Join GPWA Page 13 Does social media help SEO? Forecasting the future for iGaming affiliates Mapping out affiliate success in Ontario NOVEMBER 2022 GPWAtimes.org The value of creating a web-based community Build It & They Will Come
J O I N A B U S I N E S S A T T H E TO P O F I T S G A M E Enjoy gambling responsibly. BeGambleAware.org 18+
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Collective Souls The GPWA has brought much joy to myself and our company over the last 16 years. One of the things we are most proud of is the community we have helped nurture and grow. The primary reason we have all been able to connect over the years has been our inherent joint interest in the iGaming affiliate marketing industry. However, we have grown to know each other for much more than just to talk about SEO, CPA or PPC. In many cases, we’ve been fortunate enough to become long-time friends, and the past few years have taught us all not to take our time together for granted. With that said, it has been a pleasure to see all of your smiling faces on a more regular basis at industry events over the last year. And we look forward to being at SiGMA Europe in Malta, 14-19 November, with this issue, our 54th edition, in hand. Speaking of building communities, that’s precisely the topic of this issue’s cover story as first-time contributor Catie Di Stefano explains why the pandemic hasmade creating a community-based atmosphere for your site’s visitors more important than ever. Elsewhere, we have a roadmap for affiliate success in Ontario’s newly launched iGaming market by Geoffrey Smorong from Income Access, while Taylor Howard from1xBet pens an article about how and why sports betting affiliates should be peeking through their crystal balls and into the future. We also present our regular dose of “departments,” including a lively photo gallery from Amsterdam, new and insightful gaming site rankings from iGamingDirectory.com, and we “welcome” another victim to the APCWWall of Shame. Of course, don’t forget to check out the latest member affiliate interviews and two new Q&As with sponsor affiliate managers. Since this is the final issue of 2022, we want to wish you all a strong Q4. Believe it or not, it won’t be long until we all congregate once again in London. But before booking your trip to ICE and iGB Affiliate, please remember that a subscription to the GPWA Times Magazine is free! Visit GPWAtimes.org/subscribe so you don’t miss another issue! Sincerely, Michael Corfman 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 ISSN 1941-9872 (print) ISSN 2834-2348 (online) Executive Director: Michael Corfman Program Director: Anthony Telesca Program Manager: Maria Florides Member Services: Richard Bard Nancy Troy Marketing Director: Andrea Mullaney Editor-in-Chief: Gary Trask Associate Editors: Dan Ippolito Jarrod LeBlanc Designers: George Choi Zoran Maksimovic´ LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR 4 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
TABLE OF CONTENTS Departments 4 Letter from the Director • 8 By the Numbers • 10 Quotables • 12 GPWA Poll 14 iGamingDirectory.com Rankings • 38 From the Forums • 42 Affiliate Interview Series • 54 Sponsors 58 Affiliate Manager Interview Series • 68 Wall of Shame • 70 Event Calendar Forecasting the Future Taylor Howard from 1xBet discusses the importance of planning ahead in the continuously evolving sports betting affiliate industry. Photo Gallery – iGB Live! Amsterdam A record-breaking number of attendees made the trek to the Netherlands in July and, as always, we were there to capture the the action from the exhibition floor to the late-night networking parties. Maple Leaf Under the Microscope Geoffrey Smorong from Income Access provides a detailed look at what affiliates should know before trying to penetrate the newly regulated online gambling market in Ontario. 24 Illustrations by Inspiring/Shutterstock and Phichto2612/Shutterstock Land of Opportunity The pandemic taught us that creating communities is more crucial than ever for iGaming affiliates and operators as they seek to convert traffic into sales. 16 20 28 G P W A t i m e s . o r g 6
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BY THE NUMBERS 8,663 The number of entrants in this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event in LasVegas, the second-largest in tournament history, falling just 110players shy of the record set in 2006. $4 billion The amount wagered inOntario on iGaming and online sports betting since the market launched on 4April, according to the first revenue report released by iGaming Ontario on 30 August. £17 million The record-breaking fine Entrain was hit with by the U.K. Gambling Commission for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures in August. 54% The percentage of mobile sports bettors in the U.S. who earn $100,000 or more annually, according to research conducted by TransUnion. 78% The percentage of online gamblers who play roulette in Brazil, according to research released by Grupo Globo, making it the most popular game, followed by blackjack (66%) and slots (63%). G P W A t i m e s . o r g 8
€146.4 million The amount of gross gaming revenue Portugal iGaming operators reported for Q2 2022, a 17% increase compared to Q2 2021. 28% The percentage of SouthAfricanGen Z online players who borrow money in order to gamble, according to OldMutual Savings and Investments. $1,000 The approximate amount of gambling losses per adult in Australia each year. DKK 565 million The online gross gaming revenue reported in Denmark for Q2 2022, a 14.1%decrease compared to Q2 2021. €700,000 The amount Italy’s communication authority fined Google in August for breaching a ban on gambling advertising on YouTube. $534 The average amount that online gamblers in Spain spent during the 2021 calendar year, according to Spain’s Analysis of the Online Gambler Profile 2021. $144.74 billion The expected value of global casino online gambling by 2028, according to Data Bridge Market Research. 9 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
