GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 26 - October 2013

I f you’re attending this year’s G2E, you already have your copy of Issue 26 of the GPWA Times Magazine , which will also be distributed a week or so later at two events in Barcelona, the Barcelona Affiliate Conference & IGB Espana and then at the European iGaming Congress & Expo (EiG). In our cover story, Lee Allen of Stickyeyes takes a look at whether current SEO tactics are helping or hurting site rankings and asks the probing question, “If SEO isn’t dead, what now constitutes SEO?” Also in this issue, we present the fabulous photos we took in Amsterdam during the AAC and iGaming Super Show, Mike Litson advises us how to survive a Google Penguin 2.0-inflicted penalty, Lindsay Kininmonth explains why effective geolocation is key to succeeding in the U.S. iGaming market, Vin Narayanan bemoans the sluggish, sorry state of federalandstategaming legislation intheUSA,Allan Petrilli looks at the evolution of social networking from Mesopotamia to Facebook, Lorenzo Pellegrino sheds light on the inner workings of online payment processing and Jeremy Enke advocates the use of loyalty programs for increasing player conversion and retention. And don’t miss our six affiliate interviews, two affiliate manager interviews, the latest webmaster news, quotes of note, event calendar and the second addition to our Wall of Fame. One final thought: Today, of course, is the first day of the rest of your life, which makes it the perfect occasion to start your subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine if you haven’t done so already. Subscribe now at gpwatimes.com – it’s free! Sincerely, Michael A. Corfman GPWA Executive Director LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR GPWA Executive Director: Michael Corfman Program Director: Anthony Telesca Membership Manager: Nancy Troy Member Services: Loriann Sheridan Marketing Director: Andrea Mullaney GPWA Times Magazine Editor-in-chief: Vin Narayanan Senior Editor: Aaron Todd Associate Producer: Dan Podheiser 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 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 10 Using loyalty programs to increase player conversion and retention, by Jeremy Enke 16 GPWA Photo Album: Amsterdam 36 Quick, seamless – and very complicated: How online payment processing really works, by Lorenzo Pellegrino 40 Expanding your affiliate presence, by Allan Petrilli DEPARTMENTS 6 Webmaster News 8 By the Numbers 23 Event Calendar 34 From the Forums 46 Affiliate Interview Series 62 GPWA Sponsors 66 Affiliate Manager Interviews 74 APCWWall of Fhame 12 Finding your customers: Customer experience is a critical component in designing geofencing solutions Lindsay Kininmonth discusses the importance of having an effective geolocation solution in place for operators looking to go live in the U.S. iGamingmarket. 30 Saving a sinking ship: How to identify and survive a Google penalty Mike Litson explains why, in the wake of Google’s Penguin 2.0 update, understanding how a penalty has affected your site is key to rectifying the problem. 24 Cover Story: Have you heard that SEO is dead? Lee Allen explains that the real issue isn’t whether or not SEO is dead, but whether SEO tactics, at best, still have the desired impact or, at worst, are actually damaging site rankings. 44 U.S. legislative roundup: What’s happening, what’s not happening – and why Vin Narayanan takes a look at where the USA is right now in terms of getting online gaming legislation of any kind passed at either the federal or state level.