GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 15 - January 2011

Have you seen more changes in terms and conditions in the past few months than you’ve seen in the past? There are definitely more changes as of late than typical. However, the majority of the changes have to do with territory exclu- sions (specifically, French territory). You list several programs as “rogue” and others as having“predatory terms” on your site. Can you explain what these categorizations mean, and why affiliates should be aware of programs that fit these descriptions? There are several status designations at AGD and we need to do a better job at explaining what those designations mean. Certified – This status means that we have gone over the affiliate contract and have not found any term which can be improperly used to remove af- filiate commissions. In addition, we use Casinomeister to verify that the affili- ate program does not have any casinos considered “rogue.” Warning – This status means that the af- filiate contract is OK for affiliates, but that there is something about the affiliate pro- gram that you should be alerted to. Such an indicator might mean that payments have been late, that they can knock you down to the lowest commission tier if you do not send a new player, or that the commissions are way belowmarket standard. Predatory – This status means that the affiliate contract has at least one term in it that can be used to reduce or deny af- filiate commissions. It is our opinion that, for the good of the industry, we do not ac- tively promote these places. To promote them means you accept the predatory practices they employ. Rogue – This status is typically reserved for affiliate programs that have changed their terms retroactively to reduce com- missions. It is also, however, used when: Affiliate programs are using techniques that hurt affiliates such as traffic-si- phoning or cross-promotion Affiliate programs have rogue casinos (player nonpayment issues, primarily) What’s the number-one “no-no” when it comes to changes in a program’s terms and conditions, in your opinion? The number-one issue is retroactive clauses • • which serve to reduce affiliate commis- sions. This is an affront to affiliates and business partners and only shows how willing a program is to “dip into their partners’ pockets” to increase profitabil- ity. Once a program does this, it is quite clear that they are unethical (at best). Has there been an increase in the intro- duction of predatory terms in affiliate programs’terms and conditions recently? No. There are very few programs introduc- ing predatory terms. I would say that the number was higher immediately follow- ing passage of the UIGEA than now. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, it just isn’t a higher percentage than in the past. Specifically,can you talk about bewinners and why you decided to add it to your list of rogue affiliate programs? Yes, bewin- ners broke the number-one “no-no” given above. They retroactively changed their contract to ruin their affiliates. They took commissions directly out of the pockets of affiliates who, for years, faithfully sent them quality players. If their affiliates do not give them new players, they will cut out their commissions. Even if bewin- ners cannot convert the affiliate’s traffic, the affiliate is penalized. This means that all prior players sent in good faith will be- come bewinner players and will not gen- erate commissions. It is just sick that a company can feel good about breaching their own contract with their partners. It is pure blackmail and greed. Is there anything that bewinners – or any other program you’ve labeled as “rogue” – could do to get off that list? Yes, resolving the issues would remove them from the rogue list. It is as simple as that.With that said their statuswould only change to predatory or warning for a probationary period equivalent to the amount of time they were rogue. What we don’t want is for affiliates to just simply “forget” that this happened. If a program were placed in the rogue category for six months, it would take those six months in a “non-rogue” sta- tus before they could become 100 per- cent certified as affiliate-friendly. You are one of the most-trusted and respected members of our industry. As a result, when you declare someone rogue or predatory, it carries a lot of weight. How do you handle that sort of responsibility? Does knowing how much weight adecisionby you carriesmake you more cautious? Yes, I try to be very cau- tious. It doesn’t mean that I am always 100 percent cautious. It really depends upon the nature of the offending issue. We try to establish and maintain communications with the affiliate program throughout the process, but in some cases they just refuse to properly communicate. It is never fun “roguing,” but it is often the best way to ensure that a solution will be found. What do you see as the top issues fac- ing affiliates over the next 12 months? Processing, processing, processing. Ca- sinos are having processing issues right now, and that will cut into profitability. The other huge looming issue is regula- tion (U.S. or other). This is causing a shift in marketing worldwide, and now, more than ever, affiliates will have to shift their focus and change their methods to keep up with the times. If you could make time to do any one thing during the next year, what would it be? Hire more people to do my work so that I can spend more time with my fam- ily. With two young kids and all the new things they do and say, I couldn’t spend too much time with them. “ bewinners . . . retroactively changed their terms and conditions to ruin their affiliates. They took commissions directly out of the pockets of affiliates who, for years, had faithfully sent them quality players. . . . It is just sick that a company can feel good about breaching their own contract with their partners. ” 51 Always on the lookout