QUOTABLES Q U O T A B L E S “Sports betting is a part of what our younger, say, under-35 sports audience is telling us theywant as part of their sports lifestyle …We’re working very hard on that.” —Bob Chapek, CEO of Walt Disney, when asked if the company was developing an ESPN sports-betting app “Research shows that themajority of players are unaware of whether an online site is legal in their province or not. This is a significant amount of money that could be staying right here in our region to fund public services, but instead continues to be taken away fromhelping our communities to the sole benefit of illegal operators.” —Patrick Daigle, President and CEO of Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which is part of a coalition calling on the federal government to protect Canadians from misleading advertising and the operation of illegal gambling websites “I increasinglywonder whether we offer sufficient protection and safety to players with the current interpretation of the duty of care . . . I see that the behavior of gambling providers still leaves a lot to be desired.” —René Jansen, Chairman of Kansspelautoriteit, the Netherlands’ gaming regulator, after urging the government to impose a spending limit on online gaming as a consumer protection measure “The bill seeks to prohibit online gambling and the placing of wagers or bets through the internet or any formof online gambling activities to prevent further deterioration of morals and values, encourage people towork instead of relying on a game of chance, stop addiction and save lives.” —Joel Villanueva, Philippines Senate Majority Leader, after filing Senate Bill 1281, also known as the Anti-Online Gambling Act G P W A t i m e s . o r g 10
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What type of site would you choose if you were starting over as an iGaming affiliate? GPWA MEMBER POLL The global affiliate marketing industry was worth over $17 billion as of Q2 2021, up from $13 billion in 2016, according to Mhojhos, with 56% of affiliate programs reporting increased revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown. But as the size of the affiliate marketing pie increases, many experts advise that finding a small slice – or a niche market – is the best path for success. The thought process is that while your potential audience will be smaller, they’ll be more emphatic about the subject, making it more likely your traffic will convert. Recently on the GPWA forums, member “dannyx” asked our community if they were starting over, would they try to carve out a narrow niche, or create a more non-specific site with a generic online casino domain, pointing out that he felt it would be better to focus on a niche market. Whilemost of his fellowmembers agreed, there was some support for going the route of a more general site. A sampling of comments from our members, as well as the poll results, are found below. For more details regarding this poll and to view all of the comments and advice from our members, visit gpwa.org/453. Comments from GPWA members kod NEW MEMBER The site should be as general as possible. This will give you much more flexibility with switching niches. PaulEchere PRIVATE MEMBER Being “as niche as possible” seems to summarize a reasonable approach. Probably the best way to use your resources (especially if they are, in most cases, your time) is to find a niche, where you can realistically compete. Pokerface PUBLIC MEMBER Definitely niche. Find the right topic and focus on it. Do it very well rather than spreading yourself too thin. 50%Niche 12.5%General topic 12.5%Mix of both 25%Very narrow niche G P W A t i m e s . o r g 12
iGamingDirectory.com The rising popularity of sports betting, combined with increased internet penetration across the globe, has invigorated the vertical and increased its market share in recent years. That rapid growth is also reflected in our iGamingDirectory.com database. Our rankings are based on the weighted power mean of a variety of independent and multi-sourced traffic-based statistics, such as number of visitors, visits and page views and total estimated time spent on a site by all visitors. And as you can see in the list on the right, the top 25 most popular online gaming sites over the past year, along with their change in ranking compared to last year, are dominated by sports betting operators. Furthermore, on the opposite page we list the top 20 sites over the past year for the verticals of bingo, casino, poker and sports. iGamingDirectory.com is the world’s most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date guide to the websites, contacts, owners, operators, software suppliers, payment processors, regulatory jurisdictions, affiliate programs and other industry businesses that comprise today’s online gaming industry. As this issue went to press, the iGamingDirectory.com database featured: • 1,800 businesses that own online gaming sites • 4,400 casino, poker, sports betting, bingo and game sites with traffic rankings • 1,100 affiliate programs and affiliate networks • 14,000 web portals and their owners • 1,100 game and platform suppliers • 21,000 games • 200 regulatory jurisdictions • 2,000 annual reports of online gaming businesses • 900 payment methods • 17,000 gaming executives with their associated LinkedIn profiles The data is continuously updated and can be filtered and configured into custom rankings based on a number of factors, and everything is provided for free to our private members and sponsors, thanks, in part, to our longtime supporter, bet365 Partners. To take advantage of your free access to this vast repository of information, please visit iGamingDirectory.com/GPWA. Online Gaming Site Rankings Free access to iGamingDirectory.com for GPWA members August 2021 to July 2022 Rank Change from prior year Website Owner 1 bet365.com bet365 Group 2 sports.caliente.mx Grupo Caliente 3 5 betking.com SV Gaming 4 1 wplay.co Aquila Global Group 5 1 betway.com Betway Group 6 1 draftkings.com DraftKings 7 3 nesine.com Dogan Online 8 1 betplay.com.co Corredor Empresarial 9 11 1xbet.com Bonnal 10 bovada.lv Lynton 11 7 betika.com Shop and Deliver 12 2 sportybet.com SportyBet Kenya 13 2 hkjc.com Hong Kong Jockey Club 14 5 williamhill.com William Hill 15 2 betfair.com Flutter 16 bet9ja.com KC Gaming Networks 17 9 bet365.mx bet365 Group 18 1 rummycircle.com Play Games24x7 19 16 betmgm.com MGM Resorts International 20 1 tab.com.au Tabcorp 21 4 ladbrokes.com Entain 22 40 stake.com Medium Rare 23 8 sportingbet.com Entain 24 fanduel.com FanDuel Group 25 8 platincasino.com Red Rhino Top Online Gaming Sites G P W A t i m e s . o r g 14
iGaming Site Rankings Casino August 2021 to July 2022 Rank Change from prior year Website Owner 1 8 stake.com Medium Rare 2 1 platincasino.com Red Rhino 3 1 verajohn.com Jackpotjoy 4 winbet.bg Win Bet Online 5 888.com 888 Holdings 6 4 betfury.io Universe B Games 7 12 bc.game Blockdance 8 casino.bet365.com bet365 Group 9 3 skyvegas.com Stars Group 10 3 bitcasino.io Moon Technologies 11 9 jackpotcitycasino.com Bayton 12 135 raj.bet Win Sector 13 1 leovegas.com LeoVegas 14 1283 livecasino.io mBet Solutions 15 2 jackpotjoy.com Jackpotjoy 16 3 videoslots.com Videoslots 17 3 unibet.com/casino Kindred Group 18 3 tai789.net 19 1 virgingames.com Gamesys 20 24 casinosecret.com Casino Secret Sports August 2021 to July 2022 Rank Change from prior year Website Owner 1 bet365.com bet365 Group 2 sports.caliente.mx Grupo Caliente 3 2 betking.com SV Gaming 4 1 wplay.co Aquila Global Group 5 1 nesine.com Dogan Online 6 betplay.com.co Corredor Empresarial 7 10 1xbet.com Bonnal 8 bovada.lv Lynton 9 2 unibet.com/betting Kindred Group 10 1 betway.com Betway Group 11 5 betika.com Shop and Deliver 12 sportybet.com SportyBet Kenya 13 3 sports.williamhill.com William Hill 14 5 betfair.com/sport Flutter 15 web.bet9ja.com KC Gaming Networks 16 2 hkjc.com Hong Kong Jockey Club 17 4 bet365.mx bet365 Group 18 12 betmgm.com MGM Resorts International 19 1 sports.ladbrokes.com Entain 20 5 betway.co.za Betway Group Bingo August 2021 to July 2022 Rank Change from prior year Website Owner 1 tombola.co.uk Tombola International 2 meccabingo.com Rank Group 3 4 mrq.com Lindar Media 4 galabingo.com Entain 5 236 doublebubblebingo.com Gamesys 6 1 buzzbingo.com Buzz Group 7 1 tombola.it Tombola International 8 5 heartbingo.co.uk BetVictor 9 2 foxybingo.com Entain 10 2 bingolotto.se Folkspel 11 5 skybingo.com Sky Betting & Gaming 12 7 bingobilly.com Double B. Invest 13 yobingo.es QSB Gaming 14 4 bingo.williamhill.com William Hill 15 2 sunbingo.co.uk News Group Newspapers 16 262 bingovillage.com Mangus Solutions 17 8 cheekybingo.com Entain 18 3 tombola.es Tombola International 19 3 unibet.com/bingo Kindred Group 20 bingo.bet365.com bet365 Group Poker August 2021 to July 2022 Rank Change from prior year Website Owner 1 americascardroom.eu Winning Poker Network 2 partypoker.com Entain 3 6 wsop.com Caesars Entertainment 4 1 888poker.com 888 Holdings 5 1 winamax.fr Winamax 6 globalpoker.com VGW GP Malta 7 2 pokerstars.com Stars Group 8 7 pokerstars.it Stars Group 9 1 adda52.com Delta Corporation 10 3 pokerstars.es Stars Group 11 1 poker.bet365.com bet365 Group 12 2 en.ggpoker.eu NSUS 13 4 pokerstars.in Stars Group 14 1 spartanpoker.com Quadrific Media 15 4 pokerstars.eu Stars Group 16 4 pokerbaazi.com Baazi Networks 17 20 coinpoker.com 18 pokerstars.fr Stars Group 19 5 skypoker.com Sky Betting & Gaming 20 4 blockchain.poker 15 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
Land Opportunity of By Catie Di Stefano Illustrations by Inspiring/Shutterstock and Phichto2612/Shutterstock G P W A t i m e s . o r g 16
As the world continues to shift and digitization proliferates as a result of the pandemic, the importance of developing communities for affiliates and operators is more important than ever o much of our lives have been digitalized since the COVID-19 pandemic entered our lives in March 2020. Before the pandemic, we had already seen an increased demand for streaming networks and remote work. But in the last two-plus years, new industries and words have emerged that we could never have imagined would be connected to the gambling industry, such as Web3, metaverse, non-fungible tokens and meme stocks. But what compels companies like Disney, Twitter and Microsoft to quickly jump on these emerging trends? The answer is traffic from communities. Large communities started to build more rapidly during the pandemic as people worldwide became more digitalized. We saw the meme stock incident on Reddit, where a whole community had the power to change the outcome for GameStop, its beloved childhood store. We saw the revenue rise of Discord communities such as Bored Ape and CryptoPunks, which are communities of owners to collections of NFT products that they all believe in and contribute to. And then there’s Facebook, which jumped on the trend and changed its name to Meta, just to confuse users about where the word metaverse originated from. Communities are also a large part of the latest trend. Web3 is the decentralized future of the internet. In Web3, the internet is no longer controlled by big corporations that earn lots of money from users. Instead, the future of Web3 holds a creator economy where users get ownership and payment for their content and engagement on a platform. It’s very similar to Play2Earn, which is also part of Web3. To put Web3 in context, right now in Web2, Facebook is the owner (and biggest revenue beneficiary) of any post that an influencer makes viral on their platform. In Web3, the user who engages with the influencer’s post would get paid by Facebook for their likes, comments or shares. In other words, Web3 is a creator economy. Here is where the importance of communities comes in. Traditionally, for affiliates and operators, the focus has been on SEO and media buying to increase acquisition. But with this generational shift comes new challenges for our industry to innovate the user experience and functionalities to suit this new digital generation. There are plenty of opportunities for brands to generate more revenue streams as early adaptors to the content creator economy, but in 2023, affiliates and operators will face the biggest challenge of converting followers to communities. To succeed in a creator economy, gaining a large community that supports and engages with your brand is vital. Remember, followers do not equal community, because followers and community are not the same. But a large community is guaranteed to convert traffic into sales, contrary to a large following base. A follower is simply a fan who tracks the success of your product, but a community member is an investor who spends time, energy and, in some cases, money to make your product successful. Of course, a fan may become a community member, but what does it take to make that conversion, and why is it so important? What differentiates a follower from a community member is the feeling of belonging. You might have thought that with the increased digitalization of our lives, we would have decreased our emotions like robots. But these emerging trends have proven to be the opposite. To successfully build a community, you have to make the members feel like they belong to the brand to the point that the product is as much theirs as yours. 17 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
To a brand wanting to build a community, I recommend you always be ready for change and increase your communication skills between brand and audience. You need to be able to adapt and change your product, your strategy and your goals after your community member’s requests. If you are to be successful in converting traffic to sales, it’s crucial to be open to feedback from fans on all aspects, as they are the consumers spending time engaging with you to better your product for THEM. Another essential factor to consider is that a community is a fanbase that doesn’t need to be managed. The members need to feel included to invest in your product, and this task (making members feel like they belong) has proven to be the biggest hurdle that content creators encounter when trying to build communities. Brands acknowledging fans and followers in content is always successful. Still, statistics show that the best strategy for building communities is to identify your key members and give them important community roles –not employing members, but engaging them in the brand. We can take a successful community strategy as an example from Minecraft, an open-world game that allows users to build anything they want in pixels. About a decade ago, a Pokémon world quickly grew into one of the most visited There are plenty of opportunities for brands to generate more revenue streams as early adaptors to the content creator economy, but in 2023, affiliates and operators will face the biggest challenge of converting followers to communities. LAND OF OPPORTUNITY G P W A t i m e s . o r g 18
worlds in the game of Minecraft, thanks to their strategy to build a community. To do this, the creators of the Pokémon world started to reward regular visitors with “chores.” Some community members were asked to guard the entrance doors, some were tasked with developing new Pokémons, and others were tasked with building new training areas in their metaverse. With each community member being trusted with a responsibility to help the product, each member also found their purpose and belonging to the brand. With the continued digitalization, we have started to see traffic on social media that can be compared to traffic we could see frommedia buying about a decade ago. Today, consumers have endless entertainment options through streaming networks like Netflix and HBO. Combined with regulations making marketing across jurisdictions more complex, traditional TV and radio channels don’t give the same value to brands as they used to. However, slot games are now one of the top streaming categories on Twitch. By building communities on Twitch, the biggest streamers like Roshtein and Trainwreckstv can generate millions of views and dollars every month with forward-thinking operators and affiliates. Many times, what works for marketing on social media in 2022 is building a community on honesty and being authentic. No one has missed ordinary everyday people going viral on TikTok, and gone are the days when influencers emerged on Instagram by making everything look perfect. Instead, in 2022, we have seen a rising trend with the app BeReal, where users have a limited time to post no-filter pictures from their regular day from both front and back cameras so nothing can be hidden or changed. In 2023, digital trends are expected to be original content that feels even more real. We need to create realistic content to connect a digital community because a brand’s trustworthiness drives sales. Essentially, for these followers to become community members, they will need to trust the brand with their money, and they won’t do that unless they feel that the brand is authentic and genuine. Users in 2022 don’t just do a simple Google search to find out which casino is the best. They read bonus forum threads on Reddit, watch player reviews on YouTube, slot streams on Twitch, discuss strategies on Discord and upload their wins to Facebook or TikTok. The more brand awareness created for your digital footprint, the better—and early adaptors to this shift in community building will gain the largest market share in new gold rush markets like the U.S. Although we at OnlineGamblers.com focus solely on legal and safe betting, research has proven that American gamblers can’t identify the differences between legal and illegal operations. Goldman Sachs reported in 2021 that the most important factor when selecting a betting operator for U.S. sportsbook players is firstly convenience, but secondly, brand awareness. This report means that bettors in the U.S. will still pick the most recognizable brands even if you don’t have the best product on the market. Without a community driving engagement and brand awareness, operators will soon begin to struggle in the future creator economy that is soon to come. What’s your plan? Catie Di Stefano is the Director of Community Marketing for OnlineGamblers.com. In the last 11 years, she has been working with brands such as Hard Rock Atlantic City, GiG and Betsson, to name a few. Thanks to earlier partnering with Hard Rock, she has a vendor license from the Division of Gaming Enforcement to operate in New Jersey as a marketing consultant. Catie also co-founded Weberfy.se, which specializes in helping the iGaming and cannabis industries with VIP management, CRM, and marketing. What differentiates a follower from a community member is the feeling of belonging. You might have thought that with the increased digitalization of our lives, we would have decreased our emotions like robots, but these emerging trends have proven to be the opposite. 19 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
the Forecast Future The fickle nature of the iGaming industry makes it vital for sports betting affiliates and operators to think forward By Taylor Howard G P W A t i m e s . o r g 20
ting Mobile appswill not be able to completely replace desktop and offline betting Every year, mobile versions are gaining more and more popularity. Their usage is growing both in terms of the number of bets and the amount of money that people are willing to wager online. However, it seems to us that betting shops will never die. 1xBet has gained this insight after working in dozens of countries around the world. For people in developing regions, it’s easier to bet offline. Plus, communication with other betting enthusiasts is essential for many, not only in Africa or Asia. Few pass up the opportunity to ask old buddies what they’re betting on — and explain how wrong they are. Communication will always remain important and there will always be many who want to receive this communication through in-person betting activity. It’s like a movie — yes, you can watch just about anything online, but people continue to go to cinemas. And against the background of all this, we must understand that the speed of mobile distribution is high, but not absolute. So, we are ready for any scenario, and 1xBet applications are equal in speed to the web version. But if the latter stays at the top for longer than mobile fans expect, then don’t be surprised. Esportswill reach the level of