iGB Affiliate 34 (August/September)

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

INFORMATION, INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS FOR THE BUSINESS OF INTERACTIVE GAMING

AU

GU

ST/S

EP

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MB

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2012

Mobile and Social GaMinG

01_Cover.indd 1-2 10/08/2012 15:15

3iGB Affi liate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

With social media and social gambling (which we defi ne as casino-style social games) being the hottest topics of the year, we decided to put together this very special issue focusing on all things social. But we didn’t stop there. We have already held our fi rst social ‘Meetup’ in London, with another one planned in September. The two Meetups are then followed by a full day Social Gambling Conference in London this November. If you follow the space, are in the space, or want to get into the space, then I suggest you get to London this November. See you there!

Michael Caselli, Editor in Chief

FREE SUBSCRIPTION email: [email protected]

Printed in the UK by: Pensord Press, www.pensord.co.uk

Published by: iGaming Business,

33-41 Dallington Street, London EC1V 0BB

T: +44 (0)20 7954 3515 F: +44 (0)20 7954 3511

www.igamingbusiness.com

© iGaming Business 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this

publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or

by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature

without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing

under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application

for permission for use of copyright material including permission

to reproduce extracts in other published works shall be made to

the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and

source must be given. iGaming Business Affi liate Magazine is

published by iGaming Business Limited of 33-41 Dallington Street,

London, EC1V 0BB, UK. The views expressed by contributors and

correspondents are their own. Editorial opinions expressed in this

magazine are not necessarily those of the Publisher.

The Publisher does not accept responsibility for advertising

content. Cover image: istockphoto.com

Editor in Chief: Michael Caselli

[email protected]

Editor: James McKeown

[email protected]

Publisher: Alex Pratt

[email protected]

Designer: Stewart Henson

Production Coordinator: Laura Head

[email protected]

Production Assistant: Carianne Whitworth

[email protected]

Sales Manager:

Richard Wanigasekera

[email protected]

Senior Sales Executive: Ed Grundy

[email protected]

CONTENTS

http://tinyurl.com/igbaffi liate

@igbaffi liate

3

04 Affi liate Events Calendar

06 Webmaster News

12 Social Media: The Good, the Bad and the Profi table

14 Backlink Profi ling: Your Competitor’s Performance

17 Coping with Google’s Mind Games

20 The Idiot’s Guide to Social Mentions

22 Affi liates Beware: Google is Watching You

24 Interview: Aaron Yarm, UK Account Manager, William Hill

26 The Psychology of Social Gaming

28 Offl ine Marketing Creativity to Achieve Online Results

29 Feature: Mobile and Social Gaming

30 Feature: Overview by Aideen Shortt

32 Feature: The Social Medium

34 Feature: Lou Castle, Chief Strategy Offi cer, Shuffl e Master

36 Feature: The Importance of Social Media for Affi liates

38 Feature: Nicole Opas, Executive Producer, Zynga

41 Mobile SEO 101

42 Mobile SEO: The Clever Affi liate’s Guide

44 The Key to Social and Mobile Application Marketing

46 Five Top Tips for Affi liates in the Mobile Space

48 An Effective Multi-Media Social Approach

50 Are you from the Past?

51 Casino Supplement

60 Inside Google+

62 Virgin Games CEO, Simon Burridge on Social Gambling

67 Spanish Market Focus: BAC and iGB Espana Preview

70 Market Place

72 Paid Vs Organic Search for Mobile

74 Affi liate-Marketing-Ville

03_Contents.indd 3 10/08/2012 18:46

v

4

affiliate events calendar

iGB Affiliate august/september 2012

Due to their popularity and wealth of information, analysis and discussion, conferences have become an integral part of the affiliate industry and a key communications bridge between affiliates and affiliate managers. Whether used for networking, education or just an excuse to meet up with friends, the affiliate conferences listed below provide all the tools you need to improve your business.

The iGaminG ConGress aT G2e Las VeGas oCTober 3 – 6

The Internet has been a game changer for the gaming industry. This conference will address the potential impact of Internet gambling legalisation in the US, and advise the gaming market on how to react to the changing face of the industry and take advantage of new opportunities. This information packed programme will appeal to existing offshore Internet gambling operators, as well as commercial casinos, Native American casinos, manufacturers and more.

www.globalgamingexpo.com

mobiLe and TabLeT GambLinG summiT London noVember 21 – 22

Hear insight from the likes of Probability, Betfair, Paddy Power, Google, Aurasma and many more. The event will cover areas such as: Effectively marketing mobile products; Evaluating the latest advances in mobile; Smart TV; and creating an innovative mobile offering that works on both apps and HTML5.

www.bulletbusiness.com

GLobaL soCiaL GambLinG ConferenCe London noVember 16

The social gaming market is increasingly being dominated by gambling-style games. With Zynga and other social games publishers earning huge profits on the sale of virtual chips in social gambling environments, this has become the segment to watch in social gaming. Attend this conference if you are in the social games space, in the iGaming space, or if you are an investor that wants to stay on the cutting edge of where social gaming/gambling is heading.

www.socialgamblingconference.com

russian affiLiaTe ConferenCe & expo mosCow noVember 7 – 8

This event is designed to educate domestic and foreign vendors and affiliates on how to successfully work in the field of affiliate marketing, as well as those who are planning to master this area, the owners of products, brands, portals and services, Internet marketing leaders, heads of Internet projects, SEM/SEO professionals, webmasters, affiliate programs, vendor sites, marketing and advertising agencies.

www.raceexpo.ru

barCeLona affiLiaTe ConferenCe & iGb espana barCeLona oCTober 11 – 14

After a triumphant return to the Catalan capital in 2011, the iGB Affiliate events circuit will once again be visiting Barcelona for its 2012 autumn affiliate conference, the original home for this leading European affiliate event for the online gambling industry. This year’s event will also incorporate iGB Espana with a separate zone and conference session specifically for the Hispanic market.

www.igbaffiliate.com

04_Calendar.indd 4 10/08/2012 15:17

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webmaster news

6 iGB Affiliate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Ladbrokes reports digitaL decLine

Uk sportsbetting operator Ladbrokes

has released its interim financial results

for the first six months of 2012 showing an

almost 50 percent year-on-year decline in

operating profits from its digital division.

The company recently announced the

departure of Richard Ames, the man

responsible for handling its trading and

information technology duties, amid

reports of a ‘botched digital strategy’ and

reported first-half digital operating profits

of £15 million, which is well down on the

£29.7 million it made over the same

period in 2011.

An analyst note from Investec, titled

‘Sad Delay’, cited the forecasted delay in

upgrades to Ladbrokes’ online sportsbook

and mobile platforms as reasons to be

fearful for the company’s ability to claw

back market share from its competitors.

“As we had feared, the new online

sportsbook platform will not be ready in

time for the start of the football season

and is stated to be coming in Q4. Sadly,

the new and critically important mobile

platform will only follow this, so we could

be seeing the updated mobile platform

launch only from H1 2013. This gives

material scope for its competitors to

continue to enhance their market share

gains over Ladbrokes, making catch-up

harder to achieve for Ladbrokes into 2013.”

However, CEO Richard Glynn was

optimistic for the group’s performance,

suggesting that growth in the UK retail

business offset disappointing online

results. “At a group level Ladbrokes

has performed strongly,” he said. “We

have grown revenues by 8.4 percent and

operating profit by eleven percent with

strong cash generation continuing and a

further strengthening of our balance sheet.

Strong growth in operating profit in UK

retail and an improved performance in our

European retail and telephone businesses

was pleasing and more than outweighed

a decline in digital profits, which was

greater than expected due largely to a weak

sportsbook margin in the second quarter

and exacerbated by delays in technology.

“Looking forward we expect to see

further growth in UK retail and plan

to accelerate our programme of shop

openings. We remain committed to

our digital strategy of building a more

competitive offer through a combination

of ongoing investments to enhance our

marketing, product and technology.

“The delivery of several key technology

developments is our focus in the second

half. During the fourth quarter we will

deliver our new sportsbook and begin

the subsequent migration of all active

customers. Our new mobile platform,

which is reliant on the same technology,

will then follow. The active data

warehouse, now in use to underpin our

new trading fieldbook, will be deployed

further in the fourth quarter providing

enhanced customer analytics to our

marketing teams. This then facilitates the

subsequent development of our customer

relationship management capabilities.

During the second half we will also extend

the use of recent enhancements in our

trading systems to cover further core

sporting products.

“We remain confident that a

combination of these developments

together with continued improvements

to customer relationship management

throughout 2013 will allow us to grow our

digital business significantly.

“While we are mindful of the challenging

economic backdrop we are comfortable

that performance is in-line with the

board’s expectations for the full year.”

pokerstars acqUires FULL tiLt poker

the Long-rUnning Full Tilt Poker saga

is finally at an end after the beleaguered

online poker operator finalised a three-way

deal that will see all of its assets transferred

to rival PokerStars and players given access

to their frozen funds.

The agreement with the United States

Department of Justice and PokerStars will

give Full Tilt Poker’s players the opportunity

to request compensation while customers in

all other jurisdictions are to be given access

to their account via the new owner for

immediate cash withdrawal or play.

“We are delighted we have been able to

put this matter behind us and also secured

our ability to operate in the United States

of America whenever the regulations

allow,” said Mark Scheinberg, Chairman

for PokerStars.

“This outcome demonstrates our

continuing global leadership of the online

poker industry and our commitment to

working with governments and regulators

to ensure the highest standards of

protection for players.

“Acquiring certain assets of Full Tilt Poker

strengthens PokerStars, brings welcome

relief to Full Tilt Poker players who have

been waiting over twelve months for

repayment of their money and benefits the

entire poker community. Full Tilt Poker’s

customers outside the United States

can soon look forward to accessing their

accounts and playing on the re-launched

site, confident that they are supported by

PokerStars’ history of integrity and our

track record of delivering high-quality and

secure online poker.”

The deal finalised with Preet Bharara,

the United States Attorney for the Southern

District of New York, will see PokerStars

pay $547 million over the next three years

to take control of Full Tilt Poker with

a portion of these funds earmarked to

reimburse former customers in the United

States through a remission process set to be

administered by the Department of Justice.

“PokerStars will also make available in

a segregated bank account all outstanding

balances owing to all non-US customers

of Full Tilt Poker, an amount totalling

$184 million, with no restrictions on

withdrawals within 90 days of completing

this transaction,” read a statement from

PokerStars. “PokerStars has remained open

for non-US players with all its licenses in

good standing without interruptions.”

PokerStars stated that it plans to re-

launch Full Tilt Poker in most markets

as a separate Isle of Man-licensed

brand following the appointment of an

independent management team due to

be based in Dublin.

“We are pleased to announce these

settlements by Full Tilt Poker and

PokerStars, which allow us to quickly get

significant compensation into the victim

players’ hands,” said Bharara.

“Today’s settlements demonstrate that

if you engage in conduct that violates the

laws of the United States, as we alleged

in this case, then even if you are doing so

from across the ocean, you will have to

answer for that conduct and turn over your

ill-gotten gains.”

06-09_NEWS.indd 6 10/08/2012 15:21

webmaster news

7iGB Affiliate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Facebook LaUnches reaL Money gaMing appFacebook has entered the world

of online gambling in August, after the

first real-money bingo and slots app was

launched on the site. The Jackpotjoy

Bingo and Slots Friendzy app, created by

Gamesys, is open to players in the UK

over the age of 18.

“People love playing new types of

games with their friends on Facebook and

real money gaming is a popular leisure

activity in the UK,” said Julien Codorniou,

Head of EMEA Gaming Partnerships at

Facebook. “We’re delighted to be working

with Gamesys to enable them to offer their

games on Facebook so that people can enjoy

playing more games with their friends.”

The Friendzy app comprises of a series

of 90 ball bingo and slots games which

will offer UK-based Facebook players the

chance to play with and win real money.

“As the UK’s leading online Instant

Win and Bingo operator we are committed

to extending our products to a wider adult

audience so we’ve reinvented our exclusive

Bingo and Slots games to appeal to the

UK Facebook community,” said Jackpotjoy

Managing Director Michael Saunders,

“This marks an exciting turning point

for the industry and a milestone for the

Gamesys business.”

WiLLiaM hiLL pens pLaza deaL Less than a month after receiving an online gaming licence from the Nevada Gaming Commission, William Hill has signed a deal to provide the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with mobile sportsbetting and a self-service betting kiosk.

After receiving its licence, William Hill completed its previously announced acquisitions of American Wagering Incorporated, Brandywine Bookmaking, which has operated the Lucky’s Race and Sports Book at the Plaza Hotel and Casino since 2008, and the racing and sportsbook assets of Sierra Development Company for a total of approximately $53 million.

“We have had a long partnership with Lucky’s Race and Sports Book at the Plaza Hotel and Casino,” said Tony Santo, President of Play LV, operator of the Plaza Hotel and Casino.

“Our customers have come to expect a high level of customer service and the commitment of William Hill to cutting-edge technology will only improve our customers' experiences.”

igt signs caLiFornia deaL For doUbLe doWn International Game Technology (IGT) has signed a deal that will see the Golden Acorn Casino and Travel Center in California host an online casino application from its Double Down Interactive subsidiary.

Las Vegas-based IGT purchased the casual games developer in January and revealed that the Golden Acorn Casino is set to utilise its technology in order to offer casino players free-play gaming experiences.

“Golden Acorn recognises the opportunity to provide gaming entertainment to its players across various channels,” said Eric Tom, Global Sales Executive Vice-President for IGT.

“This solution is allowing it to grasp an opportunity to evolve as the landscape of gaming also changes permitting it to drive engaging game play directly to its casino guests and fans of the Golden Acorn Casino and Travel Center brand.”

georgia Lottery approves onLine systeM Lottery cUstoMers in the southern

American state of Georgia will soon be able

to purchase tickets with the click of a mouse

after officials from the Georgia Lottery

Corporation approved an online system.

According to a report from the

Associated Press news service, online sales

are expected to commence in the autumn

and could see the Georgia Lottery increase

revenues by millions, which would help the

state’s lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship

and pre-kindergarten programmes.

The new Republican governor for

Georgia, Nathan Deal, had earlier opposed

expanded gambling in Georgia but told

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

newspaper that he was ‘fine’ with online

lottery ticket sales.

Online sales are to be initially limited to

Powerball, Mega Millions and Fantasy 5

with the state also set to institute controls

designed to ensure that customers are at

least 18 years of age and in Georgia.

“Lotteries are one of the last industries

not to offer our products digitally,” said

Margaret DeFrancisco, President for the

Georgia Lottery Corporation told local

television station WSB-TV. “We’re hoping

to begin to draw some of the people who

are cashless, many of whom are young. We

expect there to be slow and steady growth.”

Georgia follows states such as Illinois and

Delaware in approving systems to expand

their lotteries to the Internet with the latter

being the first US state to incorporate full

service intra-state online gaming.

bLack Friday FigUre JaiLed ira rUbin, one of the eleven men

charged as part of last year’s ‘Black Friday’

indictments, has been sentenced to a three-

year prison sentence and ordered to forfeit

five million dollars in earnings.

Accused in April of 2011 of helping to

illegally process payments for online poker

sites AbsolutePoker.com, PokerStars.com

and FullTiltPoker.com, Rubin pleaded guilty

in January to three conspiracy charges after

being detained by authorities in Guatemala

where he had fled to avoid arrest.

The government and Rubin’s own

defence attorney had recommended a

sentence of 18 to 24 months, as specified

by the advisory federal guidelines, but US

District Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that such

a term in prison would not have served as

a deterrent to future crime.

“You are an unreformed conman and

fraudster,” Kaplan reportedly told Rubin

in a Manhattan courtroom. “A significant

sentence is necessary to protect the

community.”

Kaplan declared that Rubin’s actions had

been in ‘brazen’ defiance of US law while

explaining that he expected the defendant

would receive credit for the time he had

already spent in jail and could be released

after 31 months with good behaviour.

Once released, Rubin is to be forbidden

from participating in any business

occupation related to payment processing

or financial services.

06-09_NEWS.indd 7 10/08/2012 15:21

webmaster news


everyMatrix receives aLderney Licence Software supplier EveryMatrix Limited has announced that its OddsMatrix sportsbook has been awarded with a Foreign Gambling Associate Certificate by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

EveryMatrix stated that this represents ‘one of the first licences’ to be issued under the jurisdiction’s recently tightened guidelines for its Category One licensees and “validates that the infrastructure, processes and procedures” of OddsMatrix as well as its GamMatrix gaming management platform meet the rules, regulations and practices of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

EveryMatrix declared that holding a licence from Alderney is “highly profitable for gaming operators” as they can select to have their sponsored products and services placed under the supervision of the respected European jurisdiction.

“We are delighted to have met the strict criteria set out by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and this is unquestionably a significant achievement for EveryMatrix,” said Ebbe Groes, Chief Executive Officer for EveryMatrix.

“The license demonstrates that our award-winning products and services are adaptable and fit for purpose within regulated markets on an international scale.”

coMMittee caLLs For Modernisation oFUk gaMbLing LaWs the cross-party Culture, Media

and Sport Select Committee has

published its report into the current state

of domestic gambling legislation and

has called on the government to further

deregulate the activity in recognition of

its global nature.

According to a report from the BBC,

the Committee’s report found that

current regulations are ‘outdated’ and

‘ill-equipped’ to deal with social and

technological changes and recommended

that online gambling taxes be set at

a ‘correct level’ in order to encourage

offshore firms to return to the UK.

Other suggestions made by the

Committee include permitting land-based

casinos to relocate more easily as long as

they have backing from the local council

while betting shops should be allowed

more than the current four high-stakes

slot machines in order to reduce the

clustering of shops. These units feature

cash prizes of up to £500 and the report

suggested that up to 20 of these could

be permitted in casinos with strict access

rules. The Committee stated that the

2005 Gambling Act, which sought to

liberalise the industry and came into

force in 2007, had resulted in ‘numerous

inconsistencies’ and it called for specific

research to be conducted into the risks of

problem gambling among children.

John Whittingdale, who has been a

Conservative MP since 1992 and serves

as Chairman for the Committee, declared

that his colleagues supported further

liberalisation where appropriate along

with more decisions being taken at a

local level rather than by central

government or regulators.

“While we recognise the need

to be aware of the harm caused by

problem gambling, we believe there

is considerable scope to reduce

and simplify the current burden of

regulation,” said Whittingdale.

“The ‘reluctantly permissive’ tone

of gambling legislation over the last

50 years now looks outdated. It is also

inadequate to cope with the realities of

the global market in online gambling and

even seems ill-equipped to cope with the

realities on our High Streets.”

cantor gaMing signs caLiForniaonLine poker deaL cantor gaMing, an affiliate of global

financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald

and a provider of mobile and in-play

betting and gaming technology solutions,

has entered into an exclusive provisional

agreement with Californian non-profit

horseracing group Horse Racing United.

Cantor Gaming runs sportsbooks

for seven Nevada venues and stated

that the deal will see it provide Horse

Racing United with the technology and

supporting infrastructure required for

a “world-class intrastate Internet poker

platform”, subject to pending state

legislature approval.

The agreement is also subject to Horse

Racing United being selected by the state

as one of a limited number of licensees

permitted to operate an intra-state

Internet gambling website.

“In concert with its affiliates, Cantor

Gaming has more than 800 professionals

in California serving gaming, financial,

real estate and other industries,” said Lee

Amaitis, President and Chief Executive

Officer for Cantor Gaming.

“As a leading innovator in mobile casino

gaming and race and sports wagering,

Cantor Gaming is excited about the

potential opportunity to support the

state’s effort to generate significant

new sources of revenue during these

challenging budget times."

Horse Racing United represents

the interests of a majority of California

thoroughbred racing and breeding

organisations including Santa Anita Park,

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Golden

Gate Fields, Oak Tree Racing Association,

Thoroughbred Owners of California,

California Thoroughbred Breeders

Association and the California Authority

of Racing Fairs.

“In order to provide new revenue for the

state, protect California jobs and make sure

California is economically competitive,

Horse Racing United is committed to

working with the state of California to

seek a legal Internet poker solution that

works for all parties,” said Josh Rubinstein,

Development Senior Vice-President for Del

Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Ladbrokes bUiLds La Liga presence Less than a month after agreeing to serve as an official sponsor of top-flight Spanish football club Espanyol through its Spain-facing LBapuestas brand, Ladbrokes has signed a similar deal with Valencia CF.

Although no official details of the agreement have been released, it’s believed that Ladbrokes will serve as the ‘official betting partner’ for the 93-year-old club throughout the 2012/13 season.

February saw Ladbrokes extend its sponsorship of the St Leger horserace by a further three years to take its backing for the oldest of the UK’s five Classic races to a full decade and this latest deal is an attempt to grow its presence in the newly regulated Spanish online sportsbetting market.

One of the most successful top-flight Spanish football teams, Valencia has won La Liga on six occasions, most recently in 2004, although it finished last season’s campaign in third spot a full 39 points behind champions Real Madrid.

06-09_NEWS.indd 8 10/08/2012 15:21

webmaster news

9iGB Affiliate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Uk onLine bingo activity sLoWs

onLine bingo wagering and player

activity during the second quarter of

2012 has dropped in comparison with

Q1 according to a new report from www.

Bingoport.co.uk.

The independent authority’s exclusive

Bingo Trends data revealed a decrease

of 6.1 percent in online bingo wagering

from January to March, with an estimated

£255,626,262 wagered on bingo tickets in

the UK from April 1 to June 30, 2012.

This is the first quarter that Bingoport,

which started data tracking in June 2011,

has recorded a decline in bingo wagering

and in player activity levels.

“Obviously the April to June quarter has

historically been impacted by the warmer

weather and summer holiday season, but

in previous years, ongoing growth of the

industry has countered any reduction in

activity during this period,” said Bingoport.

co.uk Managing Director, Scott Logan, “It

seems clear that the industry is no longer

growing at such a rate.”

sociaL gaMbLing conFerence set FornoveMber igaMing bUsiness has confirmed

that the first Global Social Gambling

Conference will take place in London this

November after the success of July’s Social

Gambling MeetUp.

Over 100 gambling operators, game

developers, investors, games producers

and casino technology companies were on

hand at London’s Verve Bar on July 17 for

the social networking event organised by

iGaming Business.

“The MeetUp was set up to gauge the

level of interest in the market and to allow

people from all facets of social gambling,

who may not be involved in the gambling

sphere yet, to network and do business,” said

Alex Pratt, Head of iGaming Business.

“We felt that the interest in this MeetUp

went beyond networking, with people

needing information and education on

the subject. Our two speakers gave a quick

overview, and attendees gave us such

positive feedback, a full day conference felt

like the next logical step.”

The two speakers in question were the

Managing Director of Enteraction, Andy

Rogers, who spoke about the opportunities

in the market and the CEO of Plumbee.

com, Raf Keustermans, who elaborated

on how a social casino games company

can secure funding.

“The social space is exciting and we

are throwing ourselves behind it,” added

Michael Caselli, Editor in Chief at iGaming

Business. “As the only dedicated conference

in the space, we want to educate and connect

everyone, including our competitors, to the

emerging world of social gambling.”

scientiFic gaMes acqUires parspro Us Lottery specialist Scientific

Games has acquired Icelandic online

sportsbetting systems provider Parspro

for an undisclosed sum. The deal will see

Scientific Games obtain all of the elements

necessary to operate an online betting

site, including software, secure hosting,

traditional sports wagering and live betting

propositions as well as a full range of

support and ancillary services.

