GPWA Times Magazine - Issue30 - October 2014

MaxCasino offers live dealer blackjack and roulette. How popular have these offerings been so far? And will IceCasino and CrystalCasino also have live dealer opportunities in the future? Live dealers are not so popular as far as we can see, although it’s also true that we are not promoting them properly. Not all play- ers who like online slots and roulette are fond of playing them live. We had some requests from affiliates to have these games, so we enabled them on MaxCa- sino. Now we are preparing more market- ing creatives and brand-new live dealers on Crystal Casino, so be patient and wait for it; it will be a great new experience! Our casinos are always in contact with players and affiliates alike and are ready to make necessary alterations on request. I hope we will also receive some comments after this interview, to make our casino even better. It's one thing to bring in a new person to a site. It's another thing entirely to get them to stick around. What do your properties do to retain players sent by affiliates? Small things matter – every- thing from design elements to promo- tion mechanics keeps players coming back for more. Of course, we have a team of friendly support representatives, call managers and VIP managers who know players well enough to make playing a fun experience. Moreover, we provide affiliate websites with cool bonuses and then run exclusive campaigns for play- ers referred to us by affiliates. In addition, we are always open to figuring out and implementing new promotions together with our affiliates. We don’t treat a player like a money bag – no way – but just like a real friend. Our managers will always ask about their mood, how they are do- ing. If a player is unable to deposit but still willing to play for real, they might offer that player a no-deposit bonus. We have seven unique statuses for players that can be achieved with active play and of course comp points that can be easily converted into real money. Almost all of our play- ers take part in weekly and daily tourna- ments. Retention, in my opinion, is the most important thing in the current mar- ket. You can easily attract a player to your casino by giving $300/$400/$500 bonuses, but upon clearing the first bonus this player will leave your casino. That’s why we have a separate retention department that works closely with our support and affiliate departments. One of the most important issues on- line casinos must address is problem gambling. What do the properties that Gambling Attack promotes do to try to identify and help players with gambling problems? That’s a serious question and we treat it accordingly. In our casinos any active player has an assigned man- ager who controls wagering behavior and is quick to help and chat with a player. Should our manager notice that a player loses control over how much money or time he or she spends gambling, he will persuade the player to hold back from playing for a while and recommend some ways to get professional help if needed. Moreover, a player can use options to set bet limits or take advantage of the time- out tool that allows taking a short break from gambling for a seven-day period. During this time a player will be unable to bet. Alternatively, players may self- exclude themselves by contacting sup- port. Self-exclusion means that their ac- count will remain closed for a minimum period of three months, and will not be reactivated under any circumstances dur- ing the exclusion period. Also we are working closely with support communi- ties and are engaged in education initia- tives to help prevent or better manage problem gambling. Gambling Attack offers 40-60 percent revenue share and "lucrative CPA plans" for referred players. How are those per- centages calculated and just how lucra- tive are the CPA plans? By default, we of- fer a dynamic 40-60 percent rev share plan according to which an affiliate will earn a percentage of the casino’s net gaming rev- enue. The percentage varies depending on the number of first deposits made by referred players. The rev share percentage will rise automatically without any con- trol from the affiliate manager – affiliates just have to choose our dynamic rev share commission plan and meet the require- ments to get a higher percentage. All for- mulas for percentage and revenue share plans are published for all webmasters in their profiles. As for CPA plans, the amount is discussed individually with every webmaster for each casino separately and calculated depending on the country, traffic qual- ity, etc. If the traffic sent by an affiliate exceeds expected results, CPA payments can be increased. Many programs are hesitant to offer CPA deals because they have been burned too many times by CPA fraud. How do you combat CPA fraud? To put it in a nut- shell, affiliate marketing is still a relatively new industry with low barriers of entry. It would be irresponsible for publishers to blame affiliate programs or vice versa for fraud incurred. Both parties have to proactively do their job to ensure quality and control. First, we enable CPA plans only for checked affiliates with quality traffic paying for first depositors. Second, the process is designed to eliminate any fraudulent activity by itself as we place a one-month hold on CPA payouts to have time to perform necessary checks. More- over, we have a team of skilled analysts and risk managers who leave no chances to scammers. And — the most important thing — we’ve developed a brand-new automatic antifraud system that helps our affiliate managers to make correct deci- sions. This system is connected to our support department and we can contact every suspicious player directly. In the end, as an industry both affiliates and af- filiate programs have to think long term. Gambling Attack pays affiliates on a weekly basis, rather than the industry standard of once a month. Why did the program decide to go this route? A good question. Any business is all about the money in the first place. With high com- petition and a wide selection of strong brands on the market, there was a press- AFFILIATE MANAGER INTERVIEW SERIES Affiliate Manager Interview Series