INSIGHT


4 STEPS TO DRIVE YOUR AFFILIATE BUSINESS FORWARDLee-Ann Johnstone of Income Access provides affiliates with some key advice on driving revenue and their businesses forward in 2017.

I’M OFTEN ASKED by affiliates how to

plan effectively to drive revenue growth.

Having spent the past 20 years in affiliate

and digital marketing, it’s something that

I’ve focused a lot on as it directly impacts a

business’s ability to drive revenue.

The truth is, having a plan lets you stay

ahead of your competition and keeps you

focused on the market. In an industry

where bonuses and regulatory requirements

can literally change overnight, and where

one bad month of player wagering (wins)

can severely impact earnings, it’s easy to

see how these situations might sap your

energy and make you feel deflated. Having

the energy to build confidence back up is

sometimes a struggle that requires a lot of

effort to drive ideas forward. This is where

having a solid plan comes into play. A plan

can help rebuild your business mindset,

ensure focus and help stimulate momentum

to tackle the next challenge.

Running an affiliate business is hard

work. It requires high levels of self-

motivation to achieve goals. Affiliates that

have solid strategies grow through good

planning and building a support network

they can rely on for the down days. Having

worked with many successful affiliates over

the last few years, I wanted to share some

of what I’ve learned from them.

1. Make time for planningNo business grows without a solid strategy in

place to target expansion. It sounds obvious

but how many small business owners really

take a day out to look forward and plan

where they should be focusing energy and

investment? Good planning can help you

avoid pitfalls and get you out of a rut when

things don’t go to spec.

I believe there are two key areas of focus in

2017 that should be on your planning radar.

a) Data protection

Are you ensuring your websites are

compliant with existing privacy laws – and

that you are working towards compliance

with the enhanced EU laws that are due

out in the next year?

Below are a few pointers on this to help

you get started:

●● Ensure you have an easily accessible

privacy policy, describing your use of

personal data — and comply with that

notice. Do not copy or buy an off-the-shelf

notice, as it must be bespoke to the usage

you will make of the data;

●● Ensure you collect consent to email

marketing use, which is mandatory across

the EU; although many territories now have

anti-spam laws with varying requirements,

including Canada and the US;

●● Provide an easily accessible cookie

notice, with a simple non-technical

explanation of all cookies and how to

delete them. Within the EU you will need

actual consent, irrespective of whether

personal data is collected and many

companies do this by way of a pop-up

‘implied consent’ notice, informing users

that continued browsing of the site will

indicate consent to cookie usage;

●● Review your website and double

check exactly which cookies are being

used (a ‘cookie sweep’). Don’t accept the

first answer you are given, as invariably

experience shows that the cookies being

used are not listed in the cookie notice;

●● Train your staff on privacy and be sure

you can evidence such training; get a

specialist help to assess and to keep your

business safe from cyber-attacks, many of

which are preventable.

b) Marketing automation and time

efficiency tools

Time is a valuable commodity. Some of my

favourite sites that will help you be time-

efficient are:

www.betalist.org: Betalist lists the latest

apps (in beta) and tools created around

admin and marketing automation. I’ve

discovered several great tools recently

that have helped save time in project

management, planning and design.

www.hellorufus.com: Rufus – allows

you to send smart personalised automated

messages to your social media followers,

engage your audience and make them feel

special from the outset.

www.kilometer.io: Kilometer uses

machine learning algorithms to predict

if the lead/user is likely to convert into a

paying customer.

www.screensquid.com: Screensquid

allows you to see where your visitors are

“Ensure you collect consent to email marketing use, which is mandatory across the EU”

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INSIGHT


having trouble, where your ad spend is

going, and find bugs on site (problem-

solving solutions).

If you are “busy being busy” in

your business, it’s guaranteed there’s

something out there that can help you.

Using new tools to improve efficiencies

within your business can help you save

time and grow revenue.

2. Are you looking ahead – do you see niche verticals and customer target opportunities?You’ve got traffic – that’s great, but what

are you doing with it? Savvy affiliates are

using their customer data to diversify their

offerings and investigate opportunities to

transfer customers or re-monetise them

longer term. For example, poker players

have a natural aptitude for daily fantasy

league games, card and table game players

could be a valuable niche to pursue as

casino-profiled clients.

Esports, social games and DFS all cross

over with gambling. Looking at these

broader opportunities allows you to consider

your future focus for revenue expansion.

Simple and relevant campaigns can be

the most effective, there is nothing to lose

in trying something new.

3. Ask for help and stop your failure turning into a self-fulfilling prophecyBeing afraid to appear weak or vulnerable

often hinders our ability to collaborate and

talk about what is going right or wrong.

By sharing data and trends openly with

partners you will be able to glean valuable

insight about what is working, or why it’s

not. Collaborative partnerships foster better

marketing relations and can stimulate

growth. Think outside the box - affiliate

relationships aren’t just about acquiring

new customers anymore, they are about

long-term monetisation across brands and

finding value under the bonnet of what’s

already available. Use your data, research

your environment and ensure you remain

on target to deliver your plan.

Finally, follow these five steps to improve

your plan and get your business back on

track when knocked:

Take a break – Taking a step outside of

your business to get some headspace is one

of the best things you can do when facing

adversity or challenge. It can refresh your

mind to approach a problem in a new way.

Evaluate what you can control and change

– Data is all about the numbers in our

business. Having a look at where you can

gain a better perspective can often lead to

great insights for change.

Formulate a PLAN to avoid another

bad performance – Do something

different. Change the plan. Look at

how you can overcome the problem

you just experienced, make notes when

uncertainties crop up and plan effectively

to overcome them then build these changes

into your strategy to avoid problems arising

again in future. And continue planning to

get it right.

Put your ideas into action – It’s all well

and good planning, but you need to

follow through to ensure that your plan

is effectively implemented into the daily

business routines by you, your staff and

your collaborators.

Monitor your results – Make sure these

changes are working for you. Use your

real-time data, check your analytics and

monitor the results and uplift. These things

are just as important as the plan to change

– and work

4. Do you have a reality check to determine how bad is BAD?You are always your own worst critic, just

remember that. Talking about a problem

with someone outside your business,

whom you trust, can help put things into

perspective after a particularly bad period.

A problem can often be something you can

easily fix and the beauty of digital is that

you can change and monitor data in near

real-time.

Having a support structure and like-

minded peer group around you can play a

key role in making your start-up successful.

There is a lot riding on it from your

viewpoint, especially in the early stages,

and having experienced support can

really make a big difference and provide

valuable perspective.

In closing – remember this

If you’re acknowledging that making

mistakes happens to almost everyone in

business, the key is to quit procrastinating,

never give up and stick to nurturing and

refining your plan. Take the time to make

one, as it will help to keep your business

growth focused and position your strategy

against that of your competition. It’s the

only thing you can refer to and use to

help stay the course. Your business will

grow as you do and letting go of the bad

experiences quickly is the best way to focus

on the road forward, which will ultimately

lead to success.

“How many small business owners really take a day out to look forward and plan where they should be focusing energy and investment?”

LEE-ANN JOHNSTONE is vice president of business development & marketing for Income Access, now part of the Paysafe Group. Lee-Ann has worked at Paysafe since 2011, where she has developed and implemented online marketing and B2B digital acquisition programmes that deliver revenue growth. Lee-Ann is also the founder of AffiliateFEST – an annual accelerator academy focused on digital education for igaming affiliates www.affiliatefest.co.uk

NAME: LEE-ANN JOHNSTONE WHEN: 10 FEBRUARY @ 15:45WHERE: ROOM 1

60-61-4 steps to drive business.indd 61 01/02/2017 11:23

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INSIGHT


4 STRATEGIES TO ENGAGE THOSE ELUSIVE MILLENNIALS Corey Padveen of t2 Marketing International outlines four strategies affiliates should consider if they are to engage meaningfully with this growing, yet fickle, generation, without the need to dramatically overhaul their business.

THE MILLENNIAL MARKET is a

coveted one for a whole host of reasons.

They are the largest generation globally,

made up of roughly 1.8 billion people, they

are smart and thoughtful when it comes

to making purchasing decisions, they are

connected, they have the potential to be

fiercely loyal, and they are looking forward

to the largest transfer of wealth ever

recorded in human history.

By 2018, Millennials are projected to

have the greatest global spending power

of any generation, outweighing the next

wealthiest generation by about three trillion

dollars. It’s curious, then, that with so much

spending power and so much influence

over the success or failure of brands around

the world, Millennials manage to remain

elusive. There’s also a considerable irony

in the fact that so much has been studied

and analysed about this generation, yet

marketers still seem to have a hard time

connecting with them and building any sort

of meaningful relationship.

When it comes to driving engagement

with a Millennial audience, affiliate

marketers need to shift away from some of

the more traditional means of acquisition.

Things that might have worked in the

early days of the web have become stale

tactics that Millennials can ignore all too

easily. The foundation of any successful

Millennial marketing initiative rests in the

capacity to develop personal, thoughtful

relationships. This takes time, but it can

lead to a much more significant lifespan,

and in turn, a much greater customer

lifetime value. The four strategies outlined

here are some of the more practical means

of shifting your marketing efforts to

appeal to Millennials, without the need to

dramatically overhaul your business.

Focus on dataData is a marketer’s best friend. The

malleability of information means that

it can tell you almost anything, and now

more than ever, it is accessible and, in most

cases, understandable. You don’t need to

be a statistician or data scientist in order to

read, analyse, and use your data. The key,

however, is knowing where to find it and

what to look for.

Data comes in all shapes and sizes,

but perhaps the most readily accessible

information is available on your website,

your affiliate tracking system or on social

media. Narrowing this data down by

selecting only Millennial users will allow

you to better understand their habits, their

interests, and ultimately allow you to craft

better marketing messages that will lead

to greater results. One thing is for certain,

however, and that is that you can’t assume

all Millennials are created equal. The term

has become so broadly used that most

marketers see it as a blanket title covering a

huge range of consumers. Remember, there

are nearly two billion people around the

world that fall into the age range deemed

‘Millennial’. You need to think deeper.

Your data will allow you to understand

some of the idiosyncrasies that differentiate

one audience segment from the next. As

you dig into an email list using Facebook

Audiences, for example, or a visitor

segment on Google Analytics, you’ll learn

about the interests and behaviours that

differentiate your audience subsets. This

data can then be used when crafting hyper-

targeted marketing initiatives.

Personalise everythingWhat your data tells you should lead to

the development of hyper-targeted content

strategies, which are campaigns built

around some of the more personal details

showcased by segments of your audience.

Millennials are flooded by branded content

and advertising — subtle or explicit — all day

long. It is estimated that in the last 30 years,

consumers have gone from seeing about 500

branded products or advertisements per day,

to more than 5,000. Simply put, it is too easy

for Millennials to ignore just another ad. You

need to appeal to them on a personal level.

Personalisation can come in the form

of phrasing, rich media such as photos or

videos, the use of certain themes that relate

closely to an audience cluster or, when it’s

available, the use of a prospect’s name. A

lot of blog posts, infographics and webinars

“It is estimated that in the last 30 years, consumers have gone from seeing about 500 branded products or advertisements per day, to more than 5,000”

64-65-Insight_4 Strategies to engage millennials.indd 64 01/02/2017 11:25

INSIGHT


out there might tell you that email doesn’t

work anymore. To generalise a medium like

that misses the huge opportunity that still

exists with email; nurturing your Millennial

audience through personal, relevant, and

offer-driven email content is a great way

to drive up conversions. Cold emails or

bombarding them with generic offers will

fail. That’s a fact. Carefully constructed

nurturing campaigns that aim to connect

with a prospect on a personal level and share

information or offers that are relevant to the

individual have a great chance at succeeding.

Segmentation and list analysis will be crucial,

however, to driving that engagement.

Think mobile-firstAt this point, it’s no secret that if you’re

ignoring mobile, you’re going to fail.

Capturing the Millennial market, an

audience that lives and breathes on mobile

devices, is impossible if you ignore mobile

media. This holds true for everything from

the creative media you use, to the placement

of your email calls-to-action, to the landing

pages you select for a campaign. It also

extends to the operators you choose to work

with on a given campaign.

As an affiliate, you have control over a

fairly significant portion of the customer

journey. Initial contact, interest, education

and the first action in the conversion process

— the click to the operator — are all under

the control of the affiliate. The operator,

however, needs to be prepared for Millennial

engagement as well. When choosing the

offers you plan to promote, ensure they

are, at the very least, mobile ready. The

ability to segment campaigns on platforms

like AdWords and Facebook by medium

means that you should be constructing your

campaigns on mobile separately from the

campaigns you launch on desktop. When

it comes to reaching Millennials, you’ll see

higher engagement on mobile and stand a

better chance of seeing a healthy conversion

rate if you’re sending them to mobile

landing pages with mobile options offered

by the operator, such as an app.

Provide valueWith so much being fed to the news feeds,

inboxes streams and mobile devices of

Millennials from both brands and peers,

it’s all too easy to get lost in the noise. The

only way to truly stand out from the crowd

is to provide some degree of value to your

Millennial audience, enticing them to

engage with your content and come back for

more. Value comes in many forms, and part

of the ongoing analysis of your data will be

to determine what your Millennial audience

perceives as value and how best to provide it.

When it comes to content — whether it

is in written, graphic or video form — your

goal should be to enrich the experience

of the user by the time they make their

way through it. Some of the most highly

engaging content types are tips, Q&A,

hacks and guides. All of these provide a

benefit to the consumer, and double as a

means of showcasing your expertise. This

means prospects keep coming back for more

content, and are far more likely to click on

the link you provide as opposed to venturing

elsewhere. Ultimately, it will be your

responsibility to create variations of value-

driven content to provide to your Millennial

audience and to subsequently analyse the

response to determine where you’re seeing

the greatest results.

ConclusionMillennials may seem complex and

elusive, but the truth of the matter is that

they are simply consumers like any other,

weighing their options based largely on

utility. Maturing during an era of recession

has led to a fairly high degree of price

sensitivity, but the information marketers

have access to is so comprehensive that

carefully tailored marketing campaigns

will supersede a lot of the reservations

Millennials have about taking action. When

you build out your next campaign looking

to drive affiliate traffic, consider utilising

some of the strategies outlined here. You

might be surprised at how effective a few

extra steps can be.

“The foundation of any successful Millennial marketing initiative rests in the capacity to develop personal, thoughtful relationships”

COREY PADVEEN is the director of Global Social Business Strategy at t2 Marketing International. He has helped develop data-driven strategies in markets ranging from gaming to not-for-profit. Corey regularly writes for international publications, and has been featured at conferences and summits around the world.

NAME: COREY PADVEEN WHEN: 10 FEBRUARY @ 12:00WHERE: ROOM 1

64-65-Insight_4 Strategies to engage millennials.indd 65 01/02/2017 11:25

T H E N E W E S T E V E N T I N T H E i G A M I N G A F F I L I A T E C A L E N D A R

FREE ENTRY FOR ALL AFFILIATES

NORDIC AFFILIATE CONFERENCE6TH - 7TH APRIL 2017, GRAND HÔTEL, STOCKHOLM

iGB Affi liate, the most respected information provider for the igaming affi liate market, has announced the launch of a new regional event focused on the Nordic igaming market. The Nordic Affi liate Conference will take place on the 6th - 7th April, 2017 in Stockholm and is expected to bring together the key affi liates, media agencies, advertising networks and operators working within the region.

You can expect:

Regional workshops: Attend conference workshops that will focus purely on the Nordic igaming affi liate market.

Business networking: The event will provide a unique experience with unrivalled networking opportunities

Expert speakers: Expert speakers will provide information on hot topics, trends and technologies relevant to the Nordic market.

www.NordicAffi liateConference.com

INSIGHT


EVOLUTION OR EXTINCTION? SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCEAI is an ‘asteroid’ set to change the landscape for marketing forever, writes Jon Epstein of Sentient Technologies, but how exactly does it apply to affiliates in the gambling space and how should they be looking to leverage its benefits?

IF ANYONE’S FAMILIAR with survival

of the fittest, it’s affiliate marketers. After

all, affiliate marketers are in constant

competition for the same scarce resources

and the ones who evolve better strategies

are the ones who survive. In an ecosystem

with only so much “food,” being on the

cutting edge of performance and statistics

can be the difference between thriving and

going extinct.

And, like in nature, every now and then

comes along an “asteroid” which changes

the landscape for marketing forever. The

Internet was one of those asteroids, as was

social media. If you didn’t stay on top of

the rapidly changing Internet technologies,

you’d be out of business by now. Similarly,

if you ignored social, chances are that

others were able to outperform you.

Well, hurtling towards us right

now – and already starting to collide

– is the biggest disruptor of all to your

and everyone else’s business: artificial

intelligence. Software that can think, learn,

and make decisions. It makes decisions

better than you, faster than you, and with

every decision it learns even more. We

stand at a brink of a new era, for business

and society, and how you choose to react

to AI will make the critical difference in

how you, and how your company does,

over the next years.

So, what’s an affiliate marketer to do?

Do you need to hire a team of expensive

machine learning specialists? Leverage

open source systems and build your own

neural networks? Or is there another way to

leverage the benefits of AI? And where can

those benefits be realised today?

Fortunately, marketing is an area which

is ripe for improvement from AI, and

companies are bringing forward products

which can leverage AI to solve the specific

problems you face each day. What’s the

best source of traffic? How much should I

spend to get them? What creative should

I put in front of them? What product(s) do

I pitch when they hit my site? Will a special

offer help? What words, images and layouts

will close my prospects best?

Want to get ahead of the AI learning

curve? Here are just a few areas affiliate

marketers should keep their eyes out for:

AI in advertisingYou don’t need me to tell you SERP ads

are an extremely competitive area. Chances

are, either someone on your staff is

dedicated to maximising your ad spend or

you’re using an agency who specialises in

exactly that.

Ad performance is moved by a

complicated series of levers. Snappier copy

can help. So can more efficient bidding

and smarter targeting, among other factors.

Finding the right combination of all

factors is what makes for the best possible

performing ads and, of course, getting more

and better traffic for lower prices is an ideal

that doesn’t need to be explained.

Artificial intelligence is particularly

well-suited for the task. Because machine

learning is skilled at finding subtle

relationships and patterns that elude

even the most seasoned data scientists, a

smart AI can find the exact mixture of ad

copy, audience targeting, and spend that

produce the best leads and customers. AI

that learns with every ad served means

your campaigns change and improve

24/7, constantly optimising towards better

performance, even while you (or your

agency) is taking a well-earned dinner

break. Want to see what’s going on in AI

in advertising? Check out companies like

Adgorithms, Blackwood Seven, Rocket

Fuel, and others.

AI in engagementWhat happens if a user comes to your site

and doesn’t immediately know what to

do? What if they want to use your service

but can’t find an offer that looks right for

them? What if they want to reach out and

ask you a question?

Chances are, if you’re like most affiliate

marketers, you don’t have customer service

reps standing by. And, even in the off

chance you do, they aren’t working at 11

p.m. when a user clicks an ad to place a bet.

More and more sites in a variety of

industries are looking to chatbots to

67-68-Insight-Evoloution or Extinction.indd 67 01/02/2017 11:27

INSIGHT


address this very problem. Chatbots are

natural language AIs that can carry out

conversations in real time with users. And,

because they aren’t people, they can be

on the clock all-day, year-round. You can

train them to tell users about new offers,

lead them to preferred sites, help with

billing, or really any questions you think

they should know the answer to. And a

little guiding light can be the difference

between a conversion and a bounce. Check

out Wizeline and Inbenta for some of the

latest work in AI chatbots.

AI for conversion optimisationFor a lot of marketers, conversion rate

optimisation (CRO) has long been a

smart way to test and evolve strategies

that work better than the current status

quo. If you’re unfamiliar, CRO is the

practice of trying new ideas on your site,

evaluating which performs better, and then

implementing those winning ideas moving

forward. These ideas can be anything from

changing the headline or image on your

homepage to the affiliate offer you present

your visitors. It’s about finding the right

content to close the most sales.

Many people think of CRO and

A/B testing as synonymous, which is

understandable. After all, A/B testing

is the most popular flavor of conversion

rate optimisation. But advances in AI

are poised to give forward-thinking

affiliate marketers a leg up on their

competition, even those that are actively

testing right now. Artificial intelligence

unlocks a type of optimisation that has

long required a team of dedicated data

scientists far outside the budget of most

affiliate marketers. It’s called multivariate

optimisation. And it’s the best and fastest

way to find the content that maximises the

traffic you work so hard to get.

Multivariate testing means trying not just

A vs. B but all your marketing ideas at once.

It means plugging in new content on every

level–from the headline copy and image size

to the offer itself. The AI will immediately

start testing those ideas and finding which

are promising. It can then use a branch of

AI called genetic algorithms to really start

evolving your site. It combines all those

promising ideas, trying different mixtures,

testing and tweaking constantly until the AI

settles on the best combination of the ideas

you gave it. This can amount to thousands–

even hundreds of thousands–of potential

combinations, the stuff that would take

years to test. And in the end, sites typically

see double-digit growth in key KPIs.

Get to know your customers better than you already doYou might note a common thread between

all these AI applications: namely, they all

help affiliate marketers understand their

customers better. They help marketers

understand how to incentivise searchers,

how to message prospects, what questions

users have, and what offers move the needle.

Not only that, but they all help evolve

your site and survive in a competitive

landscape where extinction is more the

norm than the exception.

In the coming technological landscape,

adaption is going to be key. Evolution is

going to be the norm. And it’s smarter to get

started now and get a few steps ahead. AI

learnings happen quickly and even a quarter

can be the difference between a thriving

affiliate site and another face in the crowd.

So, what’s it going to be? Evolution time?

Or extinction time? It’s up to you. The

earlier you embrace and understand how to

leverage AI, the more likely you’ll end up

on top of the heap.

“Because machine learning is skilled at finding subtle relationships and patterns that elude even the most seasoned data scientists, a smart AI can find the exact mixture of ad copy, audience targeting, and spend that produce the best leads and customers”

JONATHAN EPSTEIN is chief marketing officer of Sentient Technologies, the best-funded independent artificial intelligence company. In that role, he oversees all marketing strategy and execution for Sentient’s two Intelligent Commerce products: Sentient Ascend, the AI-powered CRO solution which has ushered in the era of massively multivariate testing, and Sentient Aware, which uses AI to create product-driven customer experiences for the world’s leading retailers. Epstein has started, managed, and monetized numerous technology and media companies, including GameSpot (founding CEO), GameSpy (president), IGN (EVP), Omek Interactive (President), and Hawke.

NAME: JON EPSTEIN WHEN: 11 FEBRUARY @ 14:30WHERE: ROOM 2

67-68-Insight-Evoloution or Extinction.indd 68 01/02/2017 11:27

TM

INSIGHT

70 iGB Affi liate Issue 61 FEB/MAR 2017

BITCOIN AND THEIGAMING FUTURE Oron Barbar of CoinPoint dissects the rapid growth of bitcoin gambling for iGB Affi liate, and the next steps stakeholders need to take to realise its huge potential.

BITCOIN GAMBLING AND the

market related to bitcoin and other

cryptocurrencies is no longer the future,

as people like to say, but the present. Since

2013, operators and platform providers

have progressively adopted the option to

accept cryptocurrencies from their players,

by implementing the funnels to accept these

funds and enable the games.

It is true that, even today in 2017, the

market is not yet mature for “bitcoiners”,

because this payment method and the

market it supports are still not fully

developed, or even understood, by some of

the operators and players. In the big picture

of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin is the first, the

biggest and the most relevant for gambling.

