GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 43 - February 2019

Illustration by doddis77/Shutterstock WhenBobDylanwrote his classic hit “The Times They Are a-Changin’” way back in the early ’60s, he obviously did not have iGaming affiliates in mind. Still, more than five decades later, the song’s lyrics could definitely serve as a current-day anthem for all of us involved in the industry. Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’. For sure, with increasing regulations, mergers and acquisitions becomingmore common every day, and ever-changing Google algorithms and SEO guidelines, it’s a whole newworld for affil- iates—particularly the smaller ones—and we have all been forced to “start swimmin’.” With that said, inside this issue, the 43rd edition of our magazine, we present a series of articles to help our membership avoid “sinking like a stone.” Our cover story, written by Gambling.com Group’s Lee Gwilliam, offers an extensive ex- amination of how the industry has transformed before our very eyes and what we need to do as affiliates to not only survive, but flourish in these new surroundings. Lee-Ann Johnstone from AffiliateINSIDER is back to suggest some steps we can take to make the relationship between affiliates and affiliate managers more mutually beneficial, while former GPWA Editor-in-Chief Vin Narayanan discusses the challenges for affiliates as they attempt to market themselves to an audience that doesn’t remember a world without a mobile phone or internet. In addition to these features, be sure to check out the three affiliate interviews, two affiliate manager interviews, photo galleries from LiAC and SiGMA, and our regular departments such as the APCWWall of Shame, From the Forums and the GPWA Poll. Here’s to a great year in 2019! This issue will be distributed at ICE London and the London Affiliate Conference in February, so please stop by the GPWA stand to say hello to our team. And if you are not already a subscriber to the GPWA Times Magazine , visit GPWAtimes.org/subscribe/ to sign up. Your subscription is free, so don’t miss another issue. Sincerely, Michael Corfman LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Executive Director: Michael Corfman Program Director: Anthony Telesca Program Manager: Maria Florides Membership Manager: Richard Bard Member Services: Nancy Troy Marketing Director: Andrea Mullaney Managing Editor: Gary Trask Copy Chief: Clare Fitzgerald Associate Editor: Daniel Ippolito Designers: George Choi, Zoran Maksimovic´ SUBSCRIPTIONS For a FREE subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine , visit GPWAtimes.org ADVERTISING To advertise in the GPWA Times Magazine , please e-mail: sales@gpwa.org “The Times They Are a-Changin’...” 4