popularity of the top five sports We (not only 1xBet, but the betting industry as a whole) believe that esports is an up-and-coming area for investment. It attracts a lot of emotions, drama, and increased attention from the younger he world of iGaming is ever evolving, as much as any other industry. Keeping up with emerging trends, intricate rules and regulations, and continuously developing SEO tactics makes it very difficult to think about anything but the present. However, it’s crucial for any successful business – particularly an iGaming affiliate website – to look forward and plan ahead. With that said, here are four areas every affiliate webmaster and affiliate program should be paying close attention to as 2022 comes to a close and we enter a new year. Newsportswill find more andmore fans The story of what happened in 2020-21, when the world of sports actually stopped for several months due to the global pandemic, made many fans look for new interests. For example, someone in Australia created fan clubs of Belarus football clubs, not wanting to give up their favorite game. But many betting fans actually began to notice sports that they had previously overlooked. And this is not only about sports on the level of table tennis, in which some small tournaments were held throughout the “drought” of live sporting events. Kabaddi, trotting, floorball, darts and other sports once considered to be niche, now have the potential to be bet on by many more people. Major bookmakers, such as 1xBet, will adjust to this since we have a massive range of markets that is constantly growing. If such giants like Netflix have won the hearts of hundreds of millions of people with the opportunity to find a personalized choice for every taste, then why can’t betting leaders? Every year, mobile versions are gaining more and more popularity. Their usage is growing both in terms of the number of bets and the amount of money that people are willing to wager online. However, it seems to us that betting shops will never die. 21 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
generation, which doesn’t want to wait 90 minutes for something to happen - arguments that make you think. The situation with the 2020-21 pause in sports proved us right. That is why 1xBet has built a top line of partnerships with esports organizations and leagues. ESL tournaments are worth huge amounts and feature wildly popular teams like MIBR, Team Spirit and OG. We see how much attention they attract — both in terms of betting and broadcast viewership. The prize fund of The Dota 2 The International 2022, an annual esports world championship tournament established in 2011, was $8.8 million at the beginning of September, and then in a couple of weeks it exceeded the $11-million mark. For comparison, in tennis the prize pool for the 2022 U.S. Open was $60 million for the men’s and women’s tournaments combined. The gap will shrink every year, and this trend can no longer be stopped. Bookmakerswill seriously invest in unique products There are two important directions in this regard. The first is so-called virtual sports. With it, players don’t have to wait for their favorite teams to take the field in the Champions League or the NBA. Virtual teams, formulated by experts so that their strengths are close to reality, play against each other — and you can bet on the outcome of these matches. Unusual? Maybe. Promising? Absolutely. In fact, players, who like sports managers and simulators, have been interested in such products for a long time, and now you can also make money on it. Great! And the second direction is online games. This broad concept will include slots, live casino and innovative games. It is important that gambling does not have to be related to sports — anyone can play conditional blackjack or test their intuition by helping Sherlock Holmes win an online game. And a quality product geared in this direction will definitely find its fans. On the 1xBet website and apps, this is already happening. Taylor Howard is an affiliate manager at 1xBet, a leading bookmaker offering both online and offline betting services to players across the globe. 1xBet.com online sportsbook can be accessed by punters looking for a great variety of sports, in-play betting, live casino, online slots, lottery, financials, and many more. FORECASTING THE FUTURE Communication will always remain important and there will always be many who want to receive this communication through in-person betting activity. It’s like a movie — yes, you can watch just about anything online, but people continue to go to cinemas. G P W A t i m e s . o r g 22
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With Ontario iGaming still in its infancy, here is a road map to success for affiliates in this populous and potentially lucrative market By Geoffrey Smorong Unde G P W A t i m e s . o r g 24
t’s a historic time for Canada in the iGaming world, as the country’s largest province is now live with a regulated iGaming market for private operators. The Ontarian market officially launched on 4 April 2022, and the battle for the attention of users has been fierce. Growth forecasts for the market have been very positive, as Vixio projects the province to generate gross revenues of $989 million CAD by the end of this year and $1.86 billion CAD by 2026. With a steady supply of brands receiving licenses in Ontario, affiliates need to be prepared to offer their audiences relevant and helpful information. With that in mind, we break down the main concepts that affiliates need to know to take full advantage of the Ontarian market. er the 25 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