By the term “bitcoin gambling”, we are

actually referring to two major paradigms

which are similar but in some ways totally

different in the way they treat and handle

the currency. The first to appear in the

market were the bitcoin-only operators,

allowing players not only to deposit and

withdraw in bitcoin, but also to play with

bitcoins, meaning they credit players’

balances with 1 BTC or 1000 mBTC to play

with. The second area, which is bigger and

faster growing, includes all the operators

which allow bitcoin payments alongside

real-money methods, where players’

balances are credited in real-money based

on the exchange rate.

Bitcoin gambling has evolved in recent

years to become a complex market of

games and products including casinos,

sports betting, poker rooms, dice, lottery,

esports, live games, fantasy sports and more

(see Figure 1).

Since mid-2016, we have seen a major

change in the market where a range of

new platform providers and operators have

sprung up to serve the bitcoin audience,

and also helping to educate players in

the advantages of playing with bitcoin.

The fear of the unknown and some early

negative press that provided initial barriers

to uptake are receding, and behind it is

coming huge growth. More players are

comfortable with and looking to deposit

in bitcoin, more operators are preferring

to accept bitcoin deposits, while games

providers and live dealer studios are

also adapting to realise the advantages,

combining to accelerate development of the

igaming market at a faster pace than before.

As the operational side experiences

growth, marketers and affiliates are also

able to realise the opportunities this shift

in the market presents, by using bitcoins

as their preferred commission payment

method. However, some of the affiliate

managers at the operators now accepting

bitcoin alongside with real-money are not

aware of the differences of this emerging

audience and its needs, still having much

to learn more about marketing funnels and

conversion strategies for holders of bitcoin.

The same can be said for the internal

strategies and education being developed

for their existing player database. It’s not

surprising to see that Asia-facing operations

are adapting faster to these changes, with

“According to Blockchain.info, there were 190K daily bitcoin transactions in the UK in January 2017, up from 105K a year earlier, with 42% of all these transactions being gambling related”

“Some of the affi liate managers at operators still have much to learn more about marketing funnels and conversion strategies for holders of bitcoin”

Figure 1: Bitcoin gambling market 2017 by product (coinpoint.net)

35%

7%

13%

18%

21%

2%4%

Casinos

Lottery

Esports

Poker

Asia/ME

Dice

Sports Betting

70-71-insight-Bitcoin and future of igaming.indd 70 01/02/2017 11:31

INSIGHT


the implementation of bitcoin payment

processing methods running smoother

in the region. This adoption offers both

small and large affiliates a wide range of

opportunities to research bitcoin casino

affiliate channels, and start executing

their marketing techniques.

According to Blockchain.info, there

were 190K daily bitcoin transactions in

the UK in January 2017, up from 105K

a year earlier, with 42% of all these

transactions being gambling related.

To conclude, the future looks bright

for the market, seeing not only growth

in bitcoin adoption in terms of trading

the coins, but also in terms of usage.

The latter is the key to its future

development, because it’s becoming

increasingly acknowledged that using

bitcoin for playing online games is faster,

more secure, can be 100% anonymous

and easy to implement. Demand is

correspondingly increasing as the

number of operators supporting bitcoin

among their deposit methods grows on a

daily basis.

Together with this growth, the

market is also facing new challenges

associated with cryptocurrencies, as new

platforms and technologies adopt new

ways of preventing fraud and approval

procedures for deposit/withdrawal,

marketing funnels and so forth.

Meeting these challenges will only make

the market stronger, paving the way for

all those involved in what is shaping

into an exciting new period for the

igaming industry.

ORON BARBAR has been in the online marketing and igaming businesses for more than 15 years. He started CoinPoint in early 2013 as a dedicated bitcoin-related, one-stop-shop agency. Ever since, he has been working with affiliates to generate targeted traffic, run media campaigns and much more. Today CoinPoint is a market leader in the crypto coins market for affiliation, marketing, integration, security and content, also consulting for several big groups.

NAME: ORON BARBAR WHEN: 10 FEBRUARY @ 14:00WHERE: ROOM 2

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WEBMASTER WORLD


In conjunction with Chris Elliott and Beth French of Wiggin LLP, iGB Affiliate provides a regulatory snapshot of igaming markets across the EU. This includes regulated products and legalised operator types within each country, and any impending market updates.

AUSTRIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,

bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: Licences for sports betting

and horse race betting are available for

private operators on a regional basis within

Austria whereas poker, casino, bingo and

lottery are controlled by the monopoly,

Austria Lotteries.

Status: An appeal challenging Austrian

tax legislation is seen as a test case

by other offshore operators targeting

Austrian business. Recent court

decisions reached conflicting decisions

on the compatibility of Austria’s current

gambling legislative framework with EU

law, which remains unclear.

The Austrian government put forward

a proposal to block unlicensed offshore

operators targeting the country, although

next steps are unclear.

BELGIUM Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: All products are

available to private operators save for

lotteries, which are reserved exclusively

for the monopoly provider. However,

online operators need to partner up

with local casinos in order to satisfy the

land-based establishment requirement;

or alternatively, apply for one of the 34

retail licences (F1 licences) which can be

extended to cover online (F1+ licence).

Status: The regulator recently introduced

rules to prevent live casino products being

offered to players unless the dealers are

physically in Belgium. The potential for EC

infringement proceedings remains.

The Belgian government has elected to

apply VAT of 21% on online gambling

transactions with effect from 1 July 2016.

BULGARIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery (excluding raffles and

instant lottery games).

Operator Type: All products are available

to private operators save for lotteries,

which are reserved exclusively for the

monopoly provider.

Status: Bulgaria’s Gambling Act became

law on 1 July 2012 but licences were

not available until mid-2013 as further

implementing legislation needed to be in

force. Any operator from an EU/EEA

jurisdiction or the Swiss Confederation can

apply for a licence. The Bulgarian regulator

has subsequently issued licences, including

to a number of international operators,

and recently removed the restriction on

Gibraltar-based applicants.

The change from a turnover to a GGR

tax-based system has prompted a number of

operators to apply for a local licence.

CROATIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: All products are available

to private operators save for lotteries, which

are reserved exclusively for the monopoly

provider. Private operators can only be

licensed to offer online gambling if they

obtain a land-based casino or betting licence.

Status: Following Croatia’s accession to

the EU in July 2013, it was understood it

would submit new legislation which was

compatible with European law. However,

on 5 March 2014 the Croatian government

notified a draft bill which seeks to embolden

the position of the monopoly and local

operators. The draft bill still stipulates

that only land-based casinos and betting

operators can apply for a licence. ISP

blocking is also proposed. The receipt of a

Detailed Opinion from the EC stalled the

legislative process and there have been no

developments since.

CYPRUS Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting and lottery.

Operator Type: OPAP have a monopoly

over lottery operations; sports betting

licences are available to private operators.

Status: Cyprus regulated online betting

in July 2012, although a licensing regime

was not established at the time. On 2

August 2016, the regulator announced its

intention to implement an online sports

betting licensing regime, with applications

for such licences accepted for a one-month

period only from 3 October to 3 November

2016. Following the closure of the licensing

window, the government announced they

would implement blocking measures with

the publication of a blacklist, and warned

local ISP providers that they would face

fines for failures to block sites offering

unlicensed gambling products.

CZECH REPUBLIC Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery .

Operator Type: EU and EEA-based

operators are able to apply for licences

which, if granted, will become valid from 1

January 2017. Lottery will remain reserved

for the monopoly.

Status: Amendments to Czech Republic’s

gambling legislation became effective on

1 January 2017, and allows EU/EEA

companies to apply for online licences.

Under plans introduced by the Ministry

of Finance, licences had been expected to

be granted to successful licence applicants

by November 2016. However, despite nine

EUROPEAN REGULATION

73-79-DC-EU regulation-v1.indd 73 01/02/2017 11:34


applications being submitted last year none

have been approved yet. No transitional/

grace period for licence applicants has been

announced at this time.

DENMARK Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: Sports betting, poker and

casino licences are available to private

operators. Bingo, lottery and horse race

betting (fixed odds only) is controlled by the

state monopoly.

Status: The Danish online gambling

regime went live on 1 January 2012.

ISP-blocking measures are active

in the jurisdiction and the Danish

Gaming Authority has been granted an

injunction in order to block operators and

suppliers that have been targeting Danish

customers without the requisite licence.

In December, the government adopted

two amendment bills which create specific

licences for fantasy sports operators, as

well as bring about certain new match-

fixing and AML measures.

ESTONIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: Licences for all gambling

products are available for private operators

save that the monopoly has exclusive rights

to lottery.

Status: As of June 2016, only 16

operators are licensed in the jurisdiction,

12 of which operate online gambling. A

“blacklist” of around 1,100 operators is

constantly maintained and updated by local

authorities and ISP blocking is in force.

A new law which introduces new player

protection measures and relaxes certain

online sports betting advertising restrictions

came into force in June 2015. Further

amendments introduced in January 2016

extend the application of self-exclusion lists

to lottery and sports-betting players.

FINLAND Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: All gambling products

are under the exclusive control of

the three monopoly providers, Raha-

automaatiyhdistys (“RAY”), Fintoto Oy

and Veikkaus Oy. The monopolies have

recently merged into one state entity as of 1

January 2017.

Status: An ECJ ruling confirmed that

Finland’s three monopoly providers are

legally permitted, which was subsequently

written into law. In November 2013, the EC

also withdrew infringement proceedings.

Active enforcement measures are in place

(restrictive marketing for offshore operators

and ISP blocking).

FRANCE Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting, poker and lottery.

Operator Type: Private operators can

obtain online licences for sports betting,

horse race betting and poker. The monopoly

has exclusive rights to lottery.

Status: France is a regulated market that

has been sanctioned by the EC.

Parliament announced that it would

conduct a full review of French gambling

legislation in 2016. On 7 October 2016,

the Digital Republic Act came into force,

allowing international poker liquidity.

Other provisions of the Act include the

introduction of a new mechanism allowing

players to self-limit the time spent playing

games such as online poker and provisions

relating to the organisation of e-sports

tournaments.

GERMANY Regulated Gambling Products: Schleswig-

Holstein, a small Northern German state,

regulates sports betting, horse race betting,

poker, casino and bingo. The other 15 states

of Germany currently only permit sports

betting and horse race betting.


no longer obtain licences in Schleswig-

Holstein, and those in existence will expire

on 30 June 2019. In the other 15 states,

horse race betting licences are available at a

regional level but the position surrounding

the 20 available sports betting licences is

still uncertain.

Status: The licensing regime in Germany

is in a state of flux. The tender for 20

Federal sports betting licences was abortive,

following a number of appeals by operators

who were not granted a licence. The CJEU

ruled, on 4 February 2016, that Germany’s

sports betting regulation is incompatible

with EU law and that enforcement actions

will be unlawful where a de facto monopoly

exists and none of the 20 licences could,

in practice, be acquired. The decision

has led to calls for comprehensive legal

reform of Germany’s gambling legislation.

In November 2016, Germany notified

amendments to its Interstate Treaty to the

European Commission. Amendments

would allow all operators that fulfilled the

minimum requirements in the 2012 sports

betting tender to receive temporary licences

and the cap on sports betting licences would

be removed. If passed, the amendments are

scheduled to enter into force on 1 January

2018. The state of Hesse has adopted a

formal policy of tolerance (similar to that

of a quasi-licensing regime) but the regime

was suspended on 15 November 2016.

GREAT BRITAIN Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: All licences are available

to private operators save for lottery, which

is reserved exclusively for the monopoly

provider, Camelot.

Status: Any operator that transacts with,

or advertises to, British residents requires a

licence from the Gambling Commission.

From 31 March 2015, licensed operators

are required to source gambling software

from Commission-licensed businesses.

A corresponding tax rate of 15% of gross

profits was introduced on 1 December

2014. This is subject to an ongoing judicial

review by a Gibraltar trade association and

its questions regarding its compatibility

with European law. The Treasury is

confident that it can defend its position.

On 5 December 2016, the UK

government published its responses to the

consultation on freeplay tax treatment for

remote gaming, announcing that the first

use of freeplays will be taxed and winnings

will be brought into the duty calculation

at the end of the re-wagering process.

The changes are set to be included in the


0:00 AMAM

WEBMASTER WORLD


Finance Bill 2017 and are due to come into

force on 1 August 2017.

GREECE Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting and lottery.

Operator Type: All products are

exclusively reserved for the monopoly

providers although 24 transitional licences

for private operators remain active, with all

products permitted.

Status: The licensing regime in Greece (like

Germany) is also in a state of flux. The

Greek government granted 24 transitional

licences to operators in December 2012

enabling them to keep transacting with

Greek residents. However, in March 2013,

the government notified draft legislation

to the EC which effectively rescinds the

licences; a position criticised by the EC.

Greece’s government has since announced

its intention to issue licences for both online

gambling to end the ongoing transition

position. The fate of the 24 licences is still

unclear. A tax increase has been established

on gross gaming revenues, increasing the

rate from 30% to 35% as of May 2016.

HUNGARY Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: Only the state

monopolies (Szerencsejáték Zrt. and

Magyar Lóversenyfogadást-SzervezőKft)

and local concession companies can apply

for a licence.

Status: Amendments to Hungarian

gambling law came into force on 1 October

2015 which allow only two land-based

casinos to hold remote casino concessions.

The regulator has since issued fines against

unlicensed operators who continue to target

the market. ISP blocking of unlicensed sites

has occurred since June 2014. The potential

for EC infringement proceedings remains.

IRELAND Regulated Gambling Products: Online

gaming is not specifically accounted for in

Ireland’s outdated legislation and as such

is currently unregulated. Online betting

regulated since August 2015.

Status: Ireland is in the process of

updating its legislation which will create

a comprehensive online gambling regime

and payment restrictions. The Betting

(Amendment) Act 2015 now requires

remote bookmakers to hold a licence, and

pay a 1% turnover-based betting duty.

ITALY Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: All products available to

private operators save for lottery which

is reserved for the monopoly provider.

However, it is currently not possible to

obtain a licence in Italy.

Status: Fully regulated market. Previous

restrictions on the type of events/markets

on which bookmakers can offer odds are

possibly to be abolished. A recently passed

Stability Law introduces various measures

affecting the remote gambling industry,

including tax changes and plans for tighter

advertising rules. The law will provide

for the award of 120 new online gaming

licences (lasting for six years). The tender

process for the award of the licences has

been delayed, but it was recently announced

that these would be issued in Q1 of 2017.

LUXEMBOURG Regulated Gambling Products: Lottery

Operator Type: Monopoly.

Status: The general prohibition on

gambling appears sufficiently wide to cover

all forms of online gambling.

MALTA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo, lottery.


apply for a local licence but not in

relation to lottery products.

Status: On 3 June, Maltese regulator

the Malta Gaming Authority introduced

a number of policy changes. These

include changes regarding hosting

servers abroad, audit requirements and

the cloud environment. Malta plans to

introduce gambling legislation during

2016 to modernise online gambling rules.

On 19 August 2016, the Government of

Malta notified the EU Commission its

draft Skill Games Regulations 2016, which

would establish a regulatory framework

for skill games for prizes.

NETHERLANDS Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo, lottery.

Operator Type: Monopoly for all products.

Status: After two years of parliamentary

debate, the Dutch Lower House approved

the Online Gambling Bill which will

introduce an online gambling licensing

regime in the Netherland, expected in

early 2017. The legislation will impose a

29% GGR tax on both online and land-

based operators.

In the interim, the regulator has started

to implement enforcement measures. In

November 2015, the regulator levied its

highest ever fine on two gambling operators

for continuing to target Dutch players. In

May 2016, a Dutch court upheld fines

issued by the regulator in the first such case

to go to trial.

