GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 17 - September 2011

T he fallout from Black Friday is still with us. In this issue, our 17th (which will be distributed in September at the Barcelona Affiliate Conference and the EiG Congress & Expo in Milan), Vin Narayanan and Aaron Todd give updates on what’s been happening over the past few months, and Jeremy Enke shares some ideas for what webmasters can do about it. Our cover story, by Aaron Todd, examines the phenomenal growth of live streaming as online sportsbooks develop and expand live sporting event coverage on a scale that makes Vegas sportsbooks look primitive by comparison. What does this mean for you? How about increased revenue! Also in this issue: Louis Deering of Income Access shows us how to structure our data analysis so as to avoid information overload (or“filter failure”); Connie Burstin extols the benefits that come when affiliates and affiliate managers“play nice”together; Sinead Lambert shares with us some of the stats that are tracked by OLBG.com and explains why knowing stats of this type will help you accurately determine how and whom you should be promoting; James Lowery takes a look at Google’s Panda update to their ranking algorithm; and Vin Narayanan analyzes the condition of online gambling in France more than a year after it was regulated. I also encourage you to check out this issue’s affiliate manager interview; five affiliate interviews, photos from Ireland (taken by yours truly) and Canada, and the Departments – the latest industry news, numbers, quotes, updated lists of GPWA sponsors, the cartoon caption contest, the Wall of Shame, and a revamped Events Calendar, where you’ll find information about our brand-new GamingMeets.com site – it’s absolutely fabulous! Before I sign off, a reminder: if you’re not getting the GPWA Times Magazine in the mail, make sure you stay in the loop by subscribing to the print edition right now. Visit gpwatimes.com to start your free subscription. The price is right, and what’s inside is priceless. Sincerely, Michael A. Corfman GPWA Executive Director LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR GPWA Executive Director: Michael Corfman Marketing Director: Andrea Mullaney ProgramManager: Steven Corfman ForumModerator: Anthony Telesca Membership Manager: Nancy Troy GPWA Times Magazine Managing Editor: Vin Narayanan Senior Editor: Aaron Todd Associate Editor: Dan Igo Copy Chief: Bill Riley Designer: George Choi Advertising To advertise in the GPWA Times, please e-mail: sales@gpwa.org Subscriptions For a FREE subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine, visit: gpwatimes.com ISSN 1941-9872 54 Online Betting in France – A Taxing Situation Vin Narayanan discovers that more than a year after France began licensing online gambling, the cautious optimism of gaming executives has given way to frustration. 28 Cover Story: Live Stream Goes Mainstream Aaron Todd takes a look at what’s driving the phenomenal growth of live online sporting event coverage by sportsbooks. Hint: people like to bet on it. 8 Google Panda – What It Means, and What You Can Do! James Lowery explains that search marketing is a lot like fishing: some people use single lines and some cast wide nets – nets that Google Panda is designed to remove. 64 Strategies for U.S. Poker Affiliates Moving Forward Jeremy Enke advises us that, in Black Friday’s aftermath, promoting online poker to U.S. players is a risk-reward proposition. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 12 Fairway Charity Golf Tourney Raises €1,400 18 Dublin and Niagara Falls Photo Galleries 34 I’ll Show You My Stats If You Show Me Yours! by Sinead Lambert 50 Can’t We All Just Get Along? by Connie Burstin 56 Affiliate Marketing by the Numbers, by Louis Deering 60 Black Friday: Bad for Some, Better for Others, by Aaron Todd 62 Judgment Day Delayed for Full Tilt, by Vin Narayanan DEPARTMENTS 4 Webmaster News 6 By the Numbers 7 Cartoon Caption Contest 38 Affiliate Interview Series 52 Affiliate Manager Interview 67 Event Calendar 68 GPWA Sponsors 72 APCW’s Wall of Shame