Understanding Regulation Having a strong understanding of a market’s rules and regulations is always important, but as Ontario is a newly regulated market, that importance increases. While affiliates won’t need their own license to operate in Ontario, regulated operators are only permitted to work with affiliates who promote licensed brands. If an affiliate is also promoting offshore brands, or breaks other regulations outlined by the Ontarian government, the operator will almost certainly be fined. To thrive in the new Ontarian market, it’s essential for affiliates to only promote regulated brands. Affiliates need to closely follow the rules put forward by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), as operators will very likely reconsider deals with affiliates who cause them to incur fines. For both parties to be successful, they need to work together to ensure the regulations are being followed. For example, operators must only onboard players who are aged 19 and over and located in Ontario when they wager. Affiliates should therefore clearly include information on these restrictions on their webpages and ensure their content only targets users 19 and older. Strict Rules on Player Bonuses & Inducements One of the major differences in the Ontarian market compared to the majority of U.S. markets relates to how affiliates and operators can promote iGaming to their audiences. The use of any promotional inducements, like offering bonuses or promo codes to new users, is prohibited, unless operators inform their players of such offers through direct marketing after they’ve signed up. Given this difference to similar U.S. iGaming markets, even though affiliates may be working with the same operators in the U.S., for Ontario they’ll in fact need an updated marketing strategy. Given the large role bonuses tend to play when customers choose a gaming or sports betting program, this is a significant difference. Two Verticals in One In the U.S., as newly regulated iGaming markets have gone live, they have typically only regulated one vertical at a time, such as sports betting or casino. There are currently only a handful of American states that have regulated both the sportsbook and casino verticals. In contrast, Ontario has launched with both verticals fromDay 1, allowing affiliates to create iCasino as well as sports betting content. This gives affiliates the opportunity to market both sportsbook and casino for the Ontarian market, which becomes a major advantage for an affiliate who already promotes brands in both spaces. It also provides affiliates the ability to cross-sell users two products, by showcasing how users can play both sportsbook and casino at a single brand. Aswith any freshly regulatedmarket, affiliateswho move into thisnewspace will need tomake sure they create content that’s localized for the Ontarianmarket . . . Ontario has a rich sports culture, with multiple sports teams playing across a variety of their most populous cities . . . Therefore, affiliates need to look to createunique content that’s tailored to the local scene. MAPLE LEAF UNDER THE MICROSCOPE G P W A t i m e s . o r g 26
Knowing Your Audience As with any freshly regulated market, affiliates who move into this new space will need to make sure they create content that’s localized for the Ontarian market. While some U.S. operators have extended their affiliate programs into Ontario, this doesn’t mean affiliates should just create content based on their experience in the American market. Ontario has a rich sports culture, with multiple sports teams playing across a variety of their most populous cities – from Toronto and Ottawa to Hamilton. Therefore, affiliates need to look to create unique content that’s tailored to the local scene. Although Ontario will be an important iGaming market for all major North American sports, Canada naturally has a dominant focus on hockey as the province and Canada’s most popular sport. With the launch of the market in April, a great deal of operators’ marketing spend was focused on the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs and trying to convert the many Ontarians watching the games into new depositing players. With the NHL regular season dropping the puck in October, and several new operators licensed since the 2022 Stanley Cup champions were crowned, it will be paramount for affiliates to provide Ontarian audiences with relevant information to make the correct decisions on where they’d like to bet. Key Points for Affiliates to Remember It’s important to remember that the regulated Ontarian iGaming market is still in its infancy, as it’s not even a year old. That means that the market will continue to evolve, and affiliates will need to be aware of all changes that are taking place – from regulations to marketing strategies being deployed. With new operators joining the fray, the importance of maintaining a strong relationship with operators is paramount. As mentioned, the risk of penalties for breaking the rules lies with operators, but negligent affiliates that result in a brand being fined will almost certainly be shunned by operators and fail to prosper in the market. All in all, it seems inevitable that Ontario will become a major iGaming market, and it could be soon joined by other Canadian provinces’ private operator markets. As the iGaming “maple leaf” grows, the key for affiliates is to remain aware of all the changes in order to navigate them as easily as possible. Geoffrey Smorong is a driven leader with 10 years of experience in iGaming and affiliate management. He’s been an important contributor to Income Access since 2012, when he started on the team as an Account Manager. Currently, Geoff holds the Vice President of Operations position where he focuses on overseeing the operational and commercial aspects of Income Access. This includes the continued development and innovation of the product offering, streamlining of all operational processes, and growing the company’s services through focusing on client success. It’s important to remember that the regulated Ontarian iGamingmarket is still in its infancy, as it’s not even a year old. That means that the market will continue to evolve, and affiliates will need to be aware of all changes that are taking place – from regulations to marketing strategies being deployed. 27 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
IGB LIVE! AMSTERDAM PHOTO GALLERY G P W A t i m e s . o r g GPWA Executive Director Michael Corf man and friends get into the spirit at the 9th Annual WhichBingo Awards, held at the appropriately named The Upside Down Amsterdam in July. 28
Amsterdam photo by Alexey Fedorenko/Shutterstock 29 G P W A t i m e s . o r g While the memories of those days without the luxury of face-to-face meetings or live events are still fresh in our minds, the iGaming community continued to prove that we truly value the importance of industry gatherings as iGB Live!, which took place at the RAI Amsterdam back in July, set a new attendance record. The 5,022 industry professionals that made the trek to the Netherlands represented a 7% increase from the previous best of 4,694, which was set in the pre-COVID era of 2019. This year’s attendance number also represented a 31% surge from 2021, which was the first, major, post-pandemic industry event. What’s more, 32% of those who spent four glorious days in Amsterdam were in attendance for the first time. Per tradition, we’re here to provide a pictorial review of the event, everywhere from the exhibition floor to the networking parties. Proost! Amsterdam iGB Live!
FROM THE EXHIBITION FLOOR G P W A t i m e s . o r g 30
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G P W A t i m e s . o r g 32 NETWORKING PARTIES
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CANAL BOAT TOUR G P W A t i m e s . o r g 34
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Excerpts are presented in the following pages. To view the thread in its entirety, visit gpwa.org/452. For more forum posts, industry news, and complete archives of our weekly GPWA newsletters and the GPWA Times Magazine, visit GPWA.org. FROM THE FORUMS Help SEO? Does Social Media Search engine optimization (SEO) is extremely important in the iGaming industry and we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our rankings. With social media in our everyday lives more than ever, can the two play a role for each other? That was the question asked by a GPWA member in a post on our forums. *This thread was edited for clarity and length. G P W A t i m e s . o r g 38
Illustrations by Darko 1981/Shutterstock and XXX 39 G P W A t i m e s . o r g #1 MyBid 23 June 2022, 5:12 a.m. Non-sponsor affiliate program Does social media help in SEO? What do you think about it? Social media optimization is the use of social media networks to manage and grow an organization’s message and online presence, but…. “ Reply With Quote #4 phyllisgibbs 24 July 2022, 12:55 a.m. Brand New Member Social media can be a great way to help improve your SEO. By creating relevant and engaging content, and by building up a strong social media following, you can help attract more visitors to your website, which can in turn help improve your search engine ranking. Additionally, social signals (likes, shares, etc.) from social media can also help influence your SEO. However, it’s important to keep in mind that social media is just one part of the larger puzzle when it comes to SEO - so don’t neglect other important factors such as on-page optimization, keyword research, and link building. “ Reply With Quote #5 jurgen 28 July 2022, 7:03 a.m. Brand New Member Yes, it seems to me that social networks help with promotion. But this is definitely not something that you should pay attention to at the beginning of the creation of sites. “ Reply With Quote “From my personal experience, social media helps build trust and attract some referral traffic to the website. And in this case, they help.” #2 gil.langelaan 24 June 2022, 11:41 a.m. Private Member From my personal experience, social media helps build trust and attract some referral traffic to the website. And in this case, they help. For example, it’s easier to show who is responsible for the content on the website if the author is active on Facebook, Instagram, etc. And the website will be more authoritative compared to a website with a no-name author. And secondly, you may attract more users to your website from social media and they can convert well, too. But I can’t say that they help you rank better. “ Reply With Quote #3 kod 24 June 2022, 6:16 p.m. New member Social media helps a lot for brand development and could bring traffic to the right keywords. So, yes, it’s very helpful. “ Reply With Quote
FROM THE FORUMS 40 #7 Cash Bonus 29 July 2022, 5:49 a.m. Private Member Yes, absolutely it does. I don’t see why it wouldn’t! “ Reply With Quote #6 Slotsjudge 29 July 2022, 3:50 a.m. Private Member Everything that brings attention to your content helps. “ Reply With Quote “Yes, of course, but only if a sufficient number of users follow the link in social networks. By themselves, links from social networks do not provide any benefits.” #9 xecutable 30 July 2022, 4:06 a.m. Private Member Originally Posted by Lee1 “Directly. No Indirectly. Yes. Why? Because the idea is to build a brand using social media. Brands gain more authority and trust. Google likes brands. As do users.” And if this was any other industry, I’d say, yes, you are right. On social media, I doubt anyone wants to like a post on slots, casinos and so on. You generally don’t want relatives and friends to see that. Check some of the biggest portals and their post engagement. “ Reply With Quote #8 Lee1 29 July 2022, 1:08 p.m. Public Member Directly. No. Indirectly. Yes. Why? Because the idea is to build a brand using social media. Brands gain more authority and trust. Google likes brands. As do users. “ Reply With Quote GPWAtimes.org
41 GPWAtimes.org #11 onlinebestca 14 August 2022, 3:57 a.m. Private Member Yes, of course, but only if a sufficient number of users follow the link in social networks. By themselves, links from social networks do not provide any benefits. “ Reply With Quote #12 williamgrosjeanin 16 August 2022, 7:15 a.m. Private Member I’m sure it does. In addition to the fact that there is a lot of thematic traffic in social networks, it is also additional links to your pages. If you find a specialist who will do this, you can achieve good figures. Get yourself interested subscribers who will share your content on their pages. Even the fact that it is the pages of social networks that appear in Google. “ Reply With Quote #13 oncasi_taku 10 September 2022, 10:21 p.m. New Member A social networking site is better than no social networking site. It is easier to clarify information about the site operator. I feel it has some impact on SEO. “ Reply With Quote #10 chaumi 30 July 2022, 4:50 a.m. Private Member Originally Posted by xecutable “On social media, doubt anyone wants to like posts on slots, casinos and so on. You generally don’t want relatives and friends to see that. Check some of the biggest portals and their post engagement.” I think it’s more high level than this. I don’t think it’s (fully) about likes, engagement, and interactions (my suspicion is those only really come in to play with any real impact when they’re heading towards significant numbers).… The brand recognition part is an outcome. So, what it’s about is demonstrating brand potential (or confirming/reinforcing brand status, if it’s already built) by associations. “ Reply With Quote “Social media can be a great way to help improve your SEO. By creating relevant and engaging content, and by building up a strong social media following, you can help attract more visitors to your website, which can in turn help improve your search engine ranking.” P W A t i m e s . o r g
For some, the path to one’s career isn’t clear cut, but rather by happenstance, as is the case with two of this issue’s affiliate interviewees, “Theratman” and “peter-burton.” For others, the path is just a natural progression, as is this case with “ocreditor.” Despite the roads each took to get where they are, they all have something in common. They not only enjoy what they’re doing, but they also want to help future generations with their knowledge. In the following pages, you’ll read about their similar beliefs on SEO strategies, their experiences and adventures in the industry as well as quite a few unique and personal differences between the three. GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES Tell us about your background and how you managed to become an iGaming affiliate webmaster. I studied IT engineering and marketing, and started betting when I was working as a junior manager in retail, sneaking off to the storeroom to make my soccer pool picks. From there, I did a career switch after a work injury and thought I’d try to get into the betting industry. I started as a call center agent for one of the big brands (there were six of us and one telephone!) and from there I moved into sports betting content marketing for a few years with the same brand. We’d all heard the affiliate stories and that’s where I started seeing the insane amounts of money the affiliates were making (these were different times). Eventually, I ended up on the dev team and we were servicing quite a few affiliate sites, and I was doing functional QA work. The work was somewhat dull and taxing, and that’s when I thought I’d run a QA process on some of the betting sites I personally used, and ended up with a few reviews, which I published on a blog. It grew from there and after that, I was given the opportunity to go full time, and then go into affiliate marketing with the site, that was around six to seven years ago. So, did it eventually turn into a full-time gig for you? It’s been full time for the last few years, and has been a work-from-home position, so not much Robert Koning - Theratman the Box Outside Sports bettor-turned-affiliate “Theratman” isn’t stressing the details as he and his team forma unique mixof skills Intro image by Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock G P W A t i m e s . o r g 42
still to hit maturity, and the last few years have seen the introduction of legal casino games and slots, which has been a huge pivot for many of the operators. It can be frustrating at times as each province has different regulations, while some are not too strict, which makes new offers such a pain to get approved. Instead of a niche-based strategy, your site has content for sports betting, casino games and slots. Why did you decide to work in multiple verticals rather than a single vertical? We did a big pivot in our focus when COVID hit. The local operators did too, and they started getting more and more casino and slots games approved. There’s a huge appetite for casino games in SA, and the shift to a more balanced content offering has been great. We also launched bettingguide.co.za, which is going to be more focused on general betting content. Another benefit is that many different operators have exclusive games, so players need multiple accounts, which is what you want as an affiliate. Do you see a lot of crossover between casino games/slot players and sports bettors? Yes and no. The sports players generally don’t trust the casino games, in my experience, and don’t spend too much on them. However, casino players we find are happy to cross over and play horses and soccer. It’s already hard enough to convert a SA player to an online sports account, so getting them to play casino too is a tough problem. You and your “sidekick” Simon host a Best Sports Betting podcast that can also be seen on YouTube where your BSBZA page has a strong following of more than 21,000 subscribers. How did you build up such a strong following? Thanks! Yes, the channel has been a big focus. Initially, it started as a traffic-driving tool, but then it started to grow a following due to some of the slots and casino videos I did. Next thing I know, I’ve done over 20 two-hour live streams, and have an amazing community there. I think some of my biggest videos have close to 200k views, which I never imagined possible. changed when COVID struck. We are a small operation, a few full-time employees and a handful of good freelancers. Finding quality people is very difficult, as it needs a unique mix of skills. What is the South African market like for iGaming? How has it changed – if at all – in recent years? South Africa is a very interesting market, the interest is huge, but the player spend is very low. It’s South Africa is a very interesting market, the interest is huge, but the player spend is very low . . . It can be frustrating at times as each province has different regulations, while some are not too strict, which makes newoffers such a pain to get approved. 43 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
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