NORWAY Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting and lottery

Operator Type: Online gambling is

reserved for its two monopoly providers:

Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.

Status: The monopoly has extended its

offering to include live betting, e-bingo and

casino games in an attempt to redirect traffic

from unlicensed sites. However, the new

government is understood to be considering

a limited licensing regime for foreign

operators. The government is preparing

a white paper on how best to regulate the

gambling sector, which was scheduled to be

presented to Parliament in late 2016.

POLAND Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting and horse race betting.

Operator Type: From 3 September 2015,

licences are available for companies with

a representative in Poland as opposed to a

local establishment.

Status: Legislation enacted 1 January 2012

only permits betting and only four licences

were granted to local companies (Fortuna,

Milenium, STS and Totolotek).


WEBMASTER WORLD


In December 2016, a Government bill

proposing amendments to the Gambling

Act was approved. The amendments

provide for the establishment of a

blacklist of unlicensed operators and the

introduction of ISP and payment blocking.

The amendments will come into force

on April 2017, with the exception of

provisions relating to enforcement which

will come into force on 1 July 2017. Once

implemented, the amendments will preserve

the right of a state-run monopoly to operate

online casino and poker games.

PORTUGAL Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo, lottery.

Operator Type:. Any EU/EEA operator

can apply to be granted a licence for online

gambling. Lottery games and land-based

fixed odds sports betting remain reserved

for a monopoly.

Status: Portugal’s online gambling

legislation was passed by Parliament in

late February 2015 and came into force on

29 June 2015. While operators can now

apply for licences, their Portuguese revenue

streams will be subject to comparatively

high tax rates, particularly sports betting,

the subject of a 8-16% tax on turnover. The

RGA recently filed a state aid case with the

EC challenging the Portuguese betting tax

as breaking EU trade rules.

There is no deadline for the licensing

window or limit on the number of licences

that may be issued. Delayed technical

standards were introduced in December

2016, paving the way for operators to

certify their online systems to obtain a

licence. The regulator is known to have

granted five licences.

ROMANIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting, casino, bingo

and lottery.

Operator Type: Any operator from

an EU/EEA jurisdiction or the Swiss

Confederation can apply for a licence.

Lottery games remain reserved for

the monopoly.

Status: The Romanian government

passed legislation at the end of 2014 that

allows entities within the EU to apply for

a licence, imposes a reform on licence fees

and eliminates many (but not all) of the

tax burdens placed on player revenues. The

Gambling Law (as amended) introduced a

legal framework for a fully regulated online

gambling market, and requires licences

to be held by online gambling operators,

as well as software providers, payment

processors, affiliates and testing labs. After

some delay, the secondary legislation which

fully implemented the new licensing regime

came into force on 26 February 2016.

The regulator has stepped up enforcement

attempts by publishing a blacklist of

unlicensed gambling products, whilst a

number of large European operators have

challenged the regulator’s decision on the

award of licences.

SLOVAKIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo, lottery.

Operator Type: All products are operated

by the monopoly save that land-based

sports betting operators can offer services

online due to a legal loophole.

Status: In November 2016, a bill amending

the existing gambling legal framework was

approved. The amendments, which entered

into force on 1 January 2017, include the

introduction of ISP and payment blocking

of illegal online gambling offerings in the

Slovak territory. The supervisory function

in respect of ISP and payment blocking

measures will not be active until July 2017.

Whether amendments will also be made

to introduce a formal licensing system

remains unclear.

SLOVENIA Regulated Gambling Products: Sports


bingo, lottery.

Operator Type: Online gambling must be

operated by land-based casinos or lotteries

and, as a result, only the monopoly holds

online licences in Slovenia.

Status: The Finance Ministry notified

secondary regulations for the operation

of online gambling services to the

European Commission on 17 August

2016. The proposals would remove the

cap on the number of online gambling

licences the requirement for a local

establishment, although sports betting

would remain as a monopoly.

SPAIN Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting, casino, poker,

bingo and lottery.

Operator Type: Private operators can apply

for licences for all gambling products save

for lottery.

Status: The first online licences were issued

on 1 June 2012. Under the law, online

operators must hold a general licence and

a specific licence for each activity from the

National Gambling Commission.

In June 2015, 10 new licences were

awarded to new operators, the first new

licensees since the market opened in 2012.

25 online slot permits were also issued to

new and existing licensees. This followed

on from the approval of the regulation

of slots and approval of the regulation of

betting exchanges.

SWEDEN Regulated Gambling Products: Sports

betting, horse race betting, poker, bingo

and lottery.

Operator Type: Only public benefit

organisations, the horseracing industry and

the state lottery may obtain a licence. No

local licences for private operators.

Status: The Swedish government is

under pressure to update its regulations.

The commencement of infringement

proceedings by the EC appeared to

mobilise the Government. However a bill

that sets out to strengthen the position of

gambling monopolies has been submitted

to parliament and is expected to enter into

force on 1 January 2017. Simultaneously,

the Government has confirmed it is

proceeding with an investigation into

reforming the law with a view to potentially

opening the market to private operators in

due course. The review will conclude at the

end of March 2017.

Wiggin is a law firm dedicated to supporting the media,

entertainment and gaming sectors. Its market-leading

Betting and Gaming group provides specialist legal

services to an array of gambling industry stakeholders.

We advise many of the world’s leading gambling

operators and suppliers and also enjoy helping

entrepreneurial, interactive start-up businesses. If you’d

like to hear more, contact us at [email protected].



IGAMING DASHBOARDIn conjunction with H2 Gambling Capital, the iGaming Dashboard provides a monthly overview of the iGaming sector in numbers. This is the January 2017 edition.

IGAMING AS PERCENTAGE OF GAMBLING GROSS WIN BY REGION (2017E)

Africa

Asia /

ME

Europ

e

Latin

Am

/

Caribbea

n

N Am

erica

Ocean

ia

Global

Avera

ge0%

6%

4%

2%

18%

20%

14%

12%

10%

8%

16%

6.6%

10.4%

20.9%

5.9%

4.0%

14.2%

11.0%

GLOBAL IGAMING GROSS WIN BY REGION (2017E)

N America

Latin Am / Caribbean

EuropeAsia/ME

AfricaOceania

7%

0%

12%2%

50%

29%

GLOBAL IGAMING GROSS WIN BY PRODUCT (2017E)

BingoPoker

CasinoBettingState Lotteries

Skill/Other/Com Lots

9%

49%

6%5%

26%

6%

IGAMING AS PERCENTAGE OF GLOBAL GAMBLING GROSS WIN

2003

14%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

2011

2007

2015

2005

2013

2009

2017

E

2004

2012

2008

2016

E

2006

2014

2010

2018

E

2019

E

2020

E

12%

3.5%

4.3%

5.3%

6.1%5.8%

6.5%

7.1%7.5% 7.3%

7.7%

8.3%

9.0%

10.1%

11.0%11.5%

12.1%12.5%

13.0%

TOTAL GLOBAL IGAMING GROSS WIN (€BN)

2003

50

40

30

20

10

0

2011

2007

2015

2005

2013

2009

2017

E

2004

2012

2008

2016

E

2006

2014

2010

2018

E

7.3

9.8

13.1

16.216.218.7

20.723.0

24.026.4

29.2

32.6

36.0

40.0

43.0

46.7

2019

E

2020

E

49.4

52.8

60

PERCENTAGE OF GLOBAL IGAMING GROSS WIN “WHITE MARKET”

2003

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

0%

2011

2007

2015

2005

2013

2009

2017

E

2004

2012

2008

2016

E

2006

2014

2010

2018

E

43.3%

36.8% 33.1% 32.6%

38.6% 40.1% 40.9% 41.5%

45.1% 47.2%

49.2% 50.5%

54.2% 57.5%

61.5% 62.3% 60.7%

2019

E

2020

E

10%

58.5%

PERCENTAGE OF IGAMING GROSS WIN “WHITE MARKET” BY REGION (2017E)

Africa

Asia /

ME

Europ

e

Latin

Am

/

Caribbea

n

N Am

erica

Ocean

ia

Global

Avera

ge0%

30%

20%

10%

70%

50%

40%

60%

80%

46.3%49.6%

72.6%

19.9%

26.0%

47.5%

57.5%

80-82-DC-Dashboards-v1.indd 80 01/02/2017 11:36

YOUR PARTNER FORREGULATED MARKETS

[email protected]


MOBILE DASHBOARDData partner H2 Gambling Capital recently stepped up its coverage of the mobile channel, enabling iGB Affiliate to provide an exclusive monthly overview of this rapidly growing segment, set to reach 43% of global iGaming gross win by 2020. This is the January 2017 edition.

H2 Gambling Capital is the gambling industry’s leading consulting, market intelligence and data team. They have a track record of more than 15 years focused on the global gambling industry. All of the detailed data and the right to re-publish extracts is available via H2’s Global Data and Market Intel Service. Please email [email protected]

Gaming

Betting

Lotteries

26%

69%

5%

GLOBAL MOBILE GROSS WIN BY PRODUCT (2017E)MOBILE GROSS WIN BY REGION (2017E)

46%

37%

8%

0%

1%8%

N America

Latin Am / Caribbean

EuropeAsia/ME

AfricaOceania

MOBILE AS PERCENTAGE OF GLOBAL IGAMING GROSS WIN

2003

40.0%

30.0%

25.0%

20.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0%

2011

2007

2015

2005

2013

2009

2017

E

2004

2012

2008

2016

E

2006

2014

2010

2018

E

2019

E

2020

E

6.5% 6.5% 6.4% 6.4% 7.2%

9.6% 10.3%

11.3%

14.0%

27.5%

29.9%

32.7%

35.1%

37.5%

39.9%

42.5%

18.1%

22.5%

45.0%

35.0%

15.0%

TOTAL GLOBAL MOBILE GROSS WIN (€BN)

22.4

2003

25.0

22.5

20.0

12.5

5.0

0

2011

2007

2015

2005

2013

2009

2017

E

2004

2012

2008

2016

E

2006

2014

2010

2018

E

15.0

2019

E

2020

E

0.5 0.6 0.8 1.21.01.8 2.1

2.63.4

4.8

6.6

9.0

10.8

13.1

15.1

17.5

19.7

17.5

2.5

7.5

10.0

MOBILE AS PERCENTAGE OF IGAMING GROSS WIN BY REGION (2017E)

Africa

Asia /

ME

Europ

e

Latin

Am

/

Caribbea

n

N Am

erica

Ocean

ia

Global

Avera

ge0%

20%

15%

10%

40%

30%

25%

35%

45%

25.3%

41.1%

31.0%

20.5%

23.0%

36.7%

33.2%

5%

80-82-DC-Dashboards-v1.indd 82 01/02/2017 11:36

Fancy being part of the industry’s premier a�liate network?

at the London A�liate Conference 2017 Stands L4 & L8

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9-12 FEB 2017STANDS L4 & L8

revenue share for the �rst 3 months

New a�liates o�er

60%/50%/40%

MEET FOXY & FRED

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Presser_Activewins_iGB_Jan2017.pdf 1 27/01/2017 13:58


Welcome to the MarketPlace listings section of iGB Affiliate magazine. All listings are taken from the 2017 version of our iGB Affiliate Directory; a 174 page guide to the affiliate programs and service providers who are currently active within the iGaming sector.

To request a free copy of this publication or to have your company listed please contact:

Ed Grundy on [email protected] or call +44 (0) 20 7384 7929.

Enjoy gambling responsibly. www.gambleaware.co.uk 18+

Officially sponsored by



ACQUISITION, ADVERTISING & AFFILIATE NETWORKS

bet365bet365.com

Gambling Affiliationgambling-affiliation.com

IBMibm.com/watson/marketing

Income Accessincomeaccessnetwork.com

Isle of Man Post Officewww.iompost.com

Watson Marketingibm.com/watson/marketing

BINGO AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Allegroallegroaffiliates.com

138.comaffuk.138.com

bet365 Bingobingo.bet365.com

Foxy Bingofoxybingo.com

VistaGaming Affiliatesvistagamingaffiliates.net

William Hillwilliamhill.com

CASINO AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

OVO Casinoovocasino.com

10Bet Casinoaffiliates.10bet.com


ActiveWins Casinoactivewins.com


bet365 Casinocasino.bet365.com

BetBrightbetbrightaffiliates.com

Betsson Group Affiliatesbetssongroupaffiliates.com

betwaybetwaypartners.com

BROAffiliatesbroaffiliates.com

CasinoWildsaffiliates.casinowilds.com

Casumocasumo.com

Deck Mediadeckmedia.com

Easi Gamesaffiliates.easigames.com

EGOegamingonline.com

EnergyCasinoenergycasinopartners.com

GoWildgowildaffiliates.com

Golden Eurogoldeneuroaffiliates.com

Grande Vegasgrandevegasaffiliates.com

iAffiliatesiaffiliates.com

Intertopsintertops.eu/affiliate

Interwetten Casinoiwcasino.com

Ivy Affiliatesivyaffiliates.com

Jackpot Capitaljackpotcapital.eu/affiliates

LeoVegasleovegasaffiliates.com

NetBet Casinonetbet.com

LVbetLVbetPartners.com

Merkur Partnersmerkurpartners.com

Mr Greenmraffiliate.com

Nektan Affiliatesnektanaffiliates.com

Nethivenethive.com

OnlineCasino.deonlinecasino.de

Optibidoptibid.com

partycasinobwinpartypartners.com

PoshFriendsposhfriends.com

Quasar Gamingquasaraffiliates.com

Rich Club Affiliatesrichclubaffiliates.com

Slotasticslotasticaffiliates.com

Slots Vendorslotsvendor.eu

Springbok Casinoaffiliate.springbokcasino.co.za

StarGamesstargamesaffiliate.com




Super Gaminatorsupergaminatoraffiliate.com

VIKS Casinoviksaffiliates.com


Winnernethive.com

Wunderinowunderino.com

ESPORTS AFFILIATE PROGRAMS



FINANCIAL SERVICES

UPayCardupaycard.com/en

bet365bet365.com

ecoPayzecopayz.com/affiliates

LOTTERY AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Lottolandlottolandaffiliates.com


MOBILE GAMING

LeoVegasleovegas.com


IGTigtpartners.com


POKER AFFILIATE PROGRAMS


bet365 Pokerpoker.bet365.com


EGOegamingonline.com

Intertopsintertops.eu/affiliates

Juicy Stakesjuicystakes.eu


WPNwpnaffiliates.com

SKILL GAMING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Nethivenethive.com

bet365 Skill Gamesgames.bet365.com

Calientenethive.com

SPORTSBETTING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

bet365bet365.com

10Bet Sportsaffiliates.10bet.com


AffCorneraffcorner.com

BetRegal Affiliatesbetregalaffiliates.com

BetBrightbetbrightaffiliates.com

Betfairbetfairpartnerships.com


Betting Godsbettinggods.com


betworldbetworld.com

bwinbwinpartypartners.com

EnergyBetenergycasinopartners.com

Intertopsintertops.eu/affiliates

Interwettenaffiliates.interwetten.com

NetBet Sportnetbet.com

LVbetLVbetPartners.com

Marca Apuestasnethive.com

Merkur Partnersmerkurpartners.com

Paddy Powerpaddypartners.com

Sportingbetsbaffiliates.com


TECHNOLOGY

Omarsysomarsys.com


TOP 100 GAMING SITES WORLDWIDE

Data provided by Casino City Press• Traffic rankings indicate relative popularity of the 100 most popular iGaming sites offering real-money wagering and are based on historical web usage of a panel of

nearly 20 million users over a 3-month period prior to publication.• The rankings are estimates based on panel usage and should not be considered absolute ranking values.• Only the top 5% of all iGaming sites are listed. For detailed, current, accurate information on 2,500 iGaming sites and 2,000 iGaming portal sites, along with rankings of

the top 1,000 iGaming sites and the top 1,000 iGaming portals, directories of software providers, other suppliers, regulatory jurisdictions, and more, the latest edition of Casino City’s iGaming Business Directory is indispensable.

