GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 49 - April 2021

To borrow a boxing analogy, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a nasty punch our way this past year, and nearly knocked us all out, both professionally and personally. But while we may have been hanging on the ropes for a while, we are still standing. And, little by little, we are jabbing back. The last year hasn’t been easy. Many of us have lost business and revenue. Even worse, some have lost family, friends and/or colleagues to this vile disease, and that’s more significant than any damage to our bank accounts or traffic stats. But as we went to press with the 49 th edition of the GPWA Times Magazine , there was reason to be more confident in the future. Vaccines were being administered, restrictions were being lessened, and COVID-19 numbers, in most, but not all parts of the world, were in decline. While the health and safety of ourselves and our loved ones remains the priority, making necessary modifications and adjustments to our businesses is vital right now, and that is the main focus of this issue— the road to recovery. With that said, two of our regular expert con- tributors —Lorien Pilling fromGlobal Betting and Gaming Consultants and Christina Tha- kor-Rankin from 1710 Gaming — have each detailed suggestions about some of the new opportunities for iGaming affiliates to consider as the pandemic hopefully begins to fade. In addition, Maxim Ishunin from 1xBet explains why you should consider delving into the world of esports, if you haven’t already, while Larissa Green from the iGaming SEO teamat Blueclaw has some important details about Google’s New Page Experience, set to launch inMay, and what you should be doing to prepare for it. Also, in the following pages, we present our regular departments and features, including sit- downs with three compelling GPWAmembers, two new affiliate manager interviews, a look at portal site owner rankings and how they have changed, courtesy of iGamingDirectory.com, and we crown a new member of the notorious APCWWall of Shame. I genuinely hope that by the time we publish the next issue we are making plans to see one another soon at an industry conference or event. It’s been too long since we’ve all congre- gated, networked and shared some cocktails, cuisine and laughs. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue and remind you that a subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine is free. Don’t miss another issue! Simply visit GPWAtimes.org/subscribe. Stay safe and healthy! Michael Corfman Images by Bahau/Shutterstock, Steinar/Shutterstock, Lauritta/Shutterstock 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 Executive Director: Michael Corfman Program Director: Anthony Telesca Program Manager: Maria Florides Member Services: Richard Bard Marketing Director: Andrea Mullaney Managing Editor: Gary Trask Associate Editor: Dan Ippolito Designers: George Choi, Zoran Maksimovic´ LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Down, but not out 4