The Parspro assets will also enable

Scientific Games to offer a full-service

Internet platform, integrating casino, poker

and other gaming content from multiple

third-party providers.

“Given the rapidly liberalizing regulatory

landscape, we believe sports wagering is

a significant opportunity for regulated

operators in Europe and other jurisdictions

over the next few years,” said Bill Huntley,

President, Lottery Systems for Scientific

Games. “Parspro’s experienced development

team, who will be joining Scientific Games,

and its comprehensive risk management

tools and strong track record will be key

advantages for Scientific Games’ existing

customers as well as potential new lottery

and commercial customers.”

Sigurdur Baldursson, Founder and Chief

Executive of Parspro added, “Teaming up

with Scientific Games, a global leader in

the lottery and gaming industry, is a win-

win for our company and our customers.

Scientific Games has integrated our

sportsbetting interactive system with their

venue-based lottery system, which supports

nearly 4,000 retail points of sale in Norway

for Norsk Tipping. This combination of

product offerings should be attractive to

lotteries and licensed private sports book

operators around the world as they seek

additional sources of revenue.”

pokerstars sUnday MiLLion seat on oFFer at bac IGB Affiliate has partnered with PokerStars to offer attendees at this year’s Barcelona Affiliate Conference entry into a special poker tournament with the winner set to walk away with a seat in the PokerStars Sunday Million.

“We’ve run this freeroll for the last two events and its popularity has increased each and every time.” said Alex Pratt, head of iGaming Business and iGB Affiliate. “We always try and bring increased value to our delegates, and whilst this might not be a traditional way of bringing ROI, it’s a nice added bonus to give to affiliates who attend our events.”

BAC 2012 will be held at the Fira de Barcelona from October 11 to 14 bringing together over 1,600 affiliates, affiliate programs and industry suppliers. This year, BAC is incorporating iGB Espana, bringing two events under one roof. Entry remains free for affiliates.

intraLot Moves into Mexico Intralot SA, the Athens-based developer and supplier of gaming and transaction processing systems, has entered the Mexican market after agreeing to supply products to the nation’s Loteria Nacional via electronic lottery systems and services provider Sorteo Games Incorporated.

Intralot stated that it had already established a ‘strong presence in Latin America and the Caribbean’ while its keno game is scheduled to be the first gaming product deployed in Mexico. “As a fast developing market, Mexico was a natural target for Intralot,” said Nikos Nikolakopoulos, Latin America Managing Director for Intralot.

The New iGB Affiliate website is now online, visit www.iGBAffiliate.com

06-09_NEWS.indd 9 10/08/2012 15:21

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TRAFFIC

12

Frank Watson, CEO of Kangamurra Media, examines the best ways to utilise the key social networks to ensure that you aren’t leaving money out on the table.

We are by nature social beings. Even

before the world wide web was introduced

by Sir Tim Berners-Lee 20 years ago, the

Internet was a social platform. We had IRC

to chat, email and news groups to share

opinions and information in general.

As Jay Neuman1 noted, “a new

marketing terrain was created at the end

of the Twentieth Century. A generation of

pioneering entrepreneurs set out on a great

adventure. They invented new technologies

and carved out new business models from

an uncharted virtual frontier. Many did not

understand the terrain they would have to

pass through. Hundreds of failed Dot-Com

start-ups would litter the landscape of the,

so called, ‘New Economy’. Those who did

succeed figured out what the new terrain

looks like. As time went by, they adjusted

their business plans to meet the realities

of that terrain. In the process, they forever

changed the way marketing is practiced.”

With the advent of the web, our social

animal was truly set free and affiliate

marketing emerged as a serious business.

The gaming and adult industries were the

early leaders in developing programs and

many people made a lot of money pandering

to our baser desires – hey, if you have been

actively making a living from the web for

more than 15 years, you played in the space.

Forums were the early learning centres

as we all waited for connection speeds to

increase. There were hundreds of them

covering all aspects of then current online

marketing methods. A few have survived and

others have come and gone, replaced by the

‘New Social Media’, but to totally disregard

them would be foolish. They can be great

resources for sparking new creativity.

But enough about the past, after all, you

are reading this in the hope of learning

what works today. No longer are we waiting

for faster computers and modems, people

now want the latest app, the cool sites and

tools for enriching their lives in whatever

form our creativity can provide.

Online consumers are fickle; they

will drop social media in an instant if

something new or more engaging comes

along. MySpace is one of the bigger ones

that have been left behind, the rest are too

numerous to name. What that tells us is not

to invest all your efforts in just one or two

social platforms. Like Google’s algorithm

changes, the possibility of a shift is ever

present and can leave you scurrying to

make up the drop in profits.

So what are the hot properties right

now? Facebook, Twitter, Google+,

LinkedIn and newcomer Pinterest top the

list, with Instagram quickly catching up.

YouTube, though the second largest

search engine, does not make my cut,

nor do sites like Flicker. The social

bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon,

Digg and others can be used effectively but

really are only second tier – so unless you

have a team or are using good tools, they

should be treated as such.

FacebookWhich of these offers the most headaches?

The biggest, of course. Facebook has been

good, but now holds the title of ‘The Bad’.

If you are aware of this, you can work

cautiously and do well.

Why am I so down on Facebook? ‘Likes’

are a very dicey measurement; numerous

reports, as well as admissions by Facebook

itself, show it includes a lot of fake

accounts clicking the upturned thumb. So

if you were planning on using Facebook

advertising for building followers you need

to be aware of these pitfalls. Facebook has

been made aware of this and is not issuing

refunds like PPC engines do when shown

evidence of fraud.

Building real ‘friends’ takes time and

interaction, but if you do it that way you can

build a good pool of potential conversions.

Once you have them, there are a number of

ways to work them.

After you build your Facebook account

and Fan or Business pages, you need to use

the social crossover ability to successfully

promote your products. Whether you are

using Facebook as your gateway to your

affiliate programs or have standalone sites,

you need content to convert them to profits.

Here are a few ways to use Facebook that

should be in your repertoire.

1. All pages of your website should have

‘Like’ buttons – people can click on them

without being your friend and, in doing so,

are touting your stuff to all their friends.

2. If you are using Pinterest (and you

should) install the Pin It plug-in for your

browser – whenever you add something

to Pinterest you can then post it to your

Facebook account. Apart from your own

pages getting more traffic, your other pins

should be to sites you have affiliate programs

with and the URL should include the code.

3. Find new followers inside the

walled community. One good thing about

Facebook is that it has free versions of many

gaming products. So, if you are promoting

poker, start playing and be social, chat with

players and then send friend requests. May

as well build the right demographic.

4. Use an analytics product that

specialises in social media with strong

Facebook features. I like PageLever but

there are others and Facebook itself has

Insights which is good to learn on.

5. Organise contests: give away your

initial commission to the winner to entice

them over. I know of a female poker player

who uses her good looks to build followers

and holds private poker games where her

‘friends’ can play in closed tournaments.

6. Pin posts in your timeline to get more

views of your main call-to-action.

7. Posting on your Facebook Page

between 8pm and 7am receives 20 percent

more user engagement.

Social Media: The Good, The Bad, The ProfiTaBle

1<a href=”http://thecompleteinternetmarketer.com/about_the_book.html”>The Complete Internet Marketer</a>,

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8. Use: <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/

about/subscribe”>the Subscribe button</a>

on your Facebook page and also:

<ahref=”https://developers.facebook.com/

docs/reference/plugins/subscribe/”> on your

website. Then post all your articles from

your website on Facebook – its closed walls

do not allow Google to crawl so none of the

content will be seen as duplicate.

Twitter Twitter can be a very good platform for

getting visitors to your website and even

straight to your affiliate vendors. The

popularity of this microblogging platform

has spawned conferences, numerous

tools and made a lot of people a solid

source of income. Like most social media,

other people were making money long

before Twitter did.

Twitter is a cross between a soapbox

and a global bar and the people who are

using it profitably know how to walk the

line between the two. There are tools that

can build your followers, but remember for

success that this is not a vanity play, as with

all social media the numbers you want are

sales and conversions.

I am not recommending against using

tools – Twitter is a fast-paced platform so

any help you can get is good. There is no

specific method as you need to develop a

style you find works for your approach but

like all marketing, success is measured

by conversion. However, I do have a few

suggestions that may help focus your time.

1. Do not lump everyone together. Just

like setting up email lists and qualifying

them through responses to your email

cycles, Twitter followers should be grouped

– be it by words used in their tweets, who

they have in their following lists, and where

they are based. Separate by language, by

type of gaming interests and location (this

helps where the laws differ).

2. While tools can help you build lists,

there are ready made lists you can access

to get the exact people you are looking

for. Where? Try all of the accounts of the

celebrities of the space. If you have not

followed all of the people who follow Phil

Hellmuth you are missing a big opportunity.

LinkedInLinkedIn is the most business-oriented social

platform and is great for B2B marketing, but

it is also a great resource to reach the right

age demographic, as well as a group with the

discretionary income to spend on gaming.

While many of the tips for using LinkedIn

do not pertain to what the gaming affiliate

needs there are a few to consider.

1. Create groups: gaming discussions can

be popular and can be grown by reaching

out to your contacts and have them pull

in their contacts. Don’t use this as a pure

push for your products – make them want

to engage, come back to learn and have fun.

Use the social proponents.

2. Given you are not looking for people

within the industry (unless you are looking

for other affiliates) this platform allows a

broader approach. Go to other groups and

look for people who engage as they will add

to the discussions and build user generated

content, as well as share with others.

3. Most people use LinkedIn in a

location-specific manner and while most

of you are now thinking ‘but we don’t

have to’, you are missing the possibilities.

We have the opportunity here to tailor

groups to specific countries where different

games and different offers can really

improve conversion.

4. Use creative text for your website

links. ‘Secrets to winning poker’ or ‘Even

you can beat Phil Hellmuth’, for example.

Google+Google+ may be the newcomer to the party

but success here has other benefits. The

more pluses your content gets can help lift

your pages in the organic results.

Google+ offers a number of different

areas that can be used effectively to lure

followers to circle you.

1. Flesh out your ‘About’ page: this is, in

most cases, the first contact point. People

look at your profile before deciding to add

you to a circle. Create an introduction that

will garner you followers.

2. Upload pictures: a trick I learnt

recently is to make photos 720 x 720 pixels

that contain tips or coupons. It will draw

people in and can make people aware of

what you are offering.

3. As with Twitter and the other

social media I always look at other

people’s followers.

4. “You need some stinking badges”:

Google+ has them to add to your

websites and people have a tendency to

click on them. You need to go to the <a

href=”http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/

platform-preview/”>Platform Preview page</

a> and sign up, after that you can <a

href=”https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/

badge/”>customize the Badge look</a>.

5. Offer educational Hangouts: have a

time when people can come and learn

something or discuss industry news.

The more you provide, the stronger your

presence will become.

Pinterest Pinterest is getting hot at the moment and

is more than a picture bookmarking tool.

1. Use Pin It or any of the other tools that

help post to your boards, as it allows you

to share the post on Facebook, Twitter and

Google+ while you are at it. Cross posting

saves time and broadens the ties between

your various social accounts; a good way to

convert visitors from one to the other.

2. Name your boards interestingly: if

the naming is plain, many will think the

info is too.

3. If you are going to pin others’ sites that

you do not have an affiliate connection to,

then separate them into a board of their own.

4. All direct pins to your affiliate vendor

sites must have your code. Pinterest has

been known to override affiliate codes in

some cases, especially Amazon, but after

some serious pushback that could have

threatened the platform’s existence, it has

changed back. But this is something to be

aware of and monitor if it reverts back.

To sum upSo you now have some things to think

about and try. Social media is growing as a

major area of profitability and if you are not

using it as part of your marketing method,

you are leaving a lot of money on the table.

Frank Watson is CEO of Kangamurra Media and has been involved with the web since it started. For five years, he headed SEM for FXCM, which was once one of the top 25 spenders with AdWords. He’s worked with most of the major analytics companies and pioneered the ability to tie online marketing with offline conversion.

He has now started his own marketing agency, Kangamurra Media. This new venture will keep him busy when he’s not editing the Search Engine Watch forums, blogging at a number of authoritative sites, or developing some online community sites. Frank was one of the first 100 AdWords professionals, as well as a Yahoo! and Overture ambassador. He is on the Click Quality Council and has worked to diminish click fraud.

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14

Knowing what your competitors’ backlinks look like is key to understanding how to reach the top spots in the SERPs. In the previous issue, we showed you how to exclude crash-and-burn spammers from your radar and focus on your real competitors; we will now show you how to discover what’s going on under their hoods. By Matteo Monari, COO of BizUp

Not haviNg the right quantity and

quality of links is one of the main factors

preventing most sites from achieving top

rankings for the main keywords of a certain

niche. Being too aggressive in your link

building strategy, however, could turn out

to be counter-productive, especially now

that Google has added the new Penguin

algorithm to its anti-link-manipulation

arsenal. Knowing how your successful

competitors are acquiring links, how

aggressive they are in their link building

strategy and what they consider ‘good’ or

‘bad’ when it comes to link building means

knowing where to draw the line in your

link building campaigns. Find out how

many links your competitors have, how

good and genuine they are and how fast

they grow and you will know half of the

reasons why they rank the way they do –

and how to do the same.

Step 1: quantity and genuinenessThe first data you want to know about your

competitors’ links is their quantity and

how genuine they are. In order to get the

raw numbers we will work on to draw our

conclusions, I recommend using Majestic

SEO . Using Majestic SEO’s Site Explorer

or even better its Bulk Backlink Checker, it

is possible to extract the following data for

each of your competitors:

●● Links

●● Linking domains

●● Linking domains on a different IP

●● Linking domains whose IP belongs to a

different C class

On`ce you have obtained the data, you

should export it to a CSV file, load it in

Excel or Open Office Calc and add the

following calculated values to the raw ones

you already have:

●● Proportion of links/linking domains: this

factor will indicate how aggressive the

backlink profile is in terms of site-wide

links. More site-wide links may mean

bought blogroll links or genuine blogroll

recommendations. In our business, the

former will be the case most of the time.

●● Proportion of linking domains/linking

IPs: this factor will indicate how many

of the sites linking to your competitors

belong to easily identifiable networks –

the lower the number you get, the more

‘genuine’ the linking sites are.

●● Proportion of linking IPs/linking C

classes: like the previous factor, the

result of this proportion will also be

a representation of the (estimated)

genuineness of your competitors’

backlink profile: the lower the number

you get, the more ‘genuine’ the linking

sites are. A particularly high score in the

linking domains/linking IPs or in the

linking IPs/linking C classes proportions

clearly indicates a wide use of networks,

possibly related to mass purchases of

links or to a self-owned link pyramid.

Step 2: estimated qualityQuality can hardly be defined by a number,

and to really understand the qualitative

aspects of a single link, one would need

to sit down and carefully evaluate tens of

factors related to the link, the linking page,

the linking site, etc. However, parameters

such as PageRank and Majestic’s AC Rank

can provide an approximate representation

of a site’s quality. Once we have collected

these values for all sites linking to our

competitors, we should look at the

percentage distribution of every PageRank

and AC Rank class. This will give us a

quick representation of the linking site’s

‘raw quality’. (Note: beware of suspicious

amounts of high PR ‘.edu’ and ‘.gov’ links –

in our segment, these types of links are most

often obtained by comment-spam or parasite

hosting and are, in the long run, definitely

not to be considered high quality links).

Step 3: deep-linking strategiesAfter having obtained a satisfying overview

of your competitor sites’ links, it is now

time to see how incoming links are

distributed across the different pages

composing each of the sites. Using Majestic

SEO’s Top Pages function, it is possible

to easily extract link data relative to the

top pages of each site (stopping at the top

50 pages will normally be enough). This

data can then be compiled in two ways to

understand more about your competitors’

deep-linking strategy. Calculating the

proportion between the amount of links

to the homepage and the total amount of

links will tell you how much deep-linking

is going on for each site. Turning each

site’s page-specific link data (links and

linking domains) into a graph ordered by

the amount of referring domains, instead,

will quickly show you which of your

competitors’ pages are receiving site-wide

links. Is this a natural consequence of some

viral piece of content or the result of an

aggressive link building strategy towards

key pages? In both cases, this information

will be useful to you.

(Figure 1: Spikes possibly indicating site-

wide links to deep pages of a competitor’s

site [Homepage omitted due to graph size].)

Step 4: deep-linking standardsConsidering the amount of linking domains

towards top-pages and putting the data

relative to all selected sites in the same

graph will provide a good overview of your

industry’s deep-linking level. How many

‘top-tier’ pages do your competitors normally

have? How deep is your industry’s standard

deep-linking? Are you missing out on some

important search cluster your competitors

dedicated a specific page to? This analysis

will help you to answer these questions.

(Figure 2: Different distribution of

linking domains across top-tier deep pages.)

Step 5: follow vs nofollow LinksNofollow links do not pass ‘link juice’ and,

theoretically, have no impact on rankings.

However, a high amount of nofollow links

may mean a site is heavily discussed in

forums or blog comments, in which links

are normally nofollow. Apart from genuine

Backlink Profiling: Your comPetitors’ Performance

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citations in blogs and discussion boards, a

high amount of nofollow links could also

indicate blog and forum spam. A second

look at your competitors with the highest

percentage of nofollow links will help you

identify what their strategy is. As we said,

nofollow links have theoretically no ‘link’

impact on your rankings. However, they

could still be considered as a social signal

and contribute to your site’s level of trust

in Google. Therefore, you should also

make sure your backlinks’ follow/nofollow

proportion does not stick out from your

niche’s standard levels.

(Figure 3: Different distribution of follow

and nofollow links in different sites.)

Step 6: link acquisition speedMajestic’s backlink history function

allows you to see a rough estimate of your

competitors’ link-growth rate. Comparing

the link-growth of several competitors over

the same time will help you to see who is

investing more resources in link building,

who may be involved in mass-acquisitions

(watch out for bizarre spikes in time) as

well as your niche link generation seasonal

trend. Natural links do not grow in a linear

way throughout the year, but follow trends

depending on sport events, celebrations,

holiday seasons, and so on. If you are

planning an aggressive link acquisition

campaign, you should use your knowledge

of your niche’s link generation seasonal

trends to camouflage your possible link

spikes as part of a seasonal growth.

Step 7: time to use your dataIf you have followed our suggestions step-

by-step, for each of your main competitors

you should now know:

●● How many links they have

●● How natural those links are

●● How supposedly good those links are

●● How those links are distributed

●● How fast those links are being acquired

Combining this information with your

knowledge of your competitors’ ranking

history and connotation, you should now

be able to get an idea of where you stand

compared to them: should you acquire

more links, no matter their quality? Is your

profile too unnatural? Should you focus on

acquiring a few, high quality links?

In the next instalment of our backlink

profiling series, we will look at different

link building techniques to solve the

problems you have possibly just discovered,

so make sure you do not miss the next

issue of this magazine.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

14-15_TRAFFIC_SocialMonitoring.indd 15 10/08/2012 15:28

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TRAFFICOPINION

How to Remain Sane wHile GooGle PlayS witH youR mindThere are a number of psychological issues which plague SEOs. The impact ranges from impeded performance through to total self-destruction, usually in the form of vice-driven addiction.

This is a serious issue I’m seeing more

and more within the SEO industry: extreme

behaviour coupled with increased paranoia

among the community.

The amount of debauchery going on

at one SEO conference I attended lately

got me thinking that this was certainly a

trend that was on the up. The conferences

I used to attend involved SEOs bragging

about their trophy rankings and their

techniques for understanding algorithm

changes, but these days, more and more

SEOs are bragging about altogether more

recreational pursuits.

This has got me thinking. There is

certainly a shift of sorts taking place, so I

asked myself what could be driving this

increasingly common behaviour.

One thought was that as the industry

evolves, there appear to be parallels in

other underground movements reaching

the mainstream. In fact, there are many

additional similarities due to the sector’s

lack of barriers to entry, lack of formal

training and its Wild West origins.

There are two distinct areas which

appear to be in play: (i) ego and (ii) fear,

uncertainty and doubt.

The paranoid Penguin Vs the dishonourable Panda Extreme behaviour aside, other

recent observations within the SEO

community includes:

●● An increase in SEOs turning on each

other and outing link buying

●● A notable increase in negative SEO activity

●● Increased communication between

SEOs and Google

Following the last two Google algorithm

updates, Penguin and Panda, fear

uncertainty and doubt are at an all time

high. Several conspiracy theorists within

the SEO industry blame the introduction

of these updates and the ‘Notice of

Unnatural Links Detected’ as the cause

of this increasingly widespread paranoia

leading to a breakdown in the SEO’s

code of honour.

The secretive and sometimes murky

SEO industry seems, in some ways, to

have numerous parallels with the old

Chicago Mafia story of Anthony Spilotro.

After Spilotro had been sent to Vegas

to run the Mafia casino operation, the FBI

were unable to prove his crimes and failed

to catch him on numerous occasions due

to a strict code of silence. Spilotro was

untouchable; he had witnesses, police and

judges in his pocket and was able to slip

the net time after time.

Only when the FBI teamed up with

the Las Vegas Police Department did

they hatch a plan that would result in

his removal from the casino skimming

business. The FBI and police used ‘fear,

uncertainty and doubt’ as a method to

ensure the mob believed that Spilotro had

become too risky and may turn on his

bosses to save himself. This ultimately

“Fear uncertainty and doubt has historically been Google’s biggest method of plugging the gap in the failings in its own technology.”

17-18.indd 17 10/08/2012 16:47


TRAFFIC OPINION

led to Spilotro’s Mafia bosses, back in

Chicago, executing their own man and his

brother – they were left with no choice as

Spilotro knew too much and had become

their biggest threat.

Fear uncertainty and doubt has

historically been Google’s biggest method

of plugging the gap in the failings in

its own technology. I’ve noticed a huge

increase in the use of PR and media

when rolling out algorithm updates; this

stepped up significantly when Panda 1.0

rolled out. Ironically, as an SEO, I noticed

that Google’s media communications

were far from organic. It appeared in its

scale and delivery to be driven by

Google’s press team. This is how Google

cripples an SEO’s confidence and

prevents them from manipulating

their results. The effect is amplified

by the nature of SEO and its inherent

uncertainty, shrouded by a black box.

One policy I recommend you adhere to

is never to base an assumption or

strategy on hearsay evidence. Always base

this on an accurate primary data sources

and careful testing.

So, while Google is thought to be

introducing disinformation, we also have

an entirely separate dynamic driving

SEOs to implosion, often through

excessive egotism and, in some cases,

minor God complexes.

Don’t believe your own pressIt’s very easy to lose perspective as an

SEO; most will freely admit that there is a

prolific problem with egos, largely driven

by PR and media. Over-inflated fees also

go a long way towards confirming a top

level SEO’s over-inflated self worth.

SEOs: just because you get paid more than

the British Prime Minister, don’t let it go

to your head, and never take your eye off

the ball. You are a service provider and are

responsible for the search traffic growth of

your clients’ business.

Employers: beware of unjustifiable fees –

never hire an SEO based on them being

reassuringly expensive. Your SEO is part

of your business plan. You need to make a

profit on what they do, otherwise you’re not

going to be in business this time next year.

Your SEO should understand this, so don’t

be afraid of renegotiating the commercials

if your projected commercial model doesn’t

match the commercial reality.

Keeping perspective in a crazy worldIn July 2012, Media Skunk Works quietly

launched the world’s first SEO counselling

service. This service was to help ensure

that lone SEOs have someone to talk to

on a regular basis with a view to reducing

any feelings of isolation or simply a

shoulder to cry on if they need one. I know

from experience how easy it is to develop

feelings of isolation in my previous

in-house roles and have come across it

countless times when dealing with in-

house SEO while working agency-side.

It’s common for SEOs, once they are

removed from a pack (for want of a better

collective noun) to an in-house situation

to ‘lose their bottle’, and doubt their own

ability, often losing faith in their own

methods. However, this is a result of

narrowing your field of view, and reducing

internal SEO to SEO cross-talk.

Once the isolation sets in, these

problems can be reduced or entirely

eliminated by regular counselling sessions

with peers, whether one-on-one sessions or

group sessions depending on the severity

and nature of the case, as well as access to

specialist data which confirms your own

theories, helping to define direction in an

ever changing and dynamic environment.

Affiliates, if you have hired an SEO

consultant having tempted them away

from an agency, be mindful of this

shift in mindset, anticipate its onset

and put measures in place to prevent it

from happening.

Note: since we are SEOs and not experts in

specialist mental health or addiction cases we

would naturally advise these cases are referred

to a recognised specialist.

Remember...●● Follow your instincts when hiring

expertise

●● Don’t believe the hype

If you have any specific questions email

me directly at [email protected]

or follow me on http://twitter.com/paulreilly

or stalk me on http://foursquare.com/user/

paulreilly

With over 12 years’ experience in Search Engine Optimisation, PAUL REILLY is amongst the most experienced and influential professionals in the industry. With a wealth of experience in highly-competitive sectors, Paul has worked on many of the UK’s largest brands in the toughest spaces, both in-house and at large reputable search marketing agencies. In most recent years Paul has focused and specialised in online gaming, delivering consistent results that matter, time after time.Paul is the founder of MediaSkunkWorks, a new and pioneering service provider which dissects the traditional agency model, building world-class, hand-picked specialist teams either in-house or as outsourced think tank and creative problem solving service. MediaSkunkWorks which has built its reputation on innovation and optimised methodologies that really do deliver results.

“Never hire an SEO based on them being reassuringly expensive. Don’t be afraid of renegotiating the commercials if your projected commercial model doesn’t match the commercial reality.”

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20

After saying over and over again that affiliates NEED to move into the social sphere and time and time again hearing stories of failures or lack of ideas, I thought I’d run through some basic strategies that should be within the budgets of most serious affiliates. The idea of this article is about being cost effective as much as being big; we don’t need to generate millions of shares, but we should generate enough to justify link profiles.

CompetitionsThis is the bread and butter of generating

social metrics. It is the easiest way to get

lots of +1s, shares and tweets. Essentially,

you offer the chance of winning a prize for

people sharing a certain post. Try and work

a keyword into the stipulated tweet.

It is probably a good idea to start being

smarter with these if you’re already

running them as it seems very likely that

going forward, Google will either start

discounting or potentially penalising people

who have been overly gaming this system.

Try and stay away from ‘retweet to enter’

type competitions, make users give you a

reason as to why they should win and that

will give you some diversity in the posts.

With Twitter, you should also include

the ‘via’ option when you generate the

button as this will add to the likelihood of

new users following you. A well-crafted

comp tweet may look like “I should win

the generic BINGO comp because (insert

reason) (insert URL) via @genericbingo”.

Remember, competitions don’t seed

themselves, people aren’t going to find

them if you don’t help them. Fortunately,

there are a lot of communities which will

help you with this. In the UK, you can

submit to the following for free:

●● Moneysavingexpert – forum

●● Loquax – forum + site (excludes

bingo affiliates)

●● Hotukdeals

●● Ukcompetitions.com

●● twitter.com/competitionclub/ (tweet the

comp at them and there is a good chance

of a retweet)

There are many more, but this should be

enough to get you started.

Don’t forget that you also have the option

to capture emails here which you can

use for future competitions. You should

also know that the prizes don’t have to

be massive. I’ve seen competitions for

products which cost less than £50 generate

thousands of shares if seeded correctly.

Authority account outreachWe all know it is unlikely that you’ll get a

backlink from your direct competitors too

easily, but what about those people in your

niche who you aren’t directly up against?

While backlinks are again unlikely, social

mentions are certainly possible. You just

have to track down authority accounts

and ask their opinion to contribute to an

article. Most people will quite happily share

when they’ve been quoted. It is very easy to

contact people through social media, meet

them at the conferences and so on.

It is true that this is easier in other

niches, but it’s not impossible in

gambling. If you’re lucky, you may even

see some natural interlinking cropping

up with people linking to pages where

they have been cited. Not too likely in

our sector, however.

Visually representing dataYes, I mean infographics. Not the ones

that certain agencies will rob you blind for,

but the ones you can make yourself with

infographic builders like Piktochart.com

do allow you to create professional looking

infographics in minutes rather than hours

and, if seeded correctly, these can generate

some nice social links, and you can always

submit them to the infographic directories

to get this process started. You can get lots

of free data from public records, or you can

always repurpose someone else’s research

– you should probably ask before doing this

and really link to the source but if you do,

there is every chance that they will share

your content in turn.

Share other people’s contentPeople will be more likely to share your

content if you share theirs; those who

stick too rigidly to never wanting to boost

a competitor without something in return

may get left behind in the world of social

SEO. It is going to be essential to create

lasting relationships and many of you who

regularly attend the conferences will already

have cliques which may be willing to do

that for one another.

Quick wins●● Pictures: pictures get shared very quickly.

I recently saw a picture of a palm tree

with the tag line wish you were here

under it generate hundreds of likes on

Facebook in a few hours. That can be

replicated by anyone, although it does

help if you have a decent account to

share it through, but if your website’s

account is poor then share using your

personal account, or make your

website’s account better.

●● Be controversial: not everyone wants

to go down this route, but if you write

something horribly controversial that’s

current and seed it well, then people

will share it to denounce it. Not ideal,

but still gets shares.

Promoting the contentThe real battle with socially provocative

content is not about creating something

people will want to share; it’s getting it to

those people. The best thing you can do is

An IdIot’s GuIde to AffIlIAte socIAl MentIons

20-21.indd 20 10/08/2012 16:24

21

TRAFFIC

iGB Affiliate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

identify the people you want to share the

content with before you write anything.

Think about who will share it then write

it for them, then it’s simply a matter of

putting it in front of them. There are, of

course, numerous direct ways to do this. An

easy example would be doing a top ten list,

maybe your top 10 casinos in the UK, you

can call them up and speak to the manager

asking for what makes them special? You

could justify this based on you putting them

in the list on a recommendation. When

you post this piece of content contact them

all – a lot of smaller brands will willingly

mention this content socially.

SEO and SMO: one and the same?As the two disciplines increasingly

merge, it is becoming essential that

anyone practicing SEO is aware of what

works and what doesn’t socially. Those

who fall behind in the social sphere will

be those who are doomed to fail in the

next few years as it becomes more and

more important. It could even be said

that SEO is moving more towards the PR

discipline in that outreach and branding

are essential. As the algorithm changes so

must the skill sets which we need to get

the best results. If you don’t get social then

hire someone who does or work at it – too

many affiliates are still burying their heads

in the sand or doing the bare minimum

when, presently, the social sphere is still

open to be capitalised on. And whilst it

may not directly drive the conversions

we want, the integration with SEO is very

clear and it is only going to become more

apparent in the coming years. Remember

that even if you have one of the more dry

and dull niches, there is still a lot that

you can do; you just have to be creative

with your tie-ins. Gambling is an exciting

world (or at least it should be), and it is

the perfect time to take advantage of the

growth in social.

MikE LitSOn has been in Search Engine Optimisation for several years and specialises in competitive markets, predominantly iGaming. Having worked with many major players in the sector he has a solid understanding of what goes into making a successful campaign, both on and off site. Focusing mainly on SEO, Mike is also very well versed in SMO, PPC, Affiliate Management and Email Marketing believing that none of the skills are mutually exclusive and that having strong knowledge across online marketing channels can provide unique opportunities. Mike currently heads up the Blueclaw iGaming and affiliate department.

“Too many affiliates are still burying their heads in the sand or doing the bare minimum when, presently, the social sphere is still open to be capitalised on.”

20-21.indd 21 10/08/2012 18:38


TRAFFIC

22

If you are an affiliate making money by ranking on Google, beware, because Google is looking at you. Whilst its market share has remained flat, the company’s revenues have grown a massive 35 percent year-on-year. Where has this revenue come from? Partially from de-ranking the affiliates who act as alternative middlemen to Google’s AdWords. By Nick Garner, Head of Search at Unibet.

It’s beeN a tough year for SEO. Google

ran Panda which affected a number of big

content sites and then went for Penguin

which was aimed at over manipulation of a

website’s link profile.

It’s important to differentiate between the

two updates.Panda is about the content

makeup of a site. It’s looking for duplicate

and low value content which Google

believes will not help the user experience.

It is essentially Google profiling a site and

deciding whether your site fits a ‘bad’ profile

or not. For affiliates, this wasn’t a huge issue

because most affiliate sites are small content

sites which focus on specific niche phrases.

Penguin, however, was massively

damaging for affiliates. The idea behind

this update was to look at the link profile of

a site to see whether it was ‘over optimised’.

It simply means; is there too much

apparent manipulation of links to your site?

It’s important to define what ‘over

optimised’ means here. For a normal

non-commercial site, the model is to create

superb content where links will naturally

be attracted to you. These links will be a

jumble of things from Twitter retweets

to the occasional good link from a high

authority site. The anchor text (text used on

the links to your site) will be a mix of things

from ‘click here’ to ‘this is interesting’ and

occasionally the money phrases will be

used, i.e. ‘free bet’. The main point is that a

natural profile is natural looking.

An affiliate site working a commercial

phrase like ‘free bet’ has to beg, buy or

spam its way to getting decent links. The

complication occurs when you are trying

to create a nice ‘natural’ mix of links and

anchor text. From experience, this is very

hard and there are only a few ways to really

hit this head-on.

One final concept: links are votes. The

better the votes are to your site and the

more relevant the people who vote for you

are, the more important Google thinks

your site is and so will rank you.

My process for beating PenguinFirstly, two concepts. If you imagine a

dartboard, you aim your darts, fire and

hit the bullseye with all three darts – you

win because you hit the target right in

the middle. With Penguin, you have to

time when you throw the darts and make

sure they get close to the bullseye without

actually hitting it. If you got three bullseyes,

then it would be statistically unnatural and

you would lose. Yes I know, it’s bizarre, but

that’s the world of search engines.

The other thing I think about is

‘trustrank’. I look for volume and

competitiveness of phrases Google ranks

a site on, along with the amount of ‘buzz’

surrounding a site. This could be social

followings, new content and quality of

content. It seems Google is putting a far

greater weighting on high trustrank sites.

Typically for iGaming, these would be

operator sites. I want links from high

trust-rank sites.

All things are relative with Google. This

means there are patterns you can analyse

but, as a rule, if you want to rank for a given

phrase you have to do the analysis for that

phrase. You can segment by country, by

industry category and by keyphrase and

depending on the profile of the phrase,

there will be differences on the anchor

text make-up and the volume of links you

need over time.

the practical partThe first is having a good understanding

of why a site ranks. I typically pick a

‘root’ phrase, something like ‘free bet’

or perhaps a more niche phrase. I then

look at the make-up of the inbound links

to the top ten sites ranking for ‘free bet’

using MajesticSEO.com. I want to look at

small sites ranking for my target phrases

because their link profile is cleaner and

easier to pick through.

I group all the inbound links by

Majestic’s AC rank. This is a metric

equivalent to Page Rank that Majestic uses.

With this I have these groupings of links:

●● 0* AC rank 0

●● 1* AC rank 1 and 2

●● 2* AC rank 3 and 4

●● 3* AC rank 5+

Once I have grouped these links, I typically

discount all links AC rank 0 because they

are just noise. With probably 75 percent of

the links to a given site out of the dataset, I

then organise the links this way:

●● Brand: the name of the site, i.e.

myfreebets.com

●● Brand phrase: the name of the site and

other words, i.e. myfreebets click here

●● Exact phrase match: the exact phrase

being targeted, i.e. ‘free bet’

●● Phrase match: something related to the

target phrase, i.e. ‘£25 online bet’

●● Broad phrase match: vaguely related

to my target phrase, i.e. ‘gambling

winnings’

●● Other: something random, i.e. ‘http://

thisisarandomlink.com

Then I review the anchor text per AC rank

grouping and look for the patterns in the

data. Typically, this would be:

●● Pre-Penguin: more brand in lower AC

rank links, more exact match on higher

AC rank links.

●● Post-Penguin: less brand on lower AC

rank links, less exact match on all links,

replaced with more brand on higher

AC rank links.

AffiliAtes BewAre: GooGle is wAtchinG You

22-23_TRAFFIC_BacklinkProfiling1.indd 22 10/08/2012 15:39


TRAFFIC

What I find post-Penguin is that the

analysis process has become much more

complicated and the link and anchor text

patterns are more diffused for high ranking

sites. This effectively translates into fewer

affiliate and more brand sites ranking.

Last year, I could have run this report

and taken some simple averages; i.e. brand

phrases 1* @ 20 percent of all anchor text,

exact match 3* @ 15 percent of all links

and so on. However, because of Penguin’s

over optimisation filter, you have to really

understand the competitor link patterns for

your phrase in order to rank.

Now, I find more high authority sites

ranking and more weight needing to be

given to onsite optimisation for those brand

sites to capitalise on the ‘free pass’ Google

is giving them.

Volume of new linksWe have heard a lot about the emergence of

negative SEO. Effectively, this means Google’s

filters are far more aggressive penalising

sites that have ‘unnatural’ link profiles.

This includes suddenly getting 5,000 new

links with exact match anchor text from 300

different ‘disposable’ sites in a day.

Because of this, it’s really important to

carefully work out the volume of new links

you should acquire over time. Too few

and you don’t rank, too many and you are

penalised or you just waste your money and

don’t move in the rankings.

I use Majestic SEO to analyse the volume

of new domains linking into a site. I think a

unique domain is a far better indication of

a ‘vote’ than volume of links from a given

site. So, I look at those sites which have a

tight profile, such as small sites ranking for

a given phrase, and see what the link growth

figures look like there. My aim is to acquire

the best links with a diffused anchor text

spread, at a rate that is just above the average

of the sites I have analysed. Too many links

and I trigger a filter, too few and I don’t

progress up the rankings. I always say, ‘look

like everyone else, just a little better’.

I then methodically acquire these links,

make sure they are placed randomly

during the month and bide my time.

Typically, I assume four to six months to

rank a money phrase.

I use one more variable which is site

authority. I assume if a site has a lot of

authority, then for every new link I place, it

will have a greater weight than a low authority

site. For instance, I might assume that for a

Unibet subdomain I need to bring in 15 good

links a month. For an affiliate site, it would

have to be 20 really good links a month.

As you see, there are a lot of

processes involved here. If you don’t like

spreadsheets, then the best thing is to

remember these rules:

●● All things are relative with Google

●● Links are votes, get the best votes you can

●● Judge sites from your ‘human perspective’

●● With links, be like the best ranking sites,

just a little better

Then once you have these ideas in mind, use

paid tools like MajesticSEO.com or free tools

like opensiteexplorer.org or Blekko.com to get

a feel for anchor text mix and link growth for

the ranking sites you are competing against.

It will take a few weeks of trawling around to

assimilate the data, but once you get a ‘feel’

for the information you will be able to get your

onsite optimisation plan and your linking

plan in place and beat Penguin.

NICK GaRNeR is the head of Search for Unibet, the large European bookmakers. He is a recognised expert in SEO within the gaming industry, having had several commercial successes at Betfair where he was SEO manager and greater commercial successes with Unibet. An internet marketing veteran, Nick has been architecting and executing search strategies for the last 12 years.

He is a prominent conference speaker who loves to share his knowledge. He puts his SEO successes down to a practical understanding of internet related technology, human behaviour and ‘outreach’ to win the best links from 3rd party web sites. He is always prepared to get stuck in to win the rankings race. Nick is a family man and competitive international sportsman based just outside London.

22-23_TRAFFIC_BacklinkProfiling1.indd 23 10/08/2012 15:39


With the London Olympics well under way, iGB Affiliate speaks to Aaron Yarm, UK Account Manager at William Hill about how the Games have impacted the sportsbetting market, as well as surveying the lay of the land in today’s gaming affiliate sector.

We’re in the middle of a significant

summer of sport – we’ll come to the

Olympics in a moment, but what sort of

activity has William Hill been experiencing

from the likes of Euro 2012, Wimbledon

and the traditional annual major events?

Football is the biggest betting product for

operators. There are so many markets and

opportunities such as mobile, in-play betting

and more. For William Hill, we aimed to

combine all of these and therefore offered

affiliates some great opportunities and

the results did not disappoint with online

staking volumes up 289 percent from

the previous Euros. Overall, it’s a strong

platform for us to continually build on.

In terms of the Olympics, there has been

some discussion as to London 2012 being

more viable betting opportunity than previous

Olympiads due to coverage, the accessibility

and prevalence of in-play and mobile betting

and other factors. What activity are you seeing

around these Games so far and what are you

expecting from the event?

Some more gold medals for Team GB

would be nice. In terms of betting, as with

all sports we provide some of the largest

markets in the industry. In-play betting

is one of the biggest branches of online

betting. With fantastic odds and a range of

specials, we have launched new models for

some minor sports ahead of the Olympics

(including beach volleyball) and there are

plenty of markets for affiliates to promote.

This issue of the magazine deals with

the casino sector specifically, but what

gaming products currently hold the best

opportunities for affiliates to build their

business strategies around?

We consider ourselves to be strong

across all verticals but one of the best

opportunities we have at the moment is

with our Vegas product – one of the only

products on the market offering customers

a cash back bonus incentive. It provides

affiliates with a great converting product

with excellent profit potential. Further

to this, our Italian product is now one

of the strongest out there and we expect

the Spanish product, which has just been

launched, to go the same way.

There has been some concern that with

Google squeezing affiliates out of the

equation that operators will rely less and

less on the traffic that they generate.

How important do affiliates remain for

William Hill in today’s market and for the

foreseeable future?

We value our affiliates highly and look only

to build long-term professional partnerships

with them. It’s always a delight to start

working with new people, be it today or in

five years time. Affiliates have always and

will continue to be one of the foundations

that have helped build our online presence

to be one of the industry leaders.

Elaborating on this somewhat, what specific

challenges are you seeing in the affiliate

sector that pose obstacles to both operators

and their affiliate partners?

When people start out in affiliation it is a

tough journey from the start; there is a lot

to learn and, at times, it can be frustrating.

One of the greatest tips we can offer is

to enter the affiliate industry with a good

game plan. Think about what niche you’re

going to target, write down how and from

where you think you can get traffic, speak

with people in the industry and prepare for

the unexpected. It can be a turbulent but

highly rewarding ride.

From the affiliate’s perspective, partnering

with a brand such as William Hill has its

obvious benefits, with the company being

one of the best known betting businesses

in the UK and Europe. What other

benefits do affiliates enjoy from being

affiliated to William Hill?

When joining William Hill as an affiliate, it

is as if you are joining a family. The account

managers here are always on hand to help

answer questions in a timely manner

and are eager to work with all affiliates to

achieve the best possible results. We aim to

provide our affiliates with the best possible

support, whether it be creative or unique

content or a friendly chat. We are here to

help build their online businesses.

And from your perspective, how

challenging is it to remain competitive

amidst the increasing competition across

all gaming sectors?

Affiliates are in a very strong position;

just attend one of the conferences such

as Barcelona (BAC) and you will get

an insight into what is on offer in the

industry. It comes down to a ‘value added’

service; a good account manager is the

face of an operator to the affiliate and at

William Hill we take this one step further –

we strive to cultivate a partnership between

us and the affiliate. Communication,

flexibility and understanding are all of

prime importance when building this

relationship with affiliates.

The main feature this issue looks at the

social gaming space – what strategy has

William Hill employed in the social space

and what sort of campaigns can affiliates also

employ to maximise their presence there?

As one of the industry leaders, we are

always looking for new methods of

acquisition. We have found social media

to be a great method for affiliates to attract

players. We can provide affiliates with the

relevant tracking links for mobile and

web-based social media acquisition. In

terms of specific campaigns, it would be

best to speak to your individual account

manager to find out the latest and best

offers from William Hill.

Additionally, William Hill has been one of

the forerunners in the mobile betting space

with a visible advertising campaign in UK

media. Where in your opinion can affiliates

derive the best value from their efforts for

the mobile channel – what should they be

doing to push products in this space; does it

involve a change of mindset?

Our mobile position is growing stronger all

the time, offering sportsbetting and mobile

casinos with the latest development being

The Lay of The Land

INSIGHT INTERVIEW

24-25_INTERVIEW.indd 24 10/08/2012 15:42

25iGB Affiliate August/september 2012

mobile bingo. Mailing campaigns work very

well with mobile (think about all the emails

you check on your Smartphone). A change

of mind-set is required in our opinion –

everything is smaller and quicker so the

affiliate’s offering has to reflect this. It is

important to remember that just because the

site looks great on the web does not mean it

looks so good on a four inch phone screen.

For operators it very much requires a

change of mindset and strategy, as simply

transferring desktop strategies to mobile

has been proven to be ineffective. What are

the specific challenges for operators

in this space?

We have seen tremendous growth in

our mobile products and it does require

a different mindset; speed and style are

everything. Our mobile sports and casino

products are designed to have the best

possible user experience as well as looking

great. As with any product, usability is key as

well as providing the affiliates with the right

tools to promote the products successfully.

For affiliates entering the iGaming space

for the first time, what sort of environment

are they entering and what advice would you

offer to help settle them into the industry?

For me as an account manager, I am there

to provide someone who has just started

out with the same amount of time and

energy as the bigger affiliates – everyone

has to start from somewhere. Look through

the key publications and online resources

as provided by the likes of the iGB and

GPWA. Get out there, speak with other

professionals in the industry, develop a

relationship with your account manager

as they can give you everything you need

from an operator point of view (i.e. creative,

content, news) and, finally, get on the

forums and see what’s buzzing in the

industry. Most importantly, do not lose

sight of your end goal – affiliation should

be seen as an on-going long-term business,

not an overnight wonder.

And finally, how do you see the

industry progressing in the coming 12

months – will we see sportsbetting and

in-play continue on its impressive

growth path, and what fate awaits the

other gaming verticals?

The industry is reporting strong growth

all of the time. With markets opening up

in Spain and Italy as well as our acquisition

of a licence in Nevada, we see our brand

going from strength to strength. The

Vegas and live casino products are newly

emerging and strong performers, bingo

has seen a boost with the new mobile

product and sports, as always for William

Hill, is the foundation of our business.

We see strong growth across all products

and look forward to creating new and

exciting partnerships with new and

existing affiliates in the industry.

“Affiliation is a tough journey from the start; there is a lot to learn and, at times, it can be frustrating. Enter the affiliate industry with a good game plan, think about what niche you’re going to target, speak with people in the industry and prepare for the unexpected. It can be a turbulent but highly rewarding ride.”

INSIGHTINTERVIEW

24-25_INTERVIEW.indd 25 10/08/2012 15:42


By Dr Mark D. Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies at the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University.

The online social networking

phenomenon has spread rapidly in the

UK (and elsewhere), and playing games

such as Farmville or poker via social

networking sites like Facebook have

become commonplace. However, social

gaming is very different to other massively

multiplayer online games like World

of Warcraft because most social games

are specifically designed to be played

in short bursts when people have a few

minutes to spare. This has opened up

gaming to particular groups who may have

never played games previously (such as

housewives looking after small children

at home who might play for 30 minutes

while their child is asleep).

similaritiesOn first inspection, playing games like

Farmville may not seem to have much

connection to gambling but the psychology

behind such activities are very similar.

Companies like Zynga have been accused

of leveraging the mechanics of gambling to

build their gaming empire. One of the key

psychological ingredients in both gambling

and social gaming is the use of operant

conditioning and random reinforcement

schedules. Basically, random reinforcement

schedules in games relate to the

unpredictability of winning and/or getting

other types of intermittent rewards.

Receiving rewards every time someone

gambles or plays a game leads to people

becoming bored much more quickly.

However, small unpredictable rewards

lead to highly engaged and repetitive

behaviour. Both gambling operators

and social gaming developers can use

intermittent and unpredictable rewards to

get repeat custom. There is also a growing

body of research showing that players can

become aroused and excited even if they

are playing with virtual representations

of money (e.g., fake money used in many

games on social networking sites).

Some observers have accused

companies like Zynga of exploiting

well-known psychological principles to

increase their player base and to bring

in new players from a demographic who

may never have played games before.

However, that alone does not explain the

success of Zynga games. Other features,

such as stylish and appealing characters

and graphics, and (what some might

deem to be) aggressive viral marketing

tactics, also appear to play an important

part in the acquisition, development and

maintenance of social gaming behaviour.

The introduction of in-game virtual goods

and accessories (that people willingly

pay real money for) was a psychological

masterstroke. In this sense, it becomes

more akin to gambling, as social gamers

know that they are spending money as

they play with little or no financial return.

They are buying entertainment and the

intrinsic play of the game itself is highly

psychologically rewarding.

Price of entryThe one question I am constantly asked by

the media in relation to social gaming is

why people pay real money for virtual items

in games like Farmville (or why people

will pay real money to by virtual money

to play Zynga poker games). As someone

who has studied slot machine players for

over 25 years, the similarities are striking.

Many of the hardcore slots players I have

interviewed claim they know they will lose

every penny they have in the long run,

and they are playing with money rather

than for it. To me, this appears to be the

same attitude adopted by social gamers.

Like slots players, they actually love the

playing of the game itself. Money is the

price of entry that they are willing to pay.

Unlike those involved in social gaming,

gamblers do at least have an outside chance

of getting some of the money they have

staked back. Therefore, allowing those who

play social games the chance to actually get

their money back (or gain more than they

have staked) is why companies currently

operating social games want to get into

the pure gambling market. This extra

dimension to social games could be a huge

revenue generator.

Those high up in the Zynga

management team believe that their

games tap into some of the fundamental

drivers of human happiness and give

people pleasure, friendship, and a sense

of accomplishment. Nicole Lazzaro, who

has been interviewed in the mass media

about gaming psychology, claims there are

four elemental keys that determine game

success. These are (i) hard fun (i.e., players

having to overcome difficult obstacles

to progress in the game in pursuit of

winning); (ii) easy fun (i.e., players just

enjoying the game even if they don’t win),

(iii) altered states (i.e., players engaging in

the game because it makes them feel good

psychologically and changes their mood

for the better), and (iv) the people factor

(i.e., players wanting to socially interact

with others in the game).

Put in the most basic form, Lazzaro

says the most successful games “will

engage players’ curiosity, allow players to

socialise with friends, challenge players

to overcome obstacles to achieve goals

and somehow relate to people’s lives in a

meaningful way”.

Over the past few months, the rapid

growth of social media gaming has come

to the attention of the UK’s Gambling

Commission, particularly as the lines

are beginning to blur between social

gaming and gambling, and because online

gambling operators and gambling software

developers are now positioning themselves

for entry into the social gaming market,

and vice-versa.

The Psychology of social gaming

INSIGHT OPINION

26.indd 26 10/08/2012 15:53


INSIGHT

28

Did you know that there are other methods to drive traffic to your site aside from online resources when it comes to affiliation? Online traffic can be generated through other means such as offline; you just have to be creative and follow some of the principles laid out in this article. Joshua Krimberg, CMO at AffStars, explains.

Today’s player is bombarded

with advertisements each and every day.

Therefore, when looking at accessing them,

one needs to have a creative game plan

because, if done properly, it can be extremely

profitable and amazingly effective.

The main points you should look at

when trying to achieve positive results from

offline advertising are:

●● Target the appropriate target audience

●● Establish relevance to the target audience

●● Catch the user at relevant touch points

●● Exhibit a uniqueness from the

competition

●● Increase and add to player knowledge

Before we further explain the main

points, there are a few golden rules that

must always be taken into account when

conducting an offline campaign as an

affiliate. These include:

●● Always having a call-to-action

●● The call-to-action must have a destination

point (a site, for example)

●● The destination point and results must

have the capability to be both measured

and tracked

Now, let’s get down to business and further

discuss how we are going to get better

affiliation results and make more money

with offline promotions.

Target the appropriate target audienceIt sounds simple but, when you really think

about it, one question comes to mind: “how

am I going to target the right players?”

First and foremost, you are going to

achieve this by researching the market

you would like to penetrate and knowing

the product you are going to push (bingo,

casino, live casino, lotto, poker, flash-

based, download, etc). Once you have this

information, you can start to identify the

proper target audience in order to get the

best results possible and, hopefully,

make a lot of money. A great way to do

this is to find the areas where your

target audience congregates.

Some key methods (all of which can be

placed easily) of targeting the correct

player demographics are:

●● bingo dabbers with a code on it outside

local grocery stores or small bingo halls

●● bookmarks with bingo codes on them for

people who purchase romance books at

the local bookstore

●● free matchbooks with a promo inside at

local nightclubs, etc

establish relevance to the target audienceSo now you have sent your offline

promotion out to the right players, but you

must make sure it is relevant; if it isn’t,

it will be thrown straight into the trash

without being looked at. A great way to

make your offline advertising efforts work

can be catching the player at a moment

where they need the method of advertising.

A great example can be placing a poker

advertisement in several local newspapers

offering free classes to teach people how to

play the game and, thus, push them into

your affiliate site and sales funnel.

Trying to catch the player at relevant touch pointsCatching the player at the right time where

they come into contact with your offer is

pivotal in making your mark. You may

have a maximum of two to three seconds

should the player give you their attention

so make the most of it by reinforcing and

fulfilling your marketplace promise with

an effective sales funnel. A good example

of this is handing out scratch cards in a

train station entrance with a QR code. The

user scratches, wins a free $7 and has a QR

code to lead them to the site/app while they

enjoy their train ride to work.

exhibit uniqueness from the competitionWhat makes you different and why should

a potential player go through your sales

funnel and not another affiliate or operator?

Uniqueness will help to separate your offer

from the hundreds and even thousands of

advertisements a player sees each and every

day, and actually make some money. One

potential example of offline uniqueness

could be hiring five to ten cabs in a smaller

city with a wild paint job to drive the streets

for a month or two all with your site’s URL

and logo painted all over them.

increase and add to player knowledgeAnytime you can introduce any type of

statistic or factual data, you should, as

players love to learn interesting facts

about their favourite games. Poker

players might like to know that there are

real celebrities playing at the same sites

as them, or bingo players may be

interested to learn that there are ten raffle

winners each month. Either way, the more

players know or think they know about

a product, the more confident they feel

in choosing to enter the sales funnel. A

great example of this would be a television

or specialised magazine advertorial on

how your website manually analyses all

casino software from a quality, service

and security standpoint and how players

are safe playing at the gaming rooms your

casino recommends.

Following these tips and principles

with an element of creativity can really

drive your commissions to the next level.

These tips can help you to build an

effective and creative offline marketing

campaign that can earn you big bucks on

your next pay date.

Offline Creativity tO aChieve Online results

28_INSIGHT.indd 28 10/08/2012 15:55

MOBILE AND SOCIAL GAMING

29_SupplementCover.indd 29 10/08/2012 15:57


feature Mobile and Social GaMinG

Mobile and Social GaMinGAideen Shortt, author of the iGaming Business report ‘Social Marketing and Strategies’, provides an overview of the convergence of two of the fastest growing business sectors in iGaming.

AlongSide the meteoric growth

of social networks has been the growing

pervasiveness of Smartphones and their

incorporation into our lives as so much more

than communications tools. Almost three

quarters (73 percent) of Smartphone owners

use a social networking app on a daily basis

and a further 19 percent at least weekly,

according to a survey by Lightspeed Research.

Skopos’ MTrack research identified that

one in four UK ‘digital actives’ use mobile

for sports content, with sports news, info

and updates being key to their use:

●● 68 percent get the latest news

●● 68 percent check results/league tables

●● 51 percent look for team updates

●● 29 percent want articles/gossip about

athletes and teams

●● 20 percent watch live video

●● 20 percent use mobile for the build up to

a game or event

●● 19 percent place bets

Social media appsThe UK alone has a 50 percent

Smartphone penetration rate, and Ofcom

has identified that in the UK, social

networking is the most common Internet

use on mobile phones and, simultaneously,

mobile use of social networks is 80 percent

up on last year. In fact, on average, people

install 25 apps on their Smartphone, but

only use 12, with most of the used apps

being for social networking.

Arbitron Mobile’s Market Trends

have outlined that Facebook is the most

prominent mobile app in terms of reach

across the market, in part due to organic

growth, but also by the deals it has in place

with carriers and device manufacturers,

which guarantees them top position

on today’s Smartphones, specifically in

Android and iPhone devices. Facebook

has 60 percent reach in the USA, France

and UK, but less in Germany at around

46 percent, due to other brands such as

Nokia and RIM (Blackberry manufacturer)

remaining strong. Therefore, the Facebook

app doesn’t have the same reach. The

same survey found Google Search and

YouTube amongst the highest apps.

When it comes to Facebook, over half

of the user base access the network via

mobile on a monthly basis, and mobile

is outgrowing desktop use at a ratio of

two to one. Of those people who do use

mobile, usage is approximately double

that of non-mobile users. In the UK,

Facebook sees 60 percent of its activity

on phones and tablets, representing one

in every two minutes of mobile Internet

use as identified by comScore. In light of

the growing importance of the mobile,

Facebook recently revealed plans for

a variety of mobile-centric products,

including the introduction in 2012 of the

Timeline feature on mobile and enabling

brands to advertise in mobile news feeds

through Sponsored Stories. More recently,

the company rolled out larger photos on

the mobile application and website. They

are now three times larger than before and

all posts will fill the mobile screen from

edge to edge.

Arbitron Mobile’s study also outlined

that due to its real-time nature, Twitter is

also a natural fit for Smartphones. While

its cause and effect remains unclear

(are Twitter users more likely to own

Smartphones or are Smartphone owners

more likely to use Twitter?), Smartphone

users are the most avid users of Twitter.

●● Five times more likely to check Twitter

‘constantly throughout the day’

●● More than three times more likely to

check Twitter several times a day

●● More than twice as likely to check Twitter

at least once a day

Despite the extensiveness of use on

Facebook’s app, the mobile platform is

recognised by Mark Zuckerberg and critics

alike as the company’s Achilles’ heel and,

to this end, Google+ has the potential to

dominate on this platform, and given that

mobile is slowly replacing the desktop as the

primary source for content and social activity,

this is no small feat. In fact, Google recently

announced that Google+ gets most of its

activity and traction on the mobile platform

(see article on page 50 for more on Google+).

Smartphone versus non-SmartphoneSocial networkers who have a Smartphone

follow brands on social media more often

than non-Smartphone users. Marketers

can expect more impact reaching social

networkers through Smartphones, but

mobile social networkers expect more

from companies and brands. They want

to be more involved than their desktop

counterparts and they expect companies

and brands to start conversations.

InSites Consulting’s research found that

56 percent of connected Smartphone users

follow a brand on social media:

So-lo-moOne of the buzzwords of the moment in

the social media community is So-Lo-Mo

which stands for ‘social, local and mobile’.

It represents the amalgamation of all

three concepts in order to personalise and

target customer experience and potential

revenue generation. Although location-

based marketing is in its infancy in the

gambling domains, So-Lo-Mo is eminently

suited to sports events, LBOs (licensed

betting offices) and casinos and is widely

expected to have a significant impact in the

upcoming months and years.

Augmented realityAugmented Reality (AR) is a live view

of a physical, real-world environment

whose elements are augmented through

a mobile’s camera using computer

generated sensory input such as sound,

video, graphics or GPS data.

Total Immersion, Metaio and Blippar

are amongst the leading companies using

image-recognition phone applications

aimed at bringing to life real-world

Smartphone with Internet/data

Non-Smartphone users

Europe 56% 49%

North America 69% 50%

Brazil 86% 49%

India 78% 65%

Asia 78% 28%

Australia 65% 51%

30-31.indd 30 10/08/2012 15:58

iGB Affiliate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 31

featureMobile and Social GaMinG

newspapers, magazines, products and

posters with exciting augmented reality

experiences and instantaneous content.

Overlaying digital information onto

the real world, viewed through a camera

phone, is technically impressive, but

the business models and usage patterns

are still evolving. In some cases, AR is

directly linked to social media brand sites

and is used for advertising especially

in the sporting domain, which leads to

opportunities for betting, particularly

in-running betting. Brands and teams

often display sponsored images using the

technology, and these ad images can be

customised on a user basis.

Other companies are using AR in

innovative ways to engage with customers

or monetise services/launch products.

Some examples include:

●● Footballmeister is a social-based soccer-

focussed mobile gaming app enabling

competitions between friends to predict

matches of all the European leagues.

Titles, trophies, badges are all available

as users compete for the ultimate goal of

becoming the ‘Meister’ of their leagues.

●● Heineken have a mobile application

that allows soccer fans to interact in

real-time with action on the pitch. Fans

are given eight attempts to accurately

predict whether either team will score

within the next 30 seconds. There are

also extra points that can be earned

through quizzes (Heineken and general

knowledge questions) and player

generated leagues.

●● Tottenham Hotspur have made their

logo interactive (in any format from

the website, a jersey or simply a match

programme), and on pointing their phone

at the club emblem, fans can watch video

footage of the the team in action.

Social gamingZynga’s announcement that it will be

offering real-money play by 2013, and

Facebook’s long anticipated move into

real-money gaming in partnership with

Gamesys, are the latest evidence of the

long, but slow progress that is being made

towards social gambling.

Gamesys’ brand Jackpot Joy was one

of the first movers from real money

gambling into freemium social gaming

and, collectively, the company’s casino

and slots Facebook apps have in excess 1.7

million monthly users. Also, despite 888

having had to write down its acquisition of

Mytopia, it now has 830,000 monthly users

and generates in excess of $10 million

in revenues per year from Bingo Island.

However, this pales in comparison to Bingo

Blitz with three million monthly users and

Zynga Bingo which is now approaching

the nine million mark. Zynga Poker also

recently passed CityVille as the single

largest game on the Facebook network.

The latest traditional gambling company

to make a marked step toward social

gambling is bwin.party. The company’s

co-CEO, Jim Ryan recently outlined that

the firm hopes to capture a “meaningful

place in the social gaming market”

using the freemium and virtual currency

business models citing an anticipated

contribution to EBITDA in 2012 and 2013

of between €5 million and €10 million.

Part of bwin.party’s strategy for social is

inherently focusing on the mobile social

networks. As social networks and Internet

use in general are moving full speed to

mobile rather than desktop platforms, it is

imperative for gambling companies to take

heed and make appropriate preparations

and plans for the mobile social space.

Aideen Shortt is an experienced consultant, author and researcher in the gambling industry with 12 years of work across all sectors and verticals. [email protected].

30-31.indd 31 10/08/2012 15:58

32 iGB Affi liate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

FEATURE MOBILE AND SOCIAL GAMING

THE SOCIAL MEDIUM One of the hottest topics in the Gaming industry is the rise of the social space as a medium and the role it has to play, both for operators and affi liates. It’s especially relevant with news that Facebook will now allow applications in which players can stake real money.

ExcitingLIKE MANY PREVIOUS exciting

developments, it’s easy to get carried away in

the early stages and lose sight of what we’re

actually looking to achieve from a campaign

and how it fi ts into any overriding business

objectives. Coming from an operator

background, I’ve seen several companies

attempt to integrate a social media strategy

and am yet to come across one that can be

described as successful. My view is we’ve

yet to see social being used effectively and

effi ciently within gaming. It’s comparable

to mobile as a platform as it took operators

several years and researching, testing and

optimising and only recently have we seen

polished products hit the market.

Before I look at the subject in detail,

it’s worth pointing out that the following

comments are from the perspective of the

UK market – largely because it’s one of

the most established markets worldwide

and it’s reasonable to assume that many

of the trends that we have seen here will

be replicated in other territories. Also,

social is being assessed here in the context

of sportsbetting. It is by far the dominant

product when compared to poker, casino

and bingo and is perhaps the biggest test

for operators when it comes to converting

valuable players.

Commercial modelOne of the biggest social marketing

challenges facing operators is apportioning

a commercial value to judge success. This

is a big restriction for marketing teams,

as it can hinder their decision making

when allocating budget to social or another

channel, for example affi liate marketing,

PPC, SEO or CRM. Part of the challenge

lies in determining the actual metrics by

which success is measured and whether it

should even be described as an acquisition

channel, as it is commonly considered. If

social marketing is judged as a method

of signing up new players, for example

through posts, tweets or traditional banner

advertising with tracking links, then it is

unlikely to compare well when benchmarked

against the other main channels.

Experience shows that sources that

convert best are those with relevant

sportsbetting-related content – the list of

top affi liate partners of any UK operator

demonstrates this. Even sports content

websites with huge traffi c fi gures are not

guaranteed to convert if they do not have

a direct betting angle. The audience isn’t

often looking to open an account or place a

bet at that time. This is further exaggerated

when it comes to social as the audience

has shown very different patterns of

behaviour and has demonstrated an even

lower propensity to convert to real money

players. This has led to the introduction of

new commercial metrics, such as ‘cost per

likes’ on Facebook pages – a metric that is

commercially unproven as a ‘like’ is many

steps from an actual conversion.

LoyaltyWe need a mindset change when

evaluating social as a retention tool. The

UK sportsbetting market has become ultra

competitive and, arguably, has reached

the point of saturation. CPAs have been

consistently rising through all acquisition

channels and have reached record levels,

especially around key events such as major

football tournaments and race meetings.

This means that UK operators who have

been largely acquisition focused have to

adapt and shift their focus to retention.

A good comparison is the mobile

network industry in which the major fi rms

– including Vodafone and Orange – have

actively shifted their strategies from pure

customer acquisition to retention as the

pool of new users has been drying up.

KM iGaming is working with a company

who has successfully introduced third-party

loyalty plans within the mobile industry

and are now targeting gaming in much the

same way. Their objective revolves around

building extremely loyal customers in

competitive markets, ideally to the point

at which players can be considered brand

advocates. In real terms, this can contribute

directly to companies by extending the

average tenure of a player’s lifetime and

increasing their value to the operator.

One of the mechanics used to engage

players and develop these advocates is

the world of social. It is a direct way to

communicate with the player base and

react to live events. When used in tandem

with loyalty and reward schemes, CRM

campaigns across multiple platforms

and special promotions, it can provide

a consistent message to players with

clear calls-to-action designed to change

behaviour. If this is done over an extended

period, we will see a growing number of

brand advocates, and player values will rise.

FutureWe remain some way from seeing

effective social campaigns within gaming.

There needs to be a change in the way

we view social as a platform – specifi cally

viewing it more as a retention tool

than acquisition – with metrics to suit.

Metrics will obviously vary depending

on each operator’s individual priorities,

but common KPIs will be built around

increasing player values through turnover

and margins, extending player lifetime

and reducing churn of player base. Once

this happens, we will see, for the fi rst time,

a valuable and measurable contribution

made by the social space.

JAMES MCMASTER is the Business Director at KM iGaming having joined from Betting Partners, where he managed the affi liate program for one of their largest clients, the Bodog Brand. James is one of the industry’s most respected affi liate managers, having been responsible for some of the most competitive and challenging betting markets at Sportingbet prior to joining Betting Partners. James can be contacted at [email protected]

32.indd 32 10/08/2012 15:58



Fort Strategy One man who has successfully straddled the social and gaming worlds now drives the strategy for one of the US’ leading software development companies. Lou Castle, Chief Strategy Officer at Shuffle Master, talks to iGB Affiliate about the social gaming space, his time at Zynga and devising a strategy to succeed in the modern converging market.

How important do you foresee the online

and social gaming element becoming for

traditional land-based suppliers? Do you

think that those that remain inactive in the

space will be left behind?

I think it’s critically important that land-

based operators around the world have an

online presence. That doesn’t necessarily

mean they have to operate a full-stop

online casino with all verticals. It may be

a very good strategy to be an affiliate or a

super affiliate to an existing network. Most

importantly, they have to recognise that the

world is changing and although gaming is

one of the last places to change, it is coming

and it’s coming pretty heavily.

You look at the growth of numbers

in mobile and online gambling and you

realise pretty quickly that it’s a market

force that cannot be ignored. That’s not

to say that people won’t go to casinos.

People will still go to land-based casinos

as there’s something very attractive

about the location-based entertainment.

But if you can’t get your message into

this new medium, you may find that

your old methods of acquiring customers

are becoming less and less efficient.

That’s why Shuffle Master’s strategy is

two pronged.

The first prong is to bring our products

and intellectual property into real money

gambling where it’s legal, as a casino

vertical. Our second prong is to help our

land-based and online customers extend

their brands into all areas of online media.

So even online casinos that aren’t terribly

good at mobile, that aren’t terribly good

at social; we’re looking to be the one-stop-

shop that can help any operator.

Let’s look at Zynga. You clearly have the

inside track having been VP of Studios…

That was my title… my job at Zynga for

the vast majority of the time I was there

was really training/trading on the various

products and various jobs in the

company. It’s a lofty title, but I was much

more in the trenches than that title would

suggest (laughs).

Even so, you have foot in both camps when

it comes to social and real money gaming.

What do you think will happen first: will

social gaming move to real-money or is it

more likely that real-money operators will

follow the non-payout social models that

have been pioneered by Zynga?

I don’t think either one is going to wait

for the other. I think that you can already

see that – it isn’t supposition, it’s a fact

that casino operators are moving into

a space that they see as a place where

they can be successful and follow the

model that, on the surface, appears to be

fairly straightforward. I think they have

some challenges that they’re not entirely

aware of and I think that they miss the

values that Zynga offers. That being said,

obviously the social media companies,

Zynga included, look to the real-money

space and think “we offer something

that holds on to people and keeps them

engaged and they don’t have a chance to

win real money. Imagine if we could have

real money prizes as part of our offering?”

They’re eager to go into that space but

are equally ill-equipped to understand the

nuances of the business. The good ones,

the smart ones, although very interested,

have been very cautious. Eventually, I

think it will happen. I don’t think that

anybody’s made that leap yet. There are

some very good reasons for that.

Since Shuffle Master pulled out of the

deal for Ongame, an interesting

development has been the rumoured

interest of Zynga in acquiring Ongame.

Having worked for Zynga, does this come

as a surprise to you?

I hate to speculate on other people’s

plans when I’m not party to them, but it

doesn’t surprise me. Zynga has made it

very clear, especially Mark Pincus, that

the company is interested in the real-

money gaming space and thinks that the

special ‘sauce’ or special methodology

Zynga imposes will be very powerful in

the gambling space. I tend to agree. Once

Zynga does get itself into the market, it’s

going to be very powerful.

That said, part of the reason Zynga is

so powerful is its speed and its ability

to rapidly integrate a product offering,

and that’s very challenging in regulated

markets. It’s much easier for Zynga to

acquire a company that has a worldwide

licence and all sorts of properties, like

Ongame, but to take the thing that makes

Zynga successful and apply it to the

Ongame platform – and having intimate

“The social media companies, Zynga included, look to the real-money space and think, ‘we offer something that holds on to people and keeps them engaged and they don’t have a chance to win real money. Imagine if we could have real money prizes as part of our offering?’”

34-35.indd 34 10/08/2012 15:59



knowledge about both of those things – is

an operation and process that’s not easily

transferable. I think that any acquisition

would create a very powerful marketing

relationship. Zynga has such great reach

for customers. As for technical and

operational synergy, I just don’t see it

initially. Both companies would have to go

through pretty dramatic change to unlock

each other’s value.

Given your experience, how different

is directing and implementing strategy

for Shuffle Master compared to your

previous roles with Zynga, and those with

Electronic Arts and Instant Action?

It’s a very, very different job. Because I’m

currently the most experienced person

on staff here when it comes to our suite

of offerings, I’m the natural person to

drive the overall product strategy for our

Internet group. My work in that space

started many years before. I was brought

onto the board of Shuffle Master over

seven years ago to help build a technology

agenda and be a resource to the company.

As a board member, I’ve been very

involved as a resource for high-level

strategy for many years. I don’t think

it’s a new experience for me but it’s very

different from the role that I had at Zynga

and at Instant Action where I was CEO,

and at EA where I was a creative director

(amongst other roles).

I guess it’s an extremely different

position and the industry is very different.

I rely very heavily in my day-to-day role on

the experts who are here at Shuffle Master

and know a great deal about how to drive

the company. My goal is to look for the

efficiencies of the different businesses:

how can we get better at delivering what

we deliver? I know the term ‘synergies’ is

an overused term, but I think there are a

lot of synergies in our company that are

just getting realised and helping us be

much more efficient in delivering content.

Looking at the global digital gambling

sector, we see various companies looking

to partner, acquire, be acquired, create

specific interactive divisions, amongst

much else. How challenging is the

landscape in leveraging a leading position

and devising a strategy that not only caters

for long-term sustainability but also deals

with the demands of the short-term?

It’s a big challenge, and you summed it

up well. When people ask me about the

hardest part of the job, I always say it’s

achieving the short-term company goals

for the public markets as well as our

existing portfolio and existing presence

and making sure we don’t miss any of

those beats, while also looking to the

long-term and identifying where things are

going. Nobody wants to be the dinosaur

that didn’t change.

I think we have the right team to do

that. I would be guilty of great hubris

if I were to say I have all those answers

(laughs). Quite the contrary; I’m a

component of a very important team

in a very important puzzle and each

one of the pieces is extremely relevant

to our approach. The biggest challenge

for me and our executive team is not

coming up with new opportunities, but

deciding where we’re going to invest our

time and energy. There are a plethora of

possibilities, it’s exciting and challenging

but you nailed it. I suppose it’s true of

all business, this (sector) just feels much

more complex than the ones I’ve been

involved with in the past. There are

so many different factors – hardware,

software, worldwide markets, regulatory

changes, legal changes – the complexity of

the business is really vast.

“Part of the reason Zynga is so powerful is its speed and its ability to rapidly integrate a product offering, and that’s very challenging in regulated markets.”

34-35.indd 35 10/08/2012 15:59



The ImporTance of SocIal medIa for IGamInG affIlIaTeSJeremy Enke, Founder of Poker Affiliate Listings, explores the growing importance of social media strategies for operators and affiliates.

As thE onlinE gambling space has

matured throughout the last decade, so

have the ways in which iGaming affiliates

drive traffic and convert new players to the

various online gambling destinations.

With the recent changes and updates

to Google’s algorithm, it has also become

increasingly important for iGaming

affiliates to explore strategies beyond search

engine optimisation for driving additional

traffic. One of the emerging areas outside

of SEO where many affiliates have been

focusing their efforts is within social media,

primarily Facebook and Twitter.

And in the rapidly changing world

of iGaming, more and more gambling

enthusiasts are relying on these social

media outlets to get their news and find

new sites to play at. Because of this,

both operators and affiliates are

finding that having a presence on the

social media scene is essential to their

overall businesses.

There is no question that player

conversion rates from social media may

not be as high as traditional marketing

efforts, however, the ability to increase

your brand’s recognition by participating

in social media cannot be overstated. More

than likely, your followers or friends do

not visit your website every day. Yet, there

is a good chance that these folks check

their Facebook or Twitter feeds multiple

times per day.

With the number of Facebook users

alone quickly approaching 1 billion,

there is no better platform in the world

for iGaming affiliates to attract potential

new players. Being active on Facebook or

Twitter is an excellent way to build a fan

base and get your brand in front of a global

audience on a daily basis.

Whether it be Facebook or Twitter that

you’re utilising in your marketing efforts,

it’s important to also keep in mind that

both these social media communities are

not ‘marketing platforms’. Instead, they are

communities that give you the opportunity

to engage with others who are either friends

or have similar interests.

One sure-fire way to destroy the

perception of your brand in the

marketplace is to annoy your followers

with useless spam each day. People

don’t go to social media sites to look at

advertising or be sold to, they go to be

social. So let’s explore some specific

social media strategies that iGaming

affiliates can use to successfully drive

new traffic and conversions, as well as

build their brand recognition amongst

gambling enthusiasts.

BrandingYour social media page should be an

extension of your existing brand. Invest

the money and get a professionally

designed cover or background on your

page that immediately engages visitors

and let’s them know exactly what the page

is about. It’s also beneficial if you can

pick up the social media’s vanity URL for

your brand (for example, facebook.com/

yourbrand). Take full advantage of the

opportunity to give your users a branded

experience when on your page.

Call-to-actionJust like affiliates rely on calls-to-action

to convert players, you also need a strong

call-to-action to get followers. Give people

a reason to follow you or become a fan

of your page. One gambling operator

recently ran a Facebook promotion where

they offered new Facebook fans entry

into a $1,000 freeroll. Combining this

promotion with a Facebook ads campaign,

they were able to increase their fans by

over 600 percent. If you want individuals

to like or follow you, don’t be afraid to

ask them to.

stay on topic Remember that un-liking a page is

just as easy as liking it. As your fans

and followers grow, it’s critical to stay

on topic and post only information,

articles, or news that would be pertinent

to these followers. Be sure that your

posts are adding genuine value to your

followers and not just attempting to sell

them something.

Engage your audience One of the biggest mistakes many

iGaming affiliates make when posting to

their social media accounts is that they

do not engage their followers. A good

social media post is one that inspires

thoughts and gets responses from those

reading it. One of the best ways to do this

is to ask questions, especially questions

that are easy to answer. For example, if

you are a poker affiliate, you could post

“Facebook fans, is there ever a good

reason to fold pocket aces”? Another

great method to engage your audience

“As the global consumer use of social networking continues to increase, it will be imperative that both iGaming affiliates and operators adapt with this new culture of communication.”

36-37.indd 36 10/08/2012 16:00



is to use fill-in-the-blank style posts. For

example – “Fill in the blank – The only

time you should ever fold pocket aces is

______________”

Get creativeBeing creative with your social media

efforts will bring you more followers and

keep your audience excited when they see

you have made a new post. Don’t get stuck

in the rut of posting promotional updates

or tweets just for the sake of posting. Link

out to industry related news, share fun

videos relating to your gaming niche, and

most importantly always be sure what you

are posting is in some way adding value to

your followers.

less is better In a comprehensive study done by Buddy

Media, research determined that posts

between 100 and 250 characters, one or

two lines of text, get 60 percent more

likes, comments, and shares than those

of more than 250 characters. This

same study also found a similar trend

determining that posts with 80 characters

or less in length have 27 percent higher

engagement rates.

Contests and promotions Sponsoring contests or running exclusive

promotions to your social media audience

is a great way to engage your existing

followers, as well as attract new followers

or ‘likes’ to your page. After all, everyone

loves a chance to win something. One

of the easiest types of contests to run is

any type that involves sports, especially

for gambling affiliates, whose audience

is more than likely intrigued by the

opportunity to win. With both US and

European football seasons around the

corner, Facebook contests or promotions

are a great way to increase your social

media following.

summaryUntil the emergence of social media,

unless affiliates operated a forum or blog

there wasn’t an effective way to correspond

with their players on a daily basis. With

the rapid growth of social media, however,

iGaming affiliates who are active on the

top social media sites are realising its

effectiveness in respect of increasing their

websites’ trustworthiness and goodwill

amongst their followers. When affiliates

are able to have conversations with their

customers, the result is going to be an

increased amount of credibility.

For both affiliates and operators, there

is no better or more cost effective method

than social media to announce

promotions or company news. Likewise,

leveraging social media makes it easy

to spread the news, or create a viral

marketing campaign.

As the global consumer use of social

networking continues to increase, it will

be imperative that both iGaming affiliates

and operators adapt with this new culture

of communication. And with social

networks such as Facebook preparing to

introduce real money gaming

applications, there has never been a

better time to fine tune your social media

presence and strategy.

“One gambling operator recently ran a Facebook promotion where they offered new Facebook fans entry into a $1,000 freeroll. Combining this promotion with a Facebook ads campaign, they were able to increase their fans by over 600 percent. If you want individuals to like or follow you, don’t be afraid to ask them to.”

36-37.indd 37 10/08/2012 16:00


Social GamblinG’S chip leaderSimply put, Zynga is the dominant force in the social gaming market, boasting over 30 million monthly players and lacking a serious contender to challenge its leading position. Earlier this year, the company branched out into social bingo and has just launched a new slots game under its casino franchise. With its reach in social gambling spreading, iGB Affiliate spoke to Nicole Opas, Executive Producer of the sector’s most influential and innovative developer, Zynga.

In this age of social media, networking

and gaming, was bingo a natural extension

to Zynga’s portfolio given the game’s

inherently social nature?

Absolutely. Games such as bingo have

been around for years in one form or

another and represent some of the most

cherished forms of entertainment. We’ve

learnt from our players’ feedback that

they want to play their favourite games

with their friends, so Zynga Bingo was

definitely a natural fit for us.

What are the specific challenges in

creating content for the Facebook

platform in terms of technology,

design and playability?

I think we always ask ourselves how we

can use Facebook’s social graph to its

greatest potential to make games that

people love to play with their friends.

We want to create an experience that

fits into what they are looking for on

Facebook. It’s also an evolving platform,

so it always keeps us thinking about our

design and how to make our games as

compelling as possible.

In terms of template, I know your studio

team in Austin created the bingo

platform, but was this purely in-house

design and build?

Yes, we designed and built the entire

game with our Zynga employees. Not only

did Zynga Austin work on the game, but

we also worked closely with Zynga New

York and multiple teams in San Francisco.

Was this process the same for your

poker offering?

We’ve learnt a great deal from Zynga

Poker over the past five years. We know

what people like to play, how they like

to play with their friends, and have

applied the information we’ve

accumulated in building Zynga Bingo.

Zynga Poker was our first social game

and we have built up a great relationship

with our players by improving the game

with the features that they’ve asked for

over those five years.

What is Zynga Bingo’s USP?

The difference with Zynga Bingo is social.

As one of the largest bingo games on

Facebook, there is always a room to play

in and a lot of new people to play with.

We also offer several different room

styles and evolving games with new

features. For example, we have just

launched a series of bingo tournaments

with new, special rewards and a new

tournament room to play in.

What has been your assessment of the

launch so far – what sort of data/

feedback have you been able to glean

from your beta test?

The feedback has been that our players

love Zynga Bingo. Since its launch,

we have added new features and we’ll

continue to do so. One thing in particular

that we’ve seen players enjoying are the

‘Achievements’, which reward players for

playing in different ways.

What are your plans for the bingo site in

the future and what sort of development

can we expect?

We are always looking at new social

features and are constantly listening to our

players. We also play a lot ourselves, so

that also helps us brainstorm. So, in terms

of what is next, I’d say to watch this space.

And what are your expectations for

Zynga Bingo? Do you think it will have

the same sort of appeal as your successful

poker brand?

We want to make Zynga Bingo a beloved,

long-lasting social game. We’ve achieved

that with Zynga Poker, and we think we’ve

done a great job with Zynga Bingo so far.

“I think gamification is a huge strategy for all types of brands, regardless of industry.”


38-39.indd 38 10/08/2012 16:01


Social gaming is a hot topic in the real

money gaming industry at present. How

do you see the social gaming environment

developing into the future?

I think we are just at the beginning.

Zynga’s vision is to bring ‘play’ to the

world and get a billion people to play

together. We want to make play a daily

habit for everyone, everywhere – on any

device, on any platform.

Rather than brands like Zynga moving

into real money gambling, do you foresee

traditional gaming brands adopting ‘non-

gambling’ strategies for the social space

and its demographic?

I think gamification is a huge strategy for

all types of brands, regardless of industry.

An example is how Nike+ inspires people

to interact with its brand and its friends by

challenging and rewarding runners after

they accomplish milestones.

And why do you think the social

demographic is keen to embrace casual

applications like bingo and casino? Or

rather, why do you think Zynga’s gaming

products have been so successful?

In the case of our casino franchise,

we’ve taken games that people know and

love. For generations, people have been

playing these games with family and

friends, and we’ve been able to make

them super-accessible and social in a

new way. We then inject lots of surprises

and heightened game experiences for

our players that they learn to expect. As

a company, we are always looking to

innovate and invent new social game play.

Finally, what can we expect from

Zynga Casino in the future – are there

any developments to follow on from

the bingo launch?

We recently announced the next

game in our Casino franchise, Zynga

Elite Slots, which is a story-based slots

adventure. Players will journey

through the enchanted forest, fight the

evil witch, discover lost treasure in

Atlantis, build a CityVille skyscraper

or test their mettle in a showdown in

the Wild West. The game will offer

new stories and game features on a

regular basis after the initial launch,

so stay tuned.

“We want to make Zynga Bingo a beloved, long-lasting social game. We’ve achieved that with Zynga Poker, and we think we’ve done a great job with Zynga Bingo so far.”


38-39.indd 39 10/08/2012 16:02

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INSIGHT

Aires Loutsaris, Senior SEO Specialist at eGaming Consulting, assesses the growing importance of a mobile-specific SEO strategy within the maturing gaming industry.

There Are Those who say mobile

SEO is the same as traditional SEO. Some

even go as far as saying the term ‘mobile

SEO’ shouldn’t exist since mobile screens

are nothing more than smaller computer

screens. Others say that mobile SEO is

a new and real concept that can stand

alone and should be given the importance

it deserves especially considering the

exponential rise in Smartphone users.

For the moment, I suspect the truth lies

somewhere in the middle ground but be

ready for change.

The differenceThe major difference between mobile

and desktop searches is the number of

keywords per search. One must remember

that mobile users are accessing the web

using a tiny keypad, mainly with one hand

and probably whilst eating with the other or

having it squashed in a jam-packed train.

Therefore, mobile-focused SEO should

be geared towards an absolute maximum

of three word keyphrases which is

confirmed by Google’s reports that the

average query on mobile search is 15

characters long. This statement can

be further proved by a recent study by

Experian Hitwise where it was found that

in the past year, the percentage of the

number of clicks by number of searches fell

substantially for long-tail keyphrases having

only risen for single keyword searches.

Given the limited screen size, it is

more important than ever to be in the top

half of results. It has also been reported

by Google that an average mobile search

takes approximately 30 key presses and

approximately 40 seconds to enter. In order

to prevent giving users finger cramp, most

search engines have introduced ‘predictive

search’ which reveals a new SEO prospect,

making it imperative to be ranked for the

most common ‘predictive search phrases’

for one’s business field.

how to spend?There is a legitimate question as to

whether there should be separate

budgets for mobile and for desktop SEO.

This naturally depends on how search

engines view mobile sites and whether

they are separate to desktop versions.

Consolidating the SEO work is going to

provide decent results in the short-term

and the potential extra expenditure could

better be served optimising content for

the thousands of Smartphones out there.

However, things will change.

At present, people do not link to mobile

sites in the way they do for desktop sites so,

consequently, a mobile site will have fewer

inbound links. Yet, another substantial

factor to take into account is that these

standard inbound text links will be

devalued as social media is an increasingly

important factor and ranking factors such

as popularity will be more dependant on

sharing through sites such as Google+.

one UrL or two?Many online betting companies have

already committed themselves on this

question, preferring an ‘m.subdomain’

or ‘.mobi’. Both Bing and Google now

suggest that keeping one URL which shows

different content based on different devices

would be best and will not be considered as

‘cloaking’. Certainly from an expenditure

point of view, it makes a lot of sense.

Ideally, a site should be automatically

searchable when written and designed

with a humble content layout that is easy

to read for a mobile audience. This means

no frames should be used, no Flash or Ajax

either and a lot of optimising and testing for

every potential phone, given that different

devices and different browsers might render

overlapping or other errors in site content. In

practice, this isn’t straightforward especially

as mobile gambling sites tend not to mirror

desktop sites and, consequently, they offer

different content. Secondly, if your mobile

specific URL is long established, changing

things now may not really help that much.

so what?Mobile search accounts for 22 percent of

all searches on Google and with the swift

migration towards the use of Smartphones

coupled with an exponential growth in

mobile technology, this value is only

going to get higher. It is inevitable that

mobile searches will be geared towards

mobile results. Google has introduced

Googlebot-Mobile for feature phones and

Smartphones and this will increasingly

serve up results that are device specific.

This means that a mobile site will have to

be optimised and mobile specific strategies

will evolve out of current hybrid strategies.

AIres LoUTsArIs is Senior SEO Specialist at eGaming Consulting and has a great desire for optimisation. Since graduating from Kings College University in London he has placed many sites within the first page of Google. That’s what he does. Aires is not only multilingual but also familiar with many different web operating languages and PLC programming. [email protected]

“Mobile search accounts for 22 percent of all searches on Google and with the swift migration towards the use of Smartphones coupled with an exponential growth in mobile technology, this value is only going to get higher.”

MOBILE SEO: A SEPARATE STRATEGY?

41.indd 41 10/08/2012 16:03


INSIGHT

The Clever AffiliATe’s Guide To Mobile seoFor affiliates considering going mobile, an effective SEO strategy is of vital importance, explains Janet Plumpton, SEO Strategist at Latitude Digital Marketing.

Mobile technology is

revolutionising the way we live while

continuing to develop at breakneck

speed. A recent study by IAB UK reports

that six out of ten UK adults now own a

Smartphone, compared with a European

average of just over four out of ten. While

18 to 29 year olds still own the most

Smartphones, the 30 to 49 age group is

briefly catching up, with a huge seven

out of ten now possessing a Smartphone,

according to data from Google. What is

even more impressive is the massive 62

percent of UK Smartphone users who

now ‘dual screen’ using a tablet device or

Smartphone while watching TV, according

to the IAB.

It is no wonder, then, that the gaming

industry has been and continues to be one

of the most mature mobile advertising

markets – after all, perhaps more than

any other sector, due to fierce

competition, it needs to be where the

customers are. The industry is also used

to adapting to new technologies quickly

and, as a result, many gaming advertisers

have already taken their offering mobile.

Surprisingly, there is still a number of

gaming companies who aren’t paying

attention to their mobile audience which

leaves room for affiliates to take a slice

of the mobile cake.

If you do decide to go mobile, thinking

about your SEO is a crucial step towards a

successful mobilisation.

Mobile and seoA recurring query that Latitude is

presented with is whether or not a separate

mobile site poses a duplicate content issue.

As anyone who is accustomed to basic

SEO best practice is well aware, duplicate

content is frowned upon. This has become

even more important following recent

Panda algorithm changes where quality,

fresh content is of paramount importance.

But what exactly happens with mobile

sites? Are we penalised for having the

same copy on www.examplesite.com and

subdomain www.m.examplesite.com

or www.examplesite.com and specific

mobile folder www.examplesite.com/

mobile? After all, a subdomain is viewed

as a separate body by the search engines

and presents external duplicate content

concerns whilst folders will be seen as

duplicate internal content. Surely, having

the same content on either is a huge red

flag to the SERPs?

is this the case?Let’s take a look at Wikipedia – using the

search query ‘SEO’ presents Wikipedia at the

top spot in Google. Wikipedia’s mobile site

is hosted on an ‘m.’ subdomain. We can see

in Figure 1 that we also have an additional

English subdomain with ‘en.’

Let’s take the following snippet of text:

“Search engine optimization (SEO)

is the process of improving the visibility

of a website or a web page in a search

engine’s ‘natural’ or un-paid (‘organic’ or

‘algorithmic’), search results. In general,

the earlier (or higher ranked on the search

results page) and more frequently a site

appears in the search results list, the

more visitors it will receive from the

search engine’s users.”

The above text is present on both

the desktop: http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Search_engine_optimization, and

mobile site on the subdomain: http://

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_

engine_optimization.

Is this duplicate content in Google’s

eyes? Actually, Google’s spiders understand

the difference between mobile and desktop

URLs and will not penalise a website for

this type of duplicate content. The user

agent redirection is key here – the skip/

redirect update ensures that mobile

URLs are crawled as they should be.

As a precautionary method, the use of

canonical tags is also recommended.

canonical tagsThe canonical tag, which Google has been

supporting since 2009, allows webmasters

to state where pages may be seen as a copy

of another. The placement of the tag tells

the search engines where the primary copy

can be found and, in turn, allow link value

to flow to the preferred page.

If we take a look at the source code of

the Wikipedia mobile site, we can see that

Wikipedia is also making use of a canonical

tag in the head of the document (Figure 2).

This alerts the search engines to the most

relevant URL – the desktop site.

Final musings…It’s important to ensure that you have the

correct User Agent redirection put in place

so that Googlebot-Mobile can crawl your

mobile content. Your desktop site will be

crawled by the regular Googlebot. As an

added preventative measure, look to also

include canonical tags into the headers of

your mobile site URLs.

For more insights into mobile

marketing and the gaming industry, email

[email protected] for your

free copy of Latitude’s Q2 Mobile Report.

JAnet PlUMPton is SEO Strategist at Latitude Digital Marketing. Janet’s SEO experience reaches over three years. Before joining Latitude, she worked as an SEO Consultant for Pagehog. Janet was promoted to SEO Strategist in 2012 and is a key contributor to Latitude’s quarterly Mobile Report.

Figure 1

Figure 2

42.indd 42 10/08/2012 18:39

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CM

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CMY

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market ace full page ad-spain.pdf 1 23/07/2012 13:17


INSIGHT

The Key To Social and Mobile applicaTion MarKeTingPrior to promoting or even building any mobile or social application, it is of key importance to completely understand the market, how it evolved, who uses social and mobile apps and for what purpose, and to also try to visualize where it will be in six months, a year and even five years from now.

Understanding socialThere are many opinions on the

subject but it is recommended that you

read everything out there, whether for or

against, and truly understand the main

differences between online gaming, social

gaming and mobile gaming.

Recommended reading would start with

obvious sites such as Mashable, Inside

Facebook, Social Times and then drill down

to blog sites written by key individuals

within these industries. Additionally, it is

crucial to know and fully understand the

changing face of virtual currency and the

implementation of a social economy.

For example, the recent announcement

by Facebook to replace Facebook Credits

with real currency took a little time to be

fully understood. But the bottom line is

that Facebook Credits turning into real

money will elevate social gaming to a new

level and take away the ‘blur’ of separate

virtual currencies. Most social games have

their own virtual currency (for example,

Farmville has Farm Cash), therefore, it

makes sense that users can spend real

money to buy Farm Cash and cut out the

need for a double conversion with Facebook

Credits in the middle. Additionally, it adds

a new business revenue model for other

applications on Facebook such as music

and video downloads and online news,

where Facebook applications will have the

ability to run subscription-based models.

Pinpointing a social strategyUltimately, as with any business, the

purpose is to make money. Achieving this

through social and mobile applications is

usually associated with micro payments

for virtual chips and virtual goods. For

anyone from the world of real money

gaming, it’s not an easy concept to

understand. The answer to “why would

someone buy virtual chips that can never

be redeemed?” is a question often repeated

by real money gaming companies. The

answer is quite simple: the supply and

demand of an entertaining, captivating

application which gives users the

opportunity to experience it for free but

progress to higher areas for a cost.

The psychology of social behaviour

dictates that users are heavily influenced

by their peers. It’s one of the reasons

why Zynga Poker has been so successful.

Human nature dictates that if someone

has achieved a higher level, whether it is

in a social or mobile application or in the

real world, others want to emulate it. The

power of a social network is that known

achievements are made by people inside

the users’ network of connections and not

just an unknown name on a leader board

or winners circle.

Therefore, the key elements of social

strategy are threefold:

1. A captivating offering

2. Achievements which make the user

want to share and ‘brag’ about

3. The ability to progress and be

rewarded based on game-related factors

Knowing your audiencePrior to running any marketing campaign

for social or mobile applications, it is not

only important to know who the audience

will be but also to understand why. Social

and mobile applications are based around

mass. When revenue is made from the

sale of virtual goods the average sale is

approximately $1 to $5. Bearing in mind

that an industry average of depositing

users is around two percent of the player

base, mass really does matter.

However, the 98 percent of users who

do not make a real money deposit are the

collective reason why your application

will be a viral success. It is, therefore,

just as important to understand and

nurture this demographic.

reaching your audienceSEO, PPC, CPM and affiliates are all

terms that are familiar within the online

marketing departments of real money

gaming companies. Throw a little money

everywhere in order to test the water then,

whatever works best, go all-in.

Advertising for mobile and social

applications must be made where your

audience currently is and where it will be

when they start using your application.

It certainly isn’t rocket science to figure

out that if your application is on Facebook,

then the best place to acquire new users

is Facebook. The same is true for mobile.

The only choices to make are whether you

need external help for user acquisition and

where to turn to for a strong social media

acquisition partnership.

The cost of a social playerThere are many key performance

indicators (KPIs) used in social and

mobile applications. The primary KPIs

include the cost of a social user and the

44-45.indd 44 10/08/2012 16:05


INSIGHT

cost of a depositing social user. Without

knowing these figures early on, it would be

impossible to project whether or not your

application may one day be profitable.

The initial cost depends on the type

of ad running, targeting, ad text, click

through rate and geographic location.

Additionally, factor into the cost that

between 20 percent and 40 percent of

additional users will be acquired from the

viral actions of media acquired users. The

next KPI is value per depositing user.

realizing the value of your usersAs mentioned earlier, just because a user

does not make a real money deposit does

not discount any value factor.

Another KPI is successfully measuring

how many additional users came

directly as a result of social interactions,

identifying the user(s) responsible, the

cause of their viral activity and adequately

rewarding them in order to continue

their viral activity.

Game elements: progression and viralityThe importance of virality can never

be stressed enough. Within the game

mechanics of every application, the two

key factors are progression and virality.

Virality represents acquisition and

progression represents retention. Two

terms that are very familiar in the space

of real money gaming.

Look at companies who are doing this

right and learn. Understand why a user

would share a notification and then why

another potential user would act on it.

An example would be a posting like this:

“John Smith just did a basic action in Cool

Game and received a gazillion gold tokens.

Join John and get a gazillion gold tokens.”

This example is shared by John Smith

simply because it gives him something

that game developers call ‘bragging rights’.

If a user spends hours playing a game and

then makes an achievement, the user has

earned the right to brag. And every game

developer graciously assists the need to

brag. On the flip side, anyone viewing

this can see that John Smith received gold

tokens. They also see what John Smith did

to receive the gold tokens. Subconsciously,

the mind is putting a value to the word

‘gold’ and is already wondering what to

do in order to achieve the same. Up to 30

percent of the people seeing a post like

this will try to copy this feat at least once.

The future: regulation?Sooner or later, everything connected to

money, both online and offline, comes

under the scrutiny of the authorities,

and virtual currency is no exception. In a

recent report on Network World entitled

Farm Cash vs Hard Cash, Deborah

Thoren-Peden, a partner within a US

law firm, stated, “There are a couple of

hundred laws that could trigger or not

trigger depending on how the virtual

currency is set-up. If a company is holding

money that belongs to someone else,

the states want to make sure that there’s

oversight of the fund. Generally speaking,

you either need to have a bank licence or

a state money transmitter licence or you

need to be an authorised delegate of one

of those entities”.

In addition to all of the ‘banking’ issues,

there are also safety and security issues

for minors becoming potential targets of

sex offenders. Habbo Hotel has recently

come under scrutiny on a Channel 4

documentary. This caused the popular

virtual world application to temporarily

turn off its chat functionality until there

was sufficient security monitoring

measures implemented and publicised.

With these two issues in mind, and

following the way that real money gaming

changed from a grey area to one that is

completely black and white, it is only a

matter of time before regulation for social

and mobile gaming is enforced.

mIChaeL KaTZ is CEO and founder of Sociarati Media, a full service social media marketing agency specialising in strategy and campaign planning for the online gaming industry. Michael has been a part of the online gaming industry since 2002 and has specialised in social media since 2010. Michael can be contacted by email at [email protected].

“There are many key performance indicators (KPIs) used in social and mobile applications, including the cost of a social user and the cost of a depositing social user. Without knowing these figures early on, it would be impossible to project whether or not your application may one day be profitable.”

44-45.indd 45 10/08/2012 16:05


INSIGHT

1http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120726006920/en/Strong-Demand-Smartphones-Quarter-Continues-Drive-Worldwide

Don’t Miss out on Mobile: Five top tips For AFFiliAtes in the Mobile spAceDaphna Silberman, Director and mobile specialist at BrightShare Affiliate Program representing All Slots Casino and All Slots Mobile Casino, shares some pointers for affiliates looking to capitalise on the fast-growing mobile casino market.

Mobile phoneS have been the

hot technology of the last five years. So

called ‘feature phones’ have given way

to Smartphones. Large touchscreens,

better quality graphics, new web

browsers and greatly improved processing

power have all redefined how people

interact with their device. Consumers are

increasingly living their online lives on

their mobile devices – representing a

huge mGaming opportunity.

Because of this versatility, and the new

world of apps and the mobile Internet,

Smartphones are exploding in popularity.

Analyst house IDC reported1 that the

Smartphone market has grown to see

over 150 million devices shipped globally

in Q2, 2012 alone.

What does this mean for the gaming

industry and for affiliates? Initially, there

was uncertainty about whether Smartphone

users would embrace mGaming but, with

operators’ figures showing that mobile now

represents around 30 percent of all activity

and continues to grow month-on-month,

it’s a booming market.

The conclusion is clear: mobile is a

‘must have’ for gaming sites. It’s becoming

a major – if not the major – channel for

player acquisition and for mobile game

play. But how can affiliates make the most

out of the mobile opportunity?

1. Choose wiselyThe mobile market is growing as we speak

– but that doesn’t mean you should rush

into any decisions for fear of missing out.

Offering a poor product is worse than not

entering the market at all, as it will damage

the brand and drive people away. Selecting

the right casino – and its affiliate program –

is the most strategically important decision

you have to make.

It may seem obvious, but you should

select a reputable casino, ideally with an

established and proven mobile offering.

If there’s a corresponding online casino,

there’s a great cross marketing opportunity

to maximise revenues and player retention.

A mobile casino should be optimised for

all of the major Smartphone and tablet

operating systems, including Android, iOS

and Java. There’s no point in developing

and promoting a killer product if it can only

reach one part of the market. The landing

pages must be light and fast, designed

specifically for mobile and not just rescaled

versions of the full website. End users

aren’t going to tolerate a sluggish and

second-rate experience when their phones

are capable of so much more.

Affiliates should also expect to

receive close support from experienced

mobile account managers. Your account

management team needs to understand

how online and mobile gaming can

complement each other – and help you get

the most out of the platform. You should

expect help with building new strategies

and campaigns focused on mobile.

Similarly, look for someone who can offer

specialised mobile marketing tools and the

ability to provide intelligence around the

effectiveness of the mobile programe.

2. Make sure you have the right tools for the jobThe interactive casino you choose should

provide a wide variety of marketing tools

which match your business strategy and

requirements and are optimised for mobile

to give you the maximum impact.

●● Think about the customer experience.

The casino should have the tools to

recognise whether the player is using

a tablet or a Smartphone, and redirect

people to their optimal platform for the

best possible gaming experience.

●● What other technologies could promote

your affiliated casinos? Hosting a

dedicated mobile site is a must. It

should be easy to view and navigate

– with a small amount of casinos and

information offered – and should load

in less than three seconds. QR (Quick

Response) Codes can help automatically

direct players to the optimal casino for

their device simply by taking a picture.

There’s also the opportunity to use an

iFrame tool to promote mobile gaming

on an online site. The player simply

inserts their details and instantly

receives a link by email or SMS direct to

their mobile device.

●● Think about the promotional materials

available. Banners will be key and should

be provided in a range of sizes and formats

available both for online and mobile.

3. Take advantage of the growth in mobile searchIt’s important that any player searching

from his mobile for a casino should see

mobile casino sites ahead of less relevant

online alternatives. With one in seven

searches now made on a mobile device,

according to Google, it is essential that

you shape your offering to perform well

in mobile search. But bear in mind that

mobile SEO is a different ball game to

online SEO, with algorithms and results

managed in different ways.

4. arm yourself with analyticsTo learn and deliver more effective

campaigns in the future, you must have

the tools and time to analyse ongoing

performance. You can even monitor in real-

time, providing invaluable intelligence in

terms of demographics, and which games

and mobile platforms are most popular.

5. Stay on topOperators must keep pace with the

evolution of Smartphone technology. It is

a fast moving industry and it is imperative

that you select an operator that has its

eye on the market and is committed

to supporting the latest handsets and

operating systems. An experience that

is one or more generations behind will

harm the experience and, ultimately, your

reputation and success.

The number one rule is to keep the

customer experience front of mind. Find a

casino partner with the same passion and

commitment and you won’t go far wrong.

46.indd 46 10/08/2012 16:09

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full-page-advert-igb.indd 1 10/26/2011 2:03:56 PM


INSIGHT

A Multi-MediA SociAl ApproAch thAt iSn’t hAlf BAkedSix years ago, an online gaming marketer could set up an affiliate program and an SEO program and sit back and watch the players roll in. As the space has saturated, leaving everyone searching for new ways to find players and get them to return, it has lead to operators and affiliates looking for new traffic generation opportunities.

Further adding to this difficult

new landscape is an unrelenting Google

Spam policy and a transition of players

from standard desktop play to mobile. It is

an understatement to say that the online

marketing landscape has evolved in the

gaming space.

However, it simply isn’t as tough as it

seems to find new places to drive traffic

and turn them into actual players. Smart

marketers know this, and are making the

transitions I will discuss in this article.

Let’s take a look at a recipe to turn

seemingly meaningless mobile social traffic

into high-end players.

ingredients:●● Facebook Fan Page

●● Optim.al account

●● A strong piece of content to offer

(Infographics, odds sheets, etc)

●● PAR Program

●● iPad

instructions:Step 1You want to build up a high quality

Facebook fan page that has high quality

content, polls, and other usable content.

Simply filling up the page with offers is

about as useful as a one legged chair.

Step 2To help you build your audience employ

the help of Optim.al. They allow you to

drive ‘Likes’ on the cheap, and specialise

in mobile users. They help you target the

Likes as well. You are already likely saying,

“How valuable are likes?” Patience.

Step 3Build out a really great content offering

off your Facebook page, and incorporate

a newsletter sign-up. Let me reiterate,

GREAT CONTENT. Your standard ‘Ten

Tips to Higher Payouts’ isn’t going to cut it,

and don’t tell me this strategy didn’t work if

that is what you are pushing.

Step 4Now begin to share that offline content

on your page, and utilise the Facebook

promotion ads to maximise the visibility

of this content to your growing fan base.

The importance in the promotion makes a

difference of about 80 percent.

Step 5As the traffic begins to trickle into

Facebook, make sure to hit the traffic with

an exit pop asking them to sign-up for your

newsletter to receive awesome tips, tricks,

and register to win a free iPad.

Step 6You are going to take this growing list of

people and manage them in PAR. PAR

is a company started by my good friend

Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker. It

allows you to take your boring old email list

and extract really vital information about

your members. This includes all of their

social profiles registered to that email, age

demographics, sex, location, occupation

and other information.

From here you can do a couple of things

with PAR. First, you can create acquisition

sequences created by the information.

For example, I can send one offer to 35

to 50 year-old women in London that use

Facebook, and another offer and mailer

to men aged 18 to 35 in Germany. The

sequence will run until they became players.

Once they are attained you can then initiate

retention sequences for your groups.

Once this system is set up, the only thing

you need to add is quality content and new

incentives for signups.

how to cook this in the multi-media mixThis set-up is perfect to target the ever-

expanding mobile user base. However, you

do need to follow some basic best practices,

because the reality is that not all content

48-49.indd 48 10/08/2012 16:49


INSIGHT

renders the same on desktop as mobile.

350 million users log-in to Facebook using

mobile devices. In addition, nearly 21 percent

of the emails opened in the entertainment

market will come via mobile email. This

means that a nice portion of your traffic

using this method will be mobile users.

Make sure the content you create is

mobile friendly. If you are offering PDFs,

make sure they are housed somewhere

that a user can navigate to and not just

download. PDFs should be optimised

for both downloading via, and being read

on, mobile devices.

Content such as infographics need to

be optimised for mobile users. We have

found using a mobile friendly jQuery

lightbox does the trick.

The one key is to make sure that your

newsletter landing page has a very good

mobile version, and that your strategy for

optimising for this conversion is mobile

friendly. One route you could also go is

adding a form field for phone numbers so

that you can build an SMS list as well.

expand your flavour pallet You can easily expand outside of this

structure to drive even more traffic.

A great place to start is StumbleUpon,

which allows targeted demographic content

delivery at a nominal cost. It is a very clean

and straightforward route towards viral

marketing. Also it allows you to target

only those people with a gambling interest,

and hone in from there for topics like poker

and specific sports.

Another great way to maximise your

effectiveness on this traffic is to incorporate

a retargeting pixel onto your site. The main

issue with social traffic is that the user is

not in the mindset to convert immediately.

By utilising PAR and retargeting, you can

maximise the effectiveness of your mobile

and social traffic. Retargeter.com manages

mobile retargeting well. This will work

especially well with StumbleUpon since

the users are likely ‘stumbling’ across your

content as they look for other content.

the icing on the cakeThe acquisition and retention emails are

really the icing on the cake in this process.

If you don’t have solid acquisition collateral,

none of this is going to work. One

suggestion I would make is not beating

your list over the head with constant sales

pitches but, rather, you should mix in

usable content to retain your list and move

them closer to a sale. Info product affiliates

have made an art form of this, and there

are a plethora of amazing resources online

to help you create these campaigns.

don’t get lazyThe key to this entire process is that you

can’t do any one portion of it half baked.

Great content with a terrible use of

demographic targeting in your acquisition

sequences isn’t going to yield strong

results. However, once this process is

set up, you can repeat to increase

conversions, so don’t get insanely caught

up in the details to the point that you

never get this functioning.

This process turns the traffic that most

gaming marketers see as low value into

valuable gains. Low value traffic is where

other people aren’t looking, and the lack

of saturation can yield you an advantage.

Furthermore, the traffic and social signals

from this strategy can have profound benefits

on your SEO strategies and, thus,

lead to increases in your ROI.

“The main issue with social traffic is that the user is not in the mindset to convert immediately. By utilising PAR and retargeting, you can maximise the effectiveness of your mobile and social traffic.”

dave Snyder is SVP of Product Development at BlueGlass. Dave is a world renowned Internet Marketing Consultant and has spoken around the world on search marketing and social media, and has consulted for some of the world’s largest companies. Dave parlayed his gifts as a former teacher and writer into his current role as a thought leader in the arena of search marketing. He is also one of the publishers of SearchEngineJournal and DailySEOTip, where he shares his unique perspective on concepts related to search marketing. Dave’s strengths lie in both organic and paid search marketing, and he excels in utilising social media for brand building and online reputation management. Dave is considered one of the foremost authorities on link marketing.

48-49.indd 49 10/08/2012 16:49


INSIGHT

ARE YOU FROM THE PAST?This fantastic expression was first used a few years ago by the technical support of the “IT Crowd” sitcom (scan the barcode here to watch the clip). I was thinking about it when starting to write this article as honestly, if you are not already dealing with social and/or mobile gaming already, you are probably quite satisfied with accessing your MySpace account using that solid Nokia of yours…

Let’s begin with some facts:

●● By 2014, mobile browsing will be

bigger than desktop Internet (Morgan

Stanley, April 2010)

●● Total value of mobile wagering, across

casinos, betting and lottery, totalled

$19.5 billion in 2011, and the market

will be worth more than $100 billion by

2017. The major online UK sportsbooks

– Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power

– are all now seeing around 40 percent

of their sportsbook users accessing their

services via a mobile device (Juniper

Research, June 2012)

●● Facebook is the largest social network

on earth, with nearly 1 billion registered

members (Facebook, July 2012)

●● 62 percent of adults worldwide now

use social media; social networking is

the most popular online activity, with

22 percent of time online spent on

channels like Facebook, Twitter and

Pinterest (May 2012, The Social Skinny)

What would you do, knowing that this

is the type of content people consume,

and knowing their preferred means of

consuming it? Surely, you will go and

try to enhance your social media

presence and strive to own some kind

of mobile capabilities.

hand-in-handI want to explore with you why these two

aspects of Internet content, social and

mobile (particularly when it comes to

online gambling, you can’t really spot one

without the other), always go together.

I personally believe that there are

several layers to this phenomenon, starting

with the fact that both are relatively new

and dependent on each other. Facebook

was big and growing, but only when the

iPhone emerged and took the Smartphone

category by charge did the real penetration

of ‘being connected’ became part of our

daily routine. So, people are interested in

other people, which makes sense, and

now they have the ability to do so all of

the time – one reason is feeding the other,

and visa versa.

Secondly, you might be old enough to

remember a minor amendment to US

Internet law called UIGEA, which dates

back to 2006. My claim is that the USA,

unarguably the largest market on earth

in terms of gaming, was shut out of any

easily accessible online gambling option.

And then came Zynga. So, people, while

trying to poke other people, were also

looking engage in some recreational

activity. Being used to anything served

instantly, poker was starting to rise on

social networks as well, and you know

that whatever happens in the US catches

on around the globe shortly after.

Meanwhile, Facebook kept enforcing its

strict “players cannot withdraw money

out of their gaming balance” rule,

regardless of the highly moral and sincere

efforts of the industry.

Certain ex-iGaming execs, with last

names like Playtika, saw this and quickly

did the math: (people are always on

Facebook using their mobile

Smartphone) + (with no ability to legally

wager online) – (any ability to cash out

their winnings) = an untapped multi-

billion dollar opportunity. Let the social

casino style games begin.

so-Lo-MoIf we take a broader perspective, looking at

online marketing in general, there is in fact a

modern approach called So-Lo-Mo, standing

for Social-Local-Mobile. And combining

these three together does make sense as,

from a marketing manager perspective,

it’s an ideal materialisation of how best to

connect with future customers. Foursquare

would be a good example of an app that

adopts the guidelines of this approach.

Drilling down back to what interests us

most, we find out that our industry simply

mimics this trend: at the annual CRM &

Retention Seminar I moderated during

the last ICE conference in London, one

of the speakers said that “mobile is not

just another channel. It will provide the

highest chunk of revenues in the very near

future. One third of our online players are

engaged in mobile as well, with a very easy

cross-sell”. Another speaker pushed the

idea further, saying that his analysis of a

leading brand’s activity shows that it’s no

longer enough to act based on customer

comments, saying: “because online

operators own all the possible data, they

should already have everything in place to

respond to any player-initiated scenario,

before the player even thinks about it.”

How does this fall into the So-Lo-Mo

approach? By analysing all aspects of your

players’ behaviour, you should know at all

times what kind of marketing messages

you can serve, and on what medium. And

if you have got that working right for your

business, you will start to see the benefits

in terms of revenue.

shAhAR AttiAs, the Founder and CEO of Hybrid Interaction Ltd, is a globally recognised Retention Marketing and Loyalty expert and the blogger behind iGamingCRM.com. He is a frequent speaker at iGaming conferences, and has a deep understanding of all vertical-specific KPIs in the online gambling industry, as well as an extensive experience in Forex and Binary Options, and recent case studies with applying Player Development Strategies at casino-style gaming applications on Facebook. Office: +972-77-6646213; Mobile: +972-52-8577539; [email protected].

50.indd 50 10/08/2012 15:44

CASINO FOCUS

Sponsored by:

51_SupplementCover.indd 51 10/08/2012 16:35

Casino FoCUs


By Igor Samardziski, Head of Casino at bet-at.eu.

Over the yearS and throughout the evolution of the online casino industry, the job of an online casino affiliate has become more challenging and competitive. Affiliates in the casino sector are probably the only ones that operate in a completely unregulated gaming market, as opposed to the online poker and sportsbook sectors.

This lack of regulation could mean that online casino affiliates face the risk of having their players refused access to gaming software, meaning that players who have been providing them with long-term revenue could suddenly fall through, or regulators within different jurisdictions could end up blocking IP and player access to gaming sites at any time and not always with sufficient leeway to make amends.

In addition to this grey area in which casino affiliates must operate, the consolidation of the industry has seen small to medium sized operators acquired by major operators, including the acquisition of the affiliate programs they had developed, which has created a spin of change throughout the affiliate industry. Before, major casino affiliates would generally trust their business with big operators, however, the perception has now changed somewhat after a handful of them announced that affiliates’ players will not be carried over with the affiliates’ accounts, giving little to no consideration to their business partners nor the heavy contribution they gave to the profit and respective growth of these online casinos since the beginning of their operations.

This naturally brings us to a major question:

What could an affiliate program do to attract and retain their affiliates?Most casino affiliate programs offer a number of marketing tools for an affiliate’s perusal. These generally include a blend of media, reviews and promotions as well as competitive commission plans supported by an affiliate interface that provides a comprehensive amount of

information, allowing each affiliate to evaluate their performance. All well and good, but what affiliates are often lacking is the inside knowledge that affiliate programs have acquired, together with a knowledgeable grasp and decision making capacity on how to use the marketing and reporting tools available to them.

A knowledgeable acquisition team should provide assistance and direction before an affiliate signs up – or upon sign up, depending on the circumstances. If a casino affiliate is going to be proactively approached by the affiliate program in order to develop a business relationship, then the assessment of the website including the review media advertised and the content published, should be correctly

in place, putting the program in better position to be able to provide the affiliate with the right knowledge of their offer. If the request develops out of the affiliate’s initiative, then the program should compile a review automatically upon sign up. This would be the first, crucial step for an affiliate program in order to provide its casino affiliates with the right level of understanding.

It is often the presumption of casino affiliate managers that once an affiliate signs up, it is then up to the affiliate to take

the reins in order for the partnership to commence reaping rewards. This is simply not the case. Affiliate programs hold the key individuals that have the insight and knowledge of the business that will help the growth of each affiliate’s business.

An affiliate program should also understand that each affiliate has different needs. In order to acquire this level of understanding, a casino affiliate program should segment their affiliates’ database on a regular basis in order to strive towards nurturing growth for each and every affiliate irrespective of which category they fall under. It is only then that the required level of individual advice, attention and support can be provided to its full potential.

CASINO AFFILIATE MANAGERS AND THEIR DRIVING FORCE

“What affiliates are often lacking is the inside knowledge that affiliate programs have acquired, together with the decision making capacity on how to use the marketing and reporting tools available to them.”

52-53_WEBMASTER-WORLD-DATA-CENTRE_UKiGamingSearchTrends.indd 52 10/08/2012 16:41

Casino FoCUs


KPIsThe key performance indicators that a casino affiliate program should look for are mainly related to the performance of media (views, clicks, sign-ups) according to its placement on the casino affiliate website, the conversion ratio of players from sign-up to deposit, as well as the ability to provide each affiliate with an in-depth evaluation of their performance on a monthly basis. This information is part of the bigger picture, as it points to the performance of the overall affiliate program and makes monitoring and strategy easier for both affiliate program optimisation as well as for the affiliates themselves on how to develop and improve their individual performances.

One must also never forget that an affiliate program should be constantly incentivising its affiliates for providing new players. This should not only be done through conventional methods such as

commission plans, but also by offering special incentives for delivering new sign-ups, new depositing players and new active players as well as VIP players on a monthly basis. This can be accomplished by being highly competitive in your commission strategy, but also through custom-made commission plans that can be applied to individual affiliates and also to individual players.

Another crucial point would be the activation and retention of players. Affiliate programs should keep their affiliates abreast of all activation and retention activities that are undertaken with their casino players. Casino affiliates need to understand that all

efforts are being made to keep the players on the site, so that the business partnership between the affiliate program and the casino affiliate remains strong and profitable at all times.

Payments are another factor taken too lightly far too often by affiliate programs. An experienced affiliate manager understands that casino affiliates take substantial risks and work hard to deliver players to casino sites. With that in mind, and as with any other business partnerships, casino affiliates should be paid promptly as is agreed on contract, and never a day later in order to guarantee a smooth and mutually beneficial business relationship.

“Affiliate programs should keep their affiliates abreast of all activation and retention activities that are undertaken with their casino players, so that the business partnership between the affiliate program and the casino affiliate remains strong and profitable at all times.”


Casino FoCUs Data Centre

MYRON SAACKS is the Affiliate Manager for Red Returns, where he manages the affiliate program for Red Flush Casino and Casino La Vida. Myron can be reached at [email protected], www.redreturns.net.


Myron Saacks, Affiliate Manager for Red Returns, explores the challenges that would face online casinos should Vegas casinos and land-based brands decide to venture online.

bwiN.pARtY’S ANNOuNCeMeNt of a joint venture with MGM and Boyd Gaming last year has highlighted the appetite for terrestrial US casinos and land-based brands to extend their reign online. The questions arises as to how would this affect the current online gambling industry, and what challenges would online casinos have to face in the race for online dominance?

It wasn’t long ago that online gambling took the world by storm. Millions of users signed up to play anonymously at home on a multitude of casino sites. Then the bubble burst when Congress passed a law (UIGEA) in 2006 that prohibited the transfer of money to casino sites. Consequently, many casino sites left the US market.

However, a bill is now making its way through Congress that would regulate and tax online gambling, making it very attractive for terrestrial casinos and land-based brands to move online. In 2006, Las Vegas Sands showed interest in opening an online casino, followed by MGM last year. Should these titans succeed, competing in this multi-billion dollar industry will become all the more difficult.

Logical stepThe marriage between bricks-and-mortar casinos and online operators is a logical step for many. In the instance of bwin.party’s joint venture with MGM and Boyd Gaming, the companies would be aligned to form a ‘super group’ that would own and operate one joint website and multiple individual sites, giving them a clear advantage as far as online visibility is concerned.

Under the agreement, bwin.party, the operators of Party Poker and the World Poker Tour, would own 65 percent of the company, MGM would own 25 percent while Boyd Gaming would own ten percent. For bwin.party, such agreements would give the company immediate access to the American online gambling demographic.

Las Vegas Sands, another company aiming at online dominance, obtains 85 percent of its revenue from Asia. The company owns one of only two casino licenses available in Singapore and one of six licenses in China. The two regions alone provide extraordinary growth possibilities, making Las Vegas Sands a possible partner for online operators that are looking to re-enter the US market and other regions.

DominationProvided that intra-state legalisation takes place, new regulation would favour Vegas casinos and land-based brands that are already under regulation in the US. From a distance, it would only make sense then for overseas operators to gain an advantage for partnering with US casinos.

At the same time, very little would stand in the way of Vegas casinos dominating the online sector. By extending their brands

and operations onto the web, an influx in business and revenue would come as a direct result of their already prominent presence in the minds of casino players. In addition, Vegas casinos would be in the position to offer incentive structures that rival operators would only be able to dream of, particularly when overnight stays for regular players and VIP tickets to shows become the norm. Online casino operators and their affiliates would need to become extremely inventive to remain competitive and uphold the trust of their users.

To add weight to the intent of Vegas casinos and their desire to move online, MGM Resorts, the largest operator on the Las Vegas Strip, announced earlier this year that it would launch a social gaming site. Although users will be able to play for fun only, MGM is expected to use the platform for promoting its casino brands and the unique experience of playing on the Strip.

What Would happen if Vegas Casinos moVed online?

“From a distance, it would only make sense for overseas operators to gain an advantage for partnering with US casinos. At the same time, very little would stand in the way of Vegas casinos dominating the online sector.”

54_WEBMASTER-WORLD-DATA-CENTRE_UKiGamingSearchTrends.indd 54 10/08/2012 16:36



Search marketing agency, Greenlight, has released its latest report into search traffic trends within the gaming sector for the month of June. Here, we can see the latest from the UK market in relation to search queries for our featured vertical of casino and how it fares in comparison to its traditional counterparts, poker, bingo and sportsbetting.

GreenliGht’s report into UK search trends for the month of June show a significant fall in the overall number of searches for the combined keywords casino, poker, bingo and sportsbetting. Our previous reporting period showed that April’s figures had increased in overall search volumes to 859,603 having fallen to 736,470 in February, which represented the second lowest figure since June 2011. However, June’s data sees overall searches down at 646,589, with casino accounting for the smallest portion at a mere 128,505.

The drop in figures would suggest that seasonality is playing a large part of the decline, particularly for casino (warmer summer weather) but is something of a surprise for sportsbetting which at 143,230 is the second lowest amount, despite the presence of the Euro 2012 football championships and other leading events such as Wimbledon. However, we shall discuss potential reasons for the uniform decline later on.

Searches for bingo-related content overtook both sportsbetting (previous leader) and poker to claim 34 percent voice of share with 221,737 searches (down nearly 20,000 from April), establishing it as the most searched keyword, or at least, the term with the most cumulative searches with regards to variations (sportsbetting/bets/betting/etc). The numbers for poker-related keywords were the only ones to show an increase, jumping from 148,417 in April to 153,117 in June. As mentioned, casino keywords remain the least searched, falling from 136,529 in April to June’s figure of 128,505.

The decrease in searches over the period is almost wholly driven by the drop off in searches for sportsbetting – falling from 314,512 in April to just 143,230 in June, a loss of over 171,000. Considering how April’s figures were arguably positively impacted by seasonal betting events such as the Grand National and pre-Euro 2012, it is difficult to identify exactly why events such as Euro 2012 (June) and the pre-Olympic period hadn’t continued the upward trend.

The uniform decrease in search volumes can be attributed to any number of factors, one of the likeliest being the changing search patterns of the UK betting demographic. As consumers become more aware of how they navigate between the sites they use to bet or play at, their reliance on search engines decreases for short-tail terms such as those detailed here, but may increase for more specific, longer-tail keywords for which is it almost impossible to monitor and chart successfully. Many of the searches recorded for these core keywords such as ‘casino’, ‘bingo’ and ‘poker’ are more likely to be the reserve of those new to betting online, or those seeking information rather than ‘action’, hence the constant presence of Wikipedia at the head of the Greenlight results.

The results for sportsbetting are also slightly muddied by the presence of short-tail terms such as ‘bet’ and ‘betting’ which although are grouped into the sports results, don’t necessarily represent accurate sports betting traffic.

summary of data ●● Searches for gaming-related keywords in June 2012 totalled 646,589 down just over 213,000 on the previous reporting period (859,603).

●● Casino-related terms accounted for the fewest share of searches at just 128,505 (20%) with Casino770.com (64,660), Ladbrokes (56,829) and Wikipedia (42,453) making up the three most visible websites for casino-related keywords. ●● Overall, in June, Wikipedia.org, Ladbrokes and Cheeky Bingo were the three most visible websites in natural search. ●● Cheeky Bingo maintained its lead as the most visible website for bingo-related search terms, with Gala Bingo and Foxy Bingo making up the top three. ●● For poker-related queries, Poker Listings overtook Wikipedia as the most visible website, ahead of PokerStars in third.●● Betfair is now the most visible website for sportsbetting-related terms ahead of Paddy Power and William Hill.

UK iGaminG Search TrendSRank Domain Monthly

Reached Volume

Monthly Missed Volume

Percentage Reached

1 wikipedia.org 170,808 475,781 26%

2 ladbrokes.com 163,832 482,757 25%

3 cheekybingo.com 132,642 513,947 21%

4 888.com 90,927 555,662 14%

5 galabingo.com 89,770 556,819 14%

6 foxybingo.com 86,453 560,136 13%

7 pokerlistings.com 82,595 563,994 13%

8 paddypower.com 77,462 569,127 12%

9 pokerstars.co.uk 74,271 572,318 11%

10 betfair.com 72,911 573,678 11%

11 costabingo.com 72,642 573,947 11%

12 partybingo.com 71,245 575,344 11%

13 casino770.com 69,660 576,929 11%

14 williamhill.com 64,935 581,654 10%

15 jackpotjoy.com 59,489 587,100 9%

16 bingo770.com 57,271 589,318 9%

17 888ladies.com 56,549 590,040 9%

18 meccabingo.com 54,503 592,086 8%

19 pokerstars.com 52,292 594,297 8%

20 888sport.com 50,633 595,956 8%

21 whichbingo.co.uk 50,628 595,961 8%

22 bet365.com 50,032 596,557 8%

23 coral.co.uk 48,942 597,647 8%

24 skypoker.com 48,444 598,145 7%

25 pkr.com 46,998 599,591 7%

26 miniclip.com 44,142 602,447 7%

27 freebingo.co.uk 43,846 602,743 7%

28 partypoker.com 43,404 603,185 7%

29 bingoport.co.uk 41,865 604,724 6%

30 skybet.com 41,391 605,198 6%

31 betfred.com 38,426 608,163 6%

32 wtgbingo.com 37,924 608,665 6%

33 games.com 37,285 609,304 6%

34 comparebingosites.co.uk 36,476 610,113 6%

35 32red.com 33,026 613,564 5%

36 ukcasino-club.co.uk 31,319 615,270 5%

37 spinpalace.co.uk 29,589 617,000 5%

38 imdb.com 29,248 617,341 5%

39 oddschecker.com 29,197 617,392 5%

40 fulltiltpoker.com 28,706 617,883 4%

41 bet.com 27,100 619,489 4%

42 onlinebingofinder.co.uk 26,058 620,531 4%

43 latestcasinobonuses.com 25,934 620,655 4%

44 32redbingo.com 24,444 622,145 4%

45 freebingohunter.com 24,191 622,398 4%

46 galacasino.com 23,083 623,506 4%

47 thepokerpractice.com 22,994 623,595 4%

48 winkbingo.com 22,547 624,042 3%

49 gentingcasinos.co.uk 21,792 624,797 3%

50 mansioncasino.com 21,379 625,210 3%




The most visible websites for online bingo-related keywords in natural search (June 2012)Rank Domain Monthly

Reached

Volume

Monthly

Missed

Volume

Percentage

Reached

1 cheekybingo.com 132,642 89,095 60%

2 galabingo.com 89,770 131,967 40%

3 foxybingo.com 86,453 135,284 39%

4 costabingo.com 72,642 149,095 33%

5 partybingo.com 71,245 150,492 32%

6 jackpotjoy.com 59,489 162,248 27%

7 bingo770.com 57,271 164,466 26%

8 888ladies.com 56,549 165,188 26%

9 ladbrokes.com 55,462 166,275 25%

10 whichbingo.co.uk 50,628 171,109 23%

11 meccabingo.com 49,487 172,250 22%

12 freebingo.co.uk 43,846 177,891 20%

13 bingoport.co.uk 41,865 179,872 19%

14 888.com 41,300 180,437 19%

15 wtgbingo.com 37,924 183,813 17%

16 comparebingosites.co.uk 36,476 185,261 16%

17 onlinebingofinder.co.uk 26,058 195,679 12%

18 32redbingo.com 24,444 197,293 11%

19 freebingohunter.com 24,191 197,546 11%

20 winkbingo.com 22,547 199,190 10%

The most visible websites for online casino-related keywords in natural search (June 2012)Rank Domain Monthly

Reached

Volume

Monthly

Missed

Volume

Percentage

Reached

1 casino770.com 69,660 58,845 54%

2 ladbrokes.com 56,829 71,676 44%

3 wikipedia.org 42,453 86,052 33%

4 32red.com 33,011 95,494 26%

5 ukcasino-club.co.uk 31,319 97,186 24%

6 spinpalace.co.uk 29,589 98,916 23%

7 888.com 29,517 98,988 23%

8 imdb.com 27,578 100,927 21%

9 latestcasinobonuses.com 25,930 102,575 20%

10 galacasino.com 23,083 105,422 18%

11 gentingcasinos.co.uk 21,792 106,713 17%

12 mansioncasino.com 21,379 107,126 17%

13 grosvenorcasinos.com 19,320 109,185 15%

14 netbet.org 16,620 111,885 13%

15 goldentigercasino.com 15,552 112,952 12%

16 allfreechips.com 15,002 113,503 12%

17 luckyemperorcasino.com 13,120 115,385 10%

18 onlinecasinobonus.co.uk 12,046 116,459 9%

19 casinoaction.com 11,710 116,795 9%

20 maxims-casinos.co.uk 10,840 117,665 8%

The most visible websites for online poker-related keywords in natural search (June 2012)Rank Domain Monthly

Reached

Volume

Monthly

Missed

Volume

Percentage

Reached

1 pokerlistings.com 82,587 70,530 54%

2 wikipedia.org 82,583 70,534 54%

3 pokerstars.co.uk 74,271 78,846 49%

4 pokerstars.com 52,292 100,825 34%

5 skypoker.com 48,444 104,673 32%

6 pkr.com 46,882 106,235 31%

7 miniclip.com 44,142 108,975 29%

8 partypoker.com 43,357 109,760 28%

9 fulltiltpoker.com 28,706 124,411 19%

10 games.com 26,754 126,363 17%

11 thepokerpractice.com 22,994 130,123 15%

12 ladbrokes.com 20,619 132,498 13%

13 pacificpoker.com 18,211 134,906 12%

14 texasholdem-poker.com 17,966 135,151 12%

15 888.com 15,030 138,087 10%

16 thefreepokerroom.com 14,826 138,291 10%

17 about.com 12,226 140,891 8%

18 247freepoker.com 12,100 141,017 8%

19 pokernews.com 11,754 141,363 8%

20 youtube.com 11,194 141,923 7%

The most visible websites for online sports betting-related keywords in natural search (June 2012)Rank Domain Monthly

Reached

Volume

Monthly

Missed

Volume

Percentage

Reached

1 betfair.com 66,527 76,703 46%

2 paddypower.com 66,447 76,783 46%

3 williamhill.com 61,116 82,114 43%

4 888sport.com 50,633 92,597 35%

5 bet365.com 49,623 93,607 35%

6 coral.co.uk 48,942 94,288 34%

7 skybet.com 40,802 102,428 28%

8 betfred.com 38,257 104,973 27%

9 wikipedia.org 36,409 106,821 25%

10 ladbrokes.com 30,921 112,309 22%

11 oddschecker.com 29,102 114,128 20%

12 bet.com 27,100 116,130 19%

13 770.com 19,095 124,135 13%

14 olbg.com 18,317 124,913 13%

15 bluesq.com 15,948 127,282 11%

16 www.online-betting.me.uk 11,779 131,451 8%

17 tips-free-bets.com 10,964 132,266 8%

18 twitter.com 10,840 132,390 8%

19 freebets.com 9,916 133,314 7%

20 betrescue.com 9,427 133,803 7%

Source: Greenlight


CASINO FOCUS

58 iGB Affi liate AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

Casino affi liate advertising is not immune to seasonal fl uctuations, so what are the best and worst times of the year? Michaela McNamara, Editor at CasinoAffi liatePrograms.com investigates.

CREATING CONVERSIONS CAN defi nitely be a seasonal game. Just like planting vegetables, certain times of the year will result in higher yields than others.

Players gravitate towards casino games at different times of the year for different reasons. Here’s what you need to know about those patterns.

Dog days of summerAny tenured casino affi liate has probably learnt to stockpile a little nest egg before the hot summer months roll around. This is because iGaming conversions tend to drop at points in the year when the weather is warm and inviting.

Think about the lifestyle of playing casino games online. It involves sitting indoors passing the time by placing recurring bets on a game with limited outcomes. That activity might jive with a chilly winter but not with a nice summer day.

There’s a reason Vegas hotels are cheaper in the summer and it’s not entirely because of the 100 degree desert heat. People would just rather be doing something other than sitting indoors gambling on casino games.

Holiday hustleThe most bi-polar time of the year for creating casino conversions is around the holidays. A strange thing happens at this time of the year; web traffi c and player conversions will plummet dramatically around Christmas only to bounce-back into

the most profi table few weeks of the year.Casino games become very popular globally in the span of time following Christmas and before the New Year. There’s a fairly logical explanation for

this: many people are off work on these days and typically want to relax after the hubbub of the holidays at the end of a busy work year. However, it doesn’t take too much time spent sitting around idly before a little action starts to sound appealing. But with uninviting outdoor weather, what is one to do? Enter casino games.

Affi liates can think of this window of time as their year-end bonus. It can be a good time to send out an email marketing newsletter to keep casino games on the mind of a rather bored populous.

Steady start to the yearThe fi rst handful of months in any year are often a season of abundance for casino affi liates. Revenues in January through April can often be nearly twice what you can expect to generate come August.

Of course, your precise variation in earnings from month-to-month also depends on plenty of factors within your

control. You can miss out on lost winter opportunities if you drop the ball on energising your players with exciting content and promotions. Conversely, the summer months don’t have to be as brutal

to your income sheet if you grind a bit harder to keep conversions afl oat.

Part of the coolest things about being an iGaming affi liate is that you get to control your own destiny to a certain extent. Seasonal fl uctuations do not determine the totality of your fate.

THE SEASONALITY OF CASINO PLAYERS WORLDWIDE

“The fi rst handful of months in any year are often a season of abundance for casino affi liates. Revenues in January through April can often be nearly twice what you can expect to generate come August.”

MICHAELA MCNAMARA is Editor at CasinoAffi liatePrograms.com (CAP), the world’s largest online gaming affi liate marketing community. With more than 11,000 members, CAP is the Internet’s primary location for online gaming brands and affi liate marketers to come together and do business.CAP is owned by Affi liate Media, Inc, an independent online publishing company focused solely on affi liate marketing. Our experts gather, create, and publish information about affi liate marketing and share it with the larger worldwide community to help affi liates better promote leading internet brands world-wide (and profi t by doing so).

1http://www.casinoaffi liateprograms.com/blog/best-part-of-being-an-affi liate

58_WEBMASTER-WORLD.indd 58 10/08/2012 16:39

template.indd 1 2012/07/13 10:21:36 AM


INSIGHT

60

Google+ launched on June 28, 2011, therefore, it is a little over a year old and to paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumours of its death have been greatly exaggerated. That’s not to say the future of the network is certain but the countless eulogies that have been written and preached may well be premature. Only time will tell. The big question that’s posed by critics is whether or not Google+ can mount a serious challenge to Facebook’s dominance. Yet, this outlook might be wide of the mark.

GooGle’s senior VP of Social

Business recently told Mashable that

“Google+ is just an upgrade to Google.”

While Facebook began with social

interaction and spread to other services and

features, the reality is that although social

interaction is very important, Google has

a suite of extremely popular products and,

through Google+, is persuading users to get

social and personal with them.

Google+ has the potential to be the social

glue that binds the otherwise disparate

services of email, search, YouTube,

maps, etc, by adding relevance through

incorporating users’ personal data and

preferences. For example, a user who has

Google social search turned on sees links

friends have posted on Google+. It’s now

possible to log-in to YouTube using the

Google+ network and email lists can even

be pulled from Google friend ‘Circles’.

Therefore, while the world is already

predisposed to socialise on Facebook, and

unlikely to move to Google’s network any

time soon, there is a role and a place for

Google+ within the grand scale of non-

traditional social products.

statistics and dataGoogle+ reached 20 million users in 24

days, 1,011 fewer days than Facebook, and

in a company update in January 2012, CEO

Larry Page said Google+ had more than

100 million active users (over 60 percent

daily and 80 percent monthly). At the more

recent Google I/O event, it was announced

that the network now has 250 million

registered users out of which 150 million

are active on a monthly basis (compared

to Facebook’s 900 million). There is

much scepticism around the definition

of ‘active users’ as it refers to a range of

products, and the statistic could mean that

users simply check their email or go to a

Google map, as once logged into the wider

system, a registered user is auto-logged

in to Google+. However, in the interest of

fairness, it’s worth noting that Facebook’s

user numbers are also similarly skewed

in that anybody pressing a ‘Like’ button

anywhere on the Internet is considered

active without necessarily logging into the

Facebook site itself.

The bigger difference, however, is the

levels of engagement. US users spent an

average of 3.3 minutes on Google’s social

network in January, compared with 7.5

hours for Facebook, according to comScore.

Larry Page responded to criticism by saying

the company’s early focus on search came

at the expense of helping people socialise

and at the end of June, the company

revealed that ‘active’ users now spend

an average of 12 minutes per visit to the

Stream (which is the main social feature of

Google+) up from nine minutes in March.

Features of Google+Google+ operates as a hybrid of Twitter

and Facebook in that it has a ‘follow’-style

relationship which allows a user to group

people in any number of list-like ‘Circles’

to which selected content including videos,

text and pictures can be disclosed to

discrete groups, and the Stream which acts

like Facebook’s inbound newsfeed.

‘What’s Hot’ is a Twitter-style feature

monitoring current trends, and ‘Sparks’

allows a user to flag their own interests and

that page collates articles, blogs and feeds

on those topics. ‘Hangouts’ are another

hugely popular innovation and possibly the

killer feature of Google+. These are a type

of video conference or chatroom into which

a user’s friends can dip in and out, and is

unique to Google+ (no similar features are

yet available on either Twitter or Facebook).

Originally, Google+ Hangouts were

limited to ten active participants (with

unlimited viewers once it was posted to

YouTube); however, the product has now

evolved to include Hangouts On Air, which

allows a limited number of participants, but

an unlimited number of live viewers.

There was a hugely popular Super Bowl

post-game Hangout where users dissected

the big game’s commercials, where Google

partnered with NBC to run the Hangout

with sports business reporter Darren

Rovell as the host. Barack Obama hosted a

Hangout in January 2012, and the music

group Black Eyed Peas used the technology

to give fans a peek behind the scenes

backstage at one of their concerts.

Hangouts with US Olympic athletes

have been announced recently and David

Beckham was the first sports star to

seriously plug Google’s social networking

platform, with an interview on the star’s

YouTube page followed by the player

hosting a hangout on his Google+ page.

At the time, Beckham’s page boasted an

impressive 450,000 ‘fans’ and he has been

on the platform since November 2011.

As celebrities drove the graduation of

Twitter from a niche network of hardcore

loyalists to a mainstream platform, Google

appears to be hoping that something

similar will happen with Google+, although

it will have to push hard and invest time/

money/relationships in order to reach the

true critical mass.

To coincide with the first anniversary

of its social platform, Google announced

a number of new features along with an

overhaul to its mobile product and a brand

new tablet app. As with all other aspects

InsIde GooGle+

60-61_INSIGHT_MobileGamingMarket.indd 60 10/08/2012 15:50


INSIGHT

61

of Google’s products, the new ‘Events’

feature automatically coordinates with

Google Calendar, and offers a wide range

of graphic invite templates for users to

choose from. Posts from an event can be

uploaded and filed in real-time during

the event through ‘Party Mode’ along

with hosting Hangouts.

MobileWhere mobile is Facebook’s Achilles’ heel,

Google+ has the potential to dominate on

this platform, and given that mobile is

slowly replacing the desktop as the primary

source for content and social activity, this

is no small feat. In fact, Google recently

announced that Google+ gets most of its

activity and traction on the mobile platform.

Its iPhone app was recently completely

overhauled, with Android to follow, and

with the recently launched tablet app

(Android first, iPad is coming soon) Google

has used the added screen space to great

effect, unlike Facebook which simply

upsized it’s iPhone app for the tablet with a

slightly better navigation. Google+, on the

other hand, steps away from a static feed

with every post being the same size, uses an

‘endless scrolling’ format, and incorporates

popularity signals from an individual’s

network and friends to optimise placement

and size of posts based on relevancy and

interest. The re-imagined app design is

a nod to the very popular Flipboard app

which is graphic heavy and magazine-like

in its post distribution.

Along with Hangouts, the new Events

and Party Mode features of Google+ have

a natural home on the mobile/tablet given

how people use their devices and social

networks at live events and gatherings.

Yet another feature, called ‘Huddle’,

allows users to conduct multi-person/

group chats with people in your circles and

communicate with them in real-time. This

is widely considered Android’s answer to

BBM and iMessage.

The effect on searchAnother reason Google+ has so much

power is because of Google search and

since the Google Panda and Penguin

updates, the social signal is a strong cue

in SERPs. Search ranking factors include

personal recommendations and content

based on the interests users enter (e.g.

blogs, posts, articles, videos) – and also

takes into account the number of times a

user has clicked Google’s +1 button (which

is the same as a Facebook Like, but with the

added increased relevance to SEO).

+1 recommendations appear next to ads,

and are shown to all Google users. More

interestingly, from a marketing perspective,

is the recent Google Search Plus Your

World launch, which links the user’s own

social network to their search results. When

someone in a user’s Google domain (email,

Google+, etc) +1s a page that then appears

in SERPs, their name/picture is also shown

as part of the search results, which is a

massive increase in confidence and interest

to the search users.

When it comes to advertising on

Google, the company’s AdWords Social

Extensions package links their brand’s

Google+ page to an AdWords campaign,

so that all +1s from the Google+ page,

website, ads and search get tallied together.

This results in more recommendations

for your ads, helping inform users about

your content, regardless of whether the

(potential) customer is looking at an ad,

a search result or the Google+ page. In

fact, according to Google, search ads with

annotations have an average five to ten

percent uplift in click through rate.

The critics of Google+ are not wrong

in their belittling the network on the

basis of user numbers and activity levels,

however, from the product and technology

perspective, it’s an impressive platform

with considered and innovative features.

Facebook had the luxury of exclusivity

when it launched, but Google arguably

has a better product which may well stand

it in good stead over time. It shouldn’t be

written off just yet. Let’s wait and see.

AIDEEN SHORTT is a freelance researcher and consultant in the gambling industry and has recently authored the iGaming Social Marketing and Strategy report for the iGaming Business Group. For more information email [email protected]

60-61_INSIGHT_MobileGamingMarket.indd 61 10/08/2012 15:50


INSIGHT

Social and Real Money GaMblinG Simon Burridge, Virgin Games CEO, offers his account of the social gambling space, asking whether social and real money gambling is a match made in heaven or hell.

The Talk in the gambling industry

these days is increasingly focused on social

gaming, where it is going and how, if

possible, could it converge with traditional

online gambling and, if so, what would

be the effect on overall revenues. And

the stakes are high. Annual revenues for

social gaming are, according to the market

research firm, Parks and Associates,

forecast to be $5 billion by 2015 and

traditional gaming revenues are at €32.4

billion according to H2 Gambling Capital.

Increasingly, operators are looking for the

‘Holy Grail’, where the ability of social

gaming sites to create more entertaining

mass market experiences, combined with

the proven expertise of traditional online

gaming to maximise their return on

investment, could lead to a significant

rise in revenues.

Convergence Over the last 18 months, there has been

a discernible increase in interest in and

preparation for convergence, although,

in absolute terms, the chasm that divides

the two (social and gambling) remains

as wide as it has ever been. In May, 2011,

Caesars purchased 51 percent of Playtika,

the Israeli social gaming company, at a

$90 million valuation, purchasing the

remainder in December, 2011. In January,

2012, IGT, which makes real world casino

games and gambling systems, agreed to

pay circa $500 million for Seattle-based

Double Down Interactive, a developer

of casino-style Facebook games that – at

least, technically – don’t involve any

actual gambling. Interestingly, both these

acquisitions point to a growing belief

that the land-based industry in the US is

viewing social gaming as a route-to-market

in a pre-regulated environment. Regulation

to allow online gambling in the US is

undoubtedly coming. The tax revenues it

could generate are simply too high and,

in the current economic uncertainty, too

important to be ignored. But, as of today,

no one, as the recent GIGSE conference in

San Francisco demonstrated, knows how

or when. What everybody does know is that

when regulation does finally happen, it will

be an expensive game to play. There will be

licenses to purchase (a price of $30 million

has been touted for California alone),

marketing budgets for each jurisdiction

(which are not insignificant), compliance

with the varying regulations, staffing up,

increased infrastructure costs and so on.

The days when, as Sir Mark Weinberg

once remarked, it was the pioneers that got

62-64.indd 62 10/08/2012 17:16

iGB Affi liate August/september 2012 63

INSIGHT


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scalped are over. First mover advantage is

going to be absolutely key.

Recently, bwin.party announced that it

was setting up a social gaming division, to

be called Win Interactive, in which it was

proposing to invest up to €40 million

over the next two years. Part of that

investment has been the acquisition of

Orneon Ltd, a Ukrainian development

studio who were reputed to be involved

in the development of Mytopia’s Bingo

Island and some mobile games for

Slotomania, which would be consistent

with bwin.party’s confi rmation that

‘Win’ will develop products not only for

desktop but also importantly for mobile

social networks. The plan is for Win,

like the majority of other social gaming

companies, to operate on a freemium

model with revenues derived from the

sale of virtual currency and virtual gifts in

addition to income from banner ads, paid

search and special offers.

FacebookPrevious to announcing its entry into real

money gambling in tandem with Gamesys,

Facebook had been conducting a will they/

won’t they debate on whether it would

open its platform to real-money online

gambling in the UK. In November last year,

it was rumoured to be in exploratory talks

to do so. Even as recently as May this year,

however, it was announced that Facebook

had no plans to offer gambling or even

cash-based social gaming, according to

David Altaner of Gambling Compliance.

Before the company’s about-turn, Julian

Cordorniou, Facebook’s head of European

Partnerships said that he thought it unlikely

as “there’s too much money in free-to-play

games.” Meanwhile, Zynga, operator of

Zynga Poker as well as the cow and crop-

raising favourite, Farmville, has apparently

said it is in talks with partners to explore

real-money gambling, leading many to

speculate that it would begin with social

games where you can win cash as well as

spend it buying virtual chips.

Three steps It seems to me that there are essentially

three scenarios as to how this convergence

could pan out. The fi rst is that social casino

games reach a wider, more mass market

than real money gambling, and

this generates a large user base which

could act as a feeder and push players

through to real money games. This is

essentially what Gioco Digitale did in

Italy pre-regulation with its free poker

offer. Once regulation happened, a lot

of ‘free’ players switched, allowing it to

be sold to bwin fi ve months later for a

considerable premium. In effect, it acts as

a pre-regulation land grab and that is why,

“En route to convergence, any hybrid of social and cash gaming is likely to be viewed through subjective and puritan perspectives, particularly in the US.”

62-64.indd 63 10/08/2012 18:42


INSIGHT

with America inching towards regulation,

there is so much activity and interest being

shown by putative US operators.

The second scenario accepts that ‘social’

and ‘real’ appeal to different audiences

for different reasons. They both have

viable business models and will, therefore,

continue to operate within their own

separate verticals.

The third is that social will meet real

somewhere in the middle to create an

as-yet-unidentified hybrid. This could

be social; not just offering chips for no

return, or real; not just offering real cash

play. More likely still is the possibility

that it is not just a hybrid variant of an

existing ‘real money’ game but is, in fact,

something entirely new.

Incidentally, all three scenarios are

capable of being both independent

and interdependent. If that all sounds

complicated, however, the waters are

about to be muddied still further by the

announcement that the UK Gambling

Commission is to investigate the rise of

social gaming in a move that could affect

the strategies for online operators looking

to increase their presence in the sector.

Companies that make games for social

media sites such as Facebook are under

scrutiny as fear grows over the increased

blurring between social gaming and

gambling for money. “The key question

is, ‘is it gambling or not?’” asked John

Travers, the Commission’s corporate

affairs manager. However, as it stands, the

key question should be ‘what constitutes

gambling?’ Currently, it is possible to play

on social gaming sites absolutely free,

providing you’re not adverse to watching a

few advertisements, and, if you are willing

to hand over some cash to ‘buy’ chips,

you are not allowed, in the event that you

win, to ever cash any of them in. None

of this sounds like gambling. If it did, it

would be akin to having a betting strategy

that only allowed you to bet on ante-post

non-runners. More importantly, it is

conceptually much closer to subscription

based Massively Multiplayer Online Role

Playing Games (MMORPG) like World of

WarCraft, where you pay to be involved

and to keep on playing and, if you want

to improve your performance or extend

your time, then it’s possible to spend

thousands of dollars on a suit of virtual

armour. The Gambling Commission cites

a social gamer that spent $13,000 in just

three month’s on free-to play games as an

example of its ‘gambling’ nature.

Surely, however, whether it’s more chips

or more weaponry, the motive is exactly

the same. Yes, there is an issue of how

old players can be. It’s 18 for cash games

and only 13 to be on Facebook; and yes,

there is a danger of normalising gambling

games through social gaming but that is no

different from many cash gambling sites

that offer players the opportunity to play for

free. And the average age of the new social

gamer is 50 according to a survey carried

out by Information Solutions Group for

PopCap Games. Cash gambling, it seems,

is bad, not only when it lets you lose too

much money, but also when it doesn’t

allow you to lose any. Perhaps we should

distinguish between the two types as ‘social’

and ‘anti-social’ gaming.

Joost Van Dreunen, managing director

of New York City-based Games Analytics

and a Professor at New York University

(of video gaming no less) did not believe

Facebook would ever accept cash gaming.

“It’s like saying, ‘let’s advertise Tobacco

and make lots of money’”, he said

(although I’m not sure it is at all). Indeed,

he went on: “there’s never going to be a

casino section – a red light district – on

Facebook. It’s just not in the nature of the

company. They have to be wholesome.”

Despite the fact that Facebook has now

made the jump, he is right to acknowledge

that en route to convergence, any hybrid

of social and cash gaming is likely to be

viewed through subjective and puritan

perspectives, particularly in the US.

MarginHowever, there are practical issues to be

considered too, of which the elephant in

the room seems to be one of margin. The

margin in online gambling is low at about

five percent, while for virtual chips it’s 100

percent – or 70 percent, once you’ve given

Facebook its mandatory 30 percent. This,

to me, is the dilemma. Both industries

(social and cash) are looking at it from

operator-driven perspectives and are being

informed by the current situation on

what, let’s face it, has already been a roller

coaster ride. As Einstein once remarked

“very few problems are solved in the same

context in which they were created”.

It is in this light that any fusion should

be considered. What will drive revenues,

margins and the success of any hybrid

games will not be regulators or operators

(directly). For convergence to be a

success, it must tap-in to future consumer

behaviour. David Abbott, the advertising

guru, once likened launching a product

to shooting a bird, in that you had to aim

in front of it if you wished to hit it. Give

consumers something they enjoy playing

and enjoy spending money and time on

and – forgive the expression – you are off

to the races. More practically, whatever

game it is that achieves that must also

be able to work across the multitude

of different screens and the multitude

of different behavioural patterns that

appertain to each type of screen. Research

has shown that the same people look for

different things at different times of the

day on different screens: mobile on the

move, mobile at home, tablets, laptops,

PCs at work and at home, Connected

TVs, and so on. Moreover, when you

consider that in the US more time is

spent consuming mobile media

than in reading newspapers and

magazines combined, it is an important

consideration. The barriers this time are

not technological. They are human.

SIMON BURRIDGE is CEO of Virgin Games. Having completed his degree in History at Queen’s College, Oxford, Simon spent 18 months traveling around Africa and France, where he taught English extremely badly to a series of increasingly bewildered Parisian secretaries, waitresses and unemployed, before finally succumbing to the lure of a career in advertising in 1979. In 1999, he was asked by Sir Richard Branson to set up the People’s Lottery in order to contest the second License, formally becoming Chief Executive of The People’s Lottery in September, 2000. In 2003, Simon rejoined Richard Branson, working on a number of projects, one of which has led to him starting Virgin Games, of which he is now the CEO.

62-64.indd 64 10/08/2012 18:42

More details including sponsorship packages, conference schedule,

offi cial hotels, all the parties and much more can be found on

www.BarcelonaAffi liateConference.com

BARCElona

aFffi Iliate conference11th-14th October 2012 The Fira de Barcelona

This event will bring you:

1600 Expected delegates

Over 100 Affi FIliate Programs

70% AfFiliate attendees

Conference sessions that will increase

your revenue

Amazing networking parties, in

incredible venues, in a stunning city

And all this

FREE for afFIfi liates

New for 2012, BAC incorporates

iGB Affi liate august/september 2012 67

webmaster worldCoNFereNCe PreVIew

For the fi rst time, the 2012 Barcelona Affi liate Conference will incorporate iGB Espana to bring an added focus on the newly regulated market in Spain, with a dedicated Spanish Language conference track.

THE AUTUMN AFFILIATE conference has long been regarded as a key point in the calendar, bringing together the industry’s operators and affi liates in preparation for the busy run-in to the New Year period after the relative calm of summer.

After a brief stint in Budapest, the autumn conference returned to Barcelona in 2011 and this year’s BAC event, following the opening of the Spanish market and subsequent issuance of licences, provided the perfect platform to integrate iGB Affi liate’s dedicated Spanish language conference, iGB Espana.

What October’s event promises is a structured balance of top level conference tracks covering operational, marketing and acquisition strategies with a tailored insight into Spain’s newly regulated iGaming market from the people at the heart of its development and implementation.

The main BAC conference schedule will encompass two separate streams focused on the latest in affi liate marketing, giving affi liates the perfect platform to learn about the latest trends and opportunities in this profi table market. A host of well-respected industry experts, such as SEO guru, Ralph Tegtmeier (Fantomaster) are being lined up to help affi liates improve their business strategies, discover what really drives conversions, improve SEO and get the most out of social media and mobile strategies.

The Spanish market insight on the iGB Espana schedule will provide detailed analysis and discussion of the inner workings of the market, and will have translation services available for non-Spanish speaking delegates.

By way of introduction to the Spanish market that prepares to welcome BAC 2012, Xavier Muñoz Bellvehí, gaming partner at Spanish law fi rm ECIJA, offers a brief insight into the advertising set-up under the new Spanish regime, the infringement proceedings for companies and partners who breach the new law and also a list of those companies to have been awarded a Spanish licence to date.

Xavier Muñoz Bellvehí, gaming partner at Spanish law fi rm ECIJA. [email protected].

Advertising and sponsorship in the new Spanish marketUnder the new Law, the advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of gambling activities is only permitted when referring to gambling activities duly licensed in Spain. Companies with gambling licences granted in other countries are prohibited from offering, advertising or promoting games in Spain. Those that choose to do so will be subject to heavy fi nes imposed by the Spanish Gaming Regulator (SGR).

Advertising agencies, media channels, or Internet website publishers are

responsible for ensuring and checking, before publishing any advertisement or promotion, that the operator/advertiser is duly licensed and that such particular advertising is allowed within the frame of the operator’s licence. These checks are carried out through the registry of licensed operators which is maintained by the SGR. In any case, if these media entities do accept publicity from non-licensed operators they would also be responsible.

Additionally, the SGR may issue a formal request to media entities to cancel any proposed attempt to publish an illegal advert. This request carries a two day notice period. If this deadline is not complied with, the media entity could face a fi ne.

The new Law provides a broad defi nition of the persons or entities that could be liable, which comprises “any person or entity that performs any of the breaches provided by the Law, as well as any other that gives them support, advertises or promotes them, or in any way obtains profi t from them”.

FOCUS ON THE SPANISH MARKET

Unibet’s Nick Garner speaking at BAC 2011

67-69_WEBMASTER-WORLD_RingFencing/Penguin.indd 67 10/08/2012 17:00


webmaster world

Gaming Operator

1 888 Spain, PLC X X X X X X X X 2 6 8

2 Antena 3 Juegos, SAU X X X X X 2 3 5

3 Apuesta Ganador Online, SA X 1 0 1

4 Banegras Unión, SA X X X X X X X 2 5 7

5 Betfair International, PLC X X X X X 2 3 5

6 Bingosoft, SAU X X X 1 2 3

7 Bluesblock, SA X X 1 1 2

8 Carousel Game, SA X X 1 1 2

9 Casino Barcelona Interactivo, SA X X X X X X 1 5 6

10 Casinos Ocio Online, SA X X 2 0 2

11 Cirsa Digital, SAU X X X X X X X X 2 6 8

12 Codere Online, SAU X X X 3 0 3

13 Comar Inversiones, SA X X 2 0 2

14 Desarrollo Online Juegos Regulados, SA X X X X X X X X X X X 3 8 11

15 Digital Distribution Management Ibérica, SA X X X X X X 1 5 6

16 Ebingo Online España, SA X X X X 1 3 4

17 Electraworks España, PLC X X X X X X X 2 5 7

18 Esgaming, SAU X X X X X X X X X 3 6 9

19 Eurojuego Star, SA X X X X X X X X X X 3 7 10

20 G2 Gaming Spain, SA X X X X X X X X X X 2 8 10

21 Gamesys Spain, PLC X X X X 1 3 4

22 Giga Game Online, SA X 1 0 1

23 Golden Park Games, SA X X X X X X X X X X 2 8 10

24 Hillside España Leisure, SA X X X X X 1 4 5

25 Hillside Spain New Media, PLC X X X X 1 3 4

26 Interwetten España, PLC X X X X X 2 3 5

27 Juego Online, EAD X X X X X X X X 2 6 8

28 Kambi Spain, PLC X X X X X 1 4 5

29 Ladbrokes International, PLC X X X X X X X X X 2 7 9

30 Luckia Games, SA X X X X X X X X 3 5 8

31 Money Factory, SA X X 1 1 2

32 Ongame Markets Malta, PLC X X 1 1 2

33 Pady Power Europe, PLC X X 2 0 2

34 Paf-Consulting, ABP X X X X X X X X X 2 7 9

35 Première Megaplex, SA X X X X X X X X X X X 3 8 11

36 Prima Networks Spain, PLC X X X X X X 1 5 6

37 Pt Entretenimiento Online, EAD X X X 1 2 3

38 Rank Malta Operations, PLC X X X 1 2 3

39 Reel Spain, PLC X X 1 1 2

40 Sileuta, PLC X X X X X X 1 5 6

41 Sociedad Estatal Loterías, (Selae) X X X X X 3 2 5

42 Spread Your Wings Spain, PLC X X X X X X X X X X 3 7 10

43 Suertia Interactiva, SA X X X X X X X X X X X X 3 9 12

44 Tele Apostuak, SA X 1 0 1

45 Tómbola International, PLC X X 1 1 2

46 Trade4win, SA X X X 3 0 3

47 Unidad Editorial Juegos, SA X X X 2 1 3

48 Ventura24games, SA X 1 0 1

49 Vive La Suerte, SA X X X X X X 1 5 6

50 Whg Spain, PLC X X X X X X 2 4 6

51 Winga Spain, SA X X X X X X X X 2 6 8

52 World Premium Gaming, SA X X 1 1 2

53 Zitro Online, SAU X X 1 1 2

Total 29 18 4 9 8 1 44 31 26 20 28 25 7 18 9 91 186 277

BETS

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SLSpanish licensed gaming operators chart produced by ECIJA law firm on 20 June 2012

* GL: GENERAL LICENSE** SL: SINGULAR LICENSE

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On June 1, 2012, the SGR granted 277 gaming licences distributed amongst 53 companies, including international operators such as Betfair, 888, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power; Spanish terrestrial gaming companies such as Cirsa, Codere, Comar, Casino Barcelona and

some Spanish media groups or new market entrants such as Antena 3, Unidad Editorial, Suertia Interactiva and Winga. It also includes the Spanish state company, Loterías y Apuestas del Estado.A portion of these 53 companies have focused on

obtaining licenses relating to betting, some on casino games and a few others on competitions (a particular type of licence for the organisation of ‘call TV’ contests and similar games). Of course, many have applied for most, if not all of the licenses available.

CoNFereNCe PreVIew



webmaster world

The following are examples of gross breaches of the Law, punishable with fines