View sample pages at www.casinocitypress.com

Rk Property Name Property URL Games

1 bet365 www.bet365.com Binary Options, Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

2 The National Lottery www.national-lottery.co.uk Bingo, Games, Lottery, Mobile Games, Mobile Lottery

3 BetFair www.betfair.com Betting Exchange, Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

4 William Hill www.williamhill.com Binary Options, Bingo, Casino, eSports, Forex, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook, Spread Betting

5 SkyBet www.skybet.com eSports, Games, In-Play, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

6 TAB Racing and Sports www.tab.co.nz In-Play, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

7 Paddy Power www.paddypower.com Binary Options, Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

8 Ladbrokes www.ladbrokes.com Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook, Spread Betting

9 Sportsbet www.sportsbet.com.au eSports, In-Play, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

10 DraftKings www.draftkings.com Fantasy Sports, Mobile Fantasy Sports

11 Bet9ja web.bet9ja.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

12 FanDuel www.fanduel.com Fantasy Sports, Mobile Fantasy Sports, Racebook

13 IQ Option iqoption.com Binary Options, Mobile Binary Options

14 Coral www.coral.co.uk Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

15 FXOpen www.fxopen.com Forex, Mobile Forex

16 TAB Sportsbet www.tab.com.au In-Play, Mobile Racebooks, Mobile Sportsbooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

17 Rummy Circle www.rummycircle.com Games, Mobile Games

18 eToro www.etoro.com Forex, Mobile Forex

19 Tombola www.tombola.co.uk Bingo, Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Games, Mobile Lottery

20 Betfred www.betfred.com Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

21 bwin www.bwin.com Backgammon, Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

22 SportPesa www.sportpesa.com Lottery, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

23 People’s Postcode Lottery

www.postcodelottery.co.uk Lottery, Mobile Lottery

24 MerryBet www.merrybet.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Lottery, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

25 bet-at-home www.bet-at-home.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

26 888 Casino www.888.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook, Spread Betting

27 Jackpotjoy www.jackpotjoy.com Bingo, Casino Games, Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Lottery

28 Sportingbet www.sportingbet.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

29 Bovada www.bovada.lv Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

30 NairaBET www.nairabet.com Casino Games, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Sportsbook

31 Unibet www.unibet.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

32 Marathon Bet www.marathonbet.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Forex, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

33 IG www.ig.com Binary Options, Forex, Mobile, Spread Betting

34 GSN Cash Games www.gsn.com Bingo, Casino, Games, Mobile

35 TABtouch www.tabtouch.com.au In-Play, Mobile Racebooks, Mobile Sportsbooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

36 Sun Bingo www.sunbingo.co.uk Bingo, Casino,, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos

37 Tipico Online Gaming www.tipico.com Casino, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

38 Lottery.co.uk www.lottery.co.uk Casino Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos

39 Junglee Rummy www.jungleerummy.com Games, Mobile Games

40 Oz Lotteries www.ozlotteries.com Lottery, Mobile Lottery

41 Virgin www.virgingames.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Lottery, Mobile, Social Gaming

42 Lottoland www.lottoland.com Casino Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Live Dealer, Mobile Lottery

43 Gala Bingo www.galabingo.com Bingo, Casino Games, Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos

44 Sports Interaction www.sportsinteraction.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

45 Alpari alpari.com Binary Options, Forex, Mobile Binary Options, Mobile Forex

46 Rivalo www.rivalo.com Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

47 5Dimes Casino and Sportsbook

www.5dimes.eu Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

48 Ace 2 Three www.ace2three.com Games, Mobile Games

49 The Health Lottery www.healthlottery.co.uk Lottery, Mobile Lottery

50 Betway www.betway.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

Rk Property Name Property URL Games

51 10Bet www.10bet.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

52 PokerStars www.pokerstars.com Casino, In-Play, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Poker, Mobile Sportsbooks, Poker, Sportsbook

53 Sky Bingo www.skybingo.com Bingo, Casino, Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Lottery

54 Sky Vegas www.skyvegas.com Casino, Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Games, Mobile Lottery

55 Betclic www.betclic.com Casino Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Sportsbooks, Poker, Sportsbook

56 Binary.com www.binary.com Binary Options, Forex, Mobile Binary Options, Mobile Forex

57 iFOREX www.iforex.com Binary Options, Forex, Mobile Forex

58 BetIn Kenya www.betin.co.ke Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Racebook, Sportsbook

59 XM Markets www.xm.com Forex, Mobile Forex

60 Predictit www.predictit.org

61 Michigan Lottery www.michiganlottery.com Bingo, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Lottery

62 BetVictor www.betvictor.com Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

63 StarGames www.stargames.com Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Live Dealer, Poker

64 Illinois Lottery www.illinoislottery.com Lottery, Mobile Lottery

65 Virginia Lottery www.valottery.com Lottery

66 Pinnacle www.pinnacle.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

67 Foxy Bingo www.foxybingo.com Bingo, Casino, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Lottery

68 Supabets www.supabets.co.za In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Lottery, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

69 Heart Bingo www.heartbingo.co.uk Bingo, Casino, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos

70 InstaForex www.instaforex.com Forex, Mobile Forex

71 Quasar Gaming www.quasargaming.com Bingo, Casino Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos

72 Bet Rally betrally.com Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Sportsbook

73 Kentucky Lottery www.kylottery.com Lottery, Mobile Lottery

74 Fabulous Bingo www.fabulousbingo.co.uk Bingo, Casino Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos

75 Mecca www.meccabingo.com Bingo, Casino, Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Live Dealer

76 National Lottery www.lottery.ie Lottery, Mobile Lottery

77 Mr Green www.mrgreen.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Racebook, Sportsbook

78 Betsson www.betsson.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Sportsbook

79 Elite Bet www.elitebetkenya.com Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

80 TheLotter www.thelotter.com Lottery, Mobile Lottery

81 Cloudbet www.cloudbet.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Sportsbooks, Sportsbook

82 Banc De Binary bancdebinary.com Binary Options

83 1960bet www.1960bet.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Sportsbooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

84 Betsafe www.betsafe.com Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Mobile, Poker, Sportsbook

85 Casino.com www.casino.com Casino Games, Games, Lottery, Mobile Casinos, Mobile Lottery

86 Sky Poker www.skypoker.com Mobile Poker, Poker

87 Smarkets www.smarkets.com Betting Exchange, In-Play, Mobile Betting Exchange

88 Costa Bingo www.costabingo.com Bingo, Casino Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos

89 HorsePlayer Interactive www.horseplayerinteractive.com

Mobile Racebooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

90 BetOnline www.betonline.ag Binary Options, Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

91 CrownBet crownbet.com.au eSports, In-Play, Mobile Racebooks, Mobile Sportsbooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

92 24Option www.24option.com Binary Options, Mobile Binary Options

93 Stan James www.stanjames.com Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

94 Plus500 www.plus500.co.uk Forex, Mobile Forex

95 BGO www.bgo.com Bingo, Casino, Games, Lottery, Mobile Bingo, Mobile Casinos, Sportsbook

96 188 Bet www.188bet.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Forex, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Social Gaming, Sportsbook

97 NetBet www.netbet.com Bingo, Casino, eSports, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

98 LuxBet www.luxbet.com Casino, eSports, In-Play, Mobile Racebooks, Mobile Sportsbooks, Racebook, Sportsbook

99 Bookmaker www.bookmaker.eu Bingo, Casino, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile Racebooks, Mobile Sportsbooks, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

100 Winner www.winner.com Bingo, Casino, Games, In-Play, Lottery, Mobile, Poker, Racebook, Sportsbook

88-DC-Top100-v1.indd 88 01/02/2017 11:37

MORE LIVE STREAMING, MORE IN-PLAY MARKETS,

A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES
