GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 39 - November 2017

Vin Narayanan has been involved in the gaming industry for over a decade and is the former editor-in-chief at GPWA and Casino City Press. Vin is currently based in Hong Kong, where he runs his own consultant group. Additionally, apps make it tough on affiliate marketers. Potential customers are more likely to download apps from app stores than they are to click a download link. Collectively, these challenges pose an existential threat to affili- ate marketing for online gaming. As mobile wagering continues to increase (for example, in 2016, 79% of Paddy Power Betfair’s online sports bets were mobile in nature), affiliates need to capture as much traffic and revenue as possible. Yet as online operators shift into an app ecosystem, affiliates will find the business environment increasingly difficult to work in. And that doesn’t include the technical challenges in terms of tracking sign-ups and deposits from affiliates via apps. Fortunately for affiliates, the gaming app revolution is still in its infancy. The Android marketplace is limited to three jurisdictions (Ireland, the U.K. and France). Apple’s App Store has strict rules regulating gambling apps. So affili- ates have time to develop a strategy. Here are some things worth considering: • Reviewing apps the same way you would review an online gaming website or client. Players care about usability. But there aren’t that many great places to get information about usability right now. • Getting personalized mobile-specific promotional codes. This is a way of ensuring that player activity can track back to you. • Working with affiliate programs to solve technical is- sues regarding tracking traffic to mobile apps. Even though mobile is the future, operators don’t want to lose the millions in revenue generated by desktop players. Affiliates have some leverage here. They need to use it. • Developing your own apps. Millennials – and future generations of customers – are not just digital natives; they’re mobile natives. If affiliates are not where their customers are, it will be tough to succeed. Operators have a head start in the app ecosystem. If affiliates don’t act soon, they’ll find themselves locked out of it for good. Even though mobile is the future , operators don’t want to lose the millions in revenue generated by desktop players . Affiliates have some leverage here. They need to use it. OPINION The Gaming App Revolution W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 34 Main image by wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock