GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 33 - October 2015

business due to the Panda updates,” says Christine K. of Streak Gaming, an online gambling forum. “We actually survived the Google clean-up because we use white hat SEO, which may be a bit slower and requires more resources, but has paid off in the long term.” Determining which SEO strategy to take (white hat vs. black hat) has been tricky for affiliates. After all, short-term strate- gies continue to pay off, but the time win- dow for successful black-hat tactics seems to be shrinking. As a result, affiliates are devoting more time and resources to long-term tactics, as well as diversifying their traffic acquisition away from purely organic search engine traffic. “Anything that I can do to effectively ma- nipulate my rankings — other than pro- viding engaging content, obviously — has to be regarded as a short-term answer and something that Google’s algorithms will look to catch up with at some stage,” says Ian Sims of SlotJunkies.com , an online slots database. “I am working to try to diversify my traf- fic sources at the moment,” he adds. “Like many online businesses, I have historical- ly had an over-reliance on Google organic listings, but I am starting to erode that re- liance, albeit gradually.” Industry consolidation Beyond search engine challenges, the last few years have also been marked by in- dustry consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. Major mergers, includ- ing WilliamHill’s purchase of Sportingbet in 2013 and Amaya’s acquisition of PokerStars in June 2014, and the acquisi- tions of a number of small and mid-size brands have meant that affiliates have had to stay on their toes. Consolidation can be a positive development for affiliates, but there are some important risks. “The largest issue is the combination of affiliate programs and assimilation of casinos,” says Andy M., owner of AffiliateGuardDog.com , a site focused on protecting affiliates. “This practice is eating into affiliate earnings on a much deeper level through the practice of cross- promotion and untagged links.” He adds, “We tell affiliates to pay atten- tion to the state of things. When you see an affiliate or two posting about payment issues or stats issues, start reducing ex- posure; when programs combine, reduce exposure until you are confident tracking has not degraded in any way.” As a result of increasing consolidation, many affiliates are proactively making ef- forts to diversify the brands they promote. Promoting a diverse range of brands al- lows affiliates to avoid being dependent on just a few high-performing ones. As Sims puts it, “I diversify the programs I work with, trying to evenly split distri- bution across the network to ensure that no one program accounts for more than 20% of my revenue in any given month.” He adds, “Program closures and buyouts are things that you have to allow for, and are another reason why diversifying every aspect of your business is so important.” Anything that I can do to effectively manipulate my rankings — other than providing engaging content, obviously — has to be regarded as a short-term answer and something that Google’s algorithms will look to catch up with at some stage.” — Ian Sims, SlotJunkies.com 15 Sailing the seas of change: Preparing your affiliate business for 2016 and beyond