GPWA Times - Issue 21 - May 2012

Last year you posted in a thread the idea that “Google PageRank matters” should be considered an SEO myth. There are a lot of affiliates who spend a great deal of time and money to improve their Google PageRank. Why do you think that PageRank doesn’t matter? What should affiliates be spending their time and money on instead of focusing on PageRank? I think it probably matters as much as the thou- sands of other factors that Google considers when ranking a page in the search results – i.e., not much at all when looked at in iso- lation. If you’re spending loads on trying to inflate that one num- ber, then you’re wasting money. Where you rank in the search re- sults matters far more than one number like that because that is the ultimate combination of all those factors put together. I have seen PR0 sites dominating search results and I tire of so-called SEO companies e-mailing us in an attempt to sell links on their PR4 site that is full of barely intelligible machine-spun articles. Google and others are continually getting better at understand- ing the semantics and context of what is on your site’s pages. So the best thing you can do for long-term success is create unique, interesting and informative content for your visitors. Over time you will satisfy your readers and the search engines, too. Where do you weigh in on mobile gaming? Is it in fact grow- ing exponentially? Will there be a place for affiliates in a brave new world where most betting is done via mobile de- vice? I remain unconvinced. If I look at our site’s share of traffic on mobile devices it is basically an irrelevance and definitely not growing exponentially. But that could be a chicken and egg thing as our site is not optimized for mobile visitors at all. When I think of mobile gaming I disregard iPads or other tablets, which are, when you’re talking about casinos, for all intents and purposes equivalent to a PC these days. I see the major challenge as being how to create a high-quality experience on a mobile phone which has limited screen real estate and physical size. So far the mobile phone casino games that I have seen have not impressed me at all, either as a player or as an affiliate. I am sure they will improve over time, though. This is fairly typical of the online casino in- dustry, which is slow to adopt new technologies. As far as affiliates are concerned, app stores are now the world’s biggest affiliate sites and effectively diminish the value of other affiliate sites like ours. They command huge traffic and in some ways I would find it hard to argue with a casino that didn’t pursue traditional affiliates and instead concentrated on app store sales. I have yet to see a satisfactory tracking method that for example allows an affiliate site to recommend an app that is downloaded through an app store yet still tracks the player to the affiliate that sent them there in the first place. You will inevitably lose referrals if you ask players to manually enter codes for example. Obviously these aren’t insurmountable problems but I’m seeing little evidence of anyone trying to solve them. If someone were visiting you, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see? I would take them to a good but quieter beach, maybe Whale Beach or somewhere down south like Wanda. Then wind up afterwards with a few drinks in a pub in Balmain. It’s more my style than the tourist traps like Bondi Beach. What’s your favorite vacation spot? For relaxation the Maldives is paradise. For fun I’d probably pick Tokyo as the city is simply amazing. If you could have one “superpower,” what would it be? I’d like to be able to instantly teleport anywhere I wanted to go, for numerous reasons. What’s your favorite TV show or shows – any programs that you make it a point to see when they’re aired for the first time? My favorite two series would have to be The Wire and the recent Battlestar Galactica . Both shows were topical, gritty, in- telligent and realistic in their own ways and they weren’t afraid to bump off key characters at the most unexpected times. I’m eager to watch Game of Thrones , too. What’s your all-time favorite movie? I was a typical boy into sci-fi and space stuff so I’d have to say something like Aliens or Blade Runner . If you were shooting your autobiography, whom would you cast to play you? I’ve been asked this before and I never have an answer. I don’t know. Maybe Johnny Depp because he’s an excel- lent actor who can make anyone appear interesting. If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to din- ner, who would they be? My grandfathers. Both died before I was born and both had to fight in WWII so it would be interest- ing to meet them and hear what they went through. Bruce Lee to share a few kung fu pointers with me. Pele – I am sure we could talk football all night. Philip K. Dick to tell us some trippy after- dinner stories. What are three things that nobody knows about you? I have broken my left arm twice in the same spot in the last three months. I am getting close to going for my black belt in kung fu (whenever my arm heals properly!). I used to get paid a little to play football (soccer) semiprofessionally when I was younger. “Most bonuses are now ‘fool’s gold’ with ridiculous wagering requirements and T&Cs, and the casinos refuse to implement simple technological solutions to prevent players from violating those T&Cs. For example, every casino should be blocking disallowed games from being played after claiming a bonus. Sadly I can count the number that do so on one hand.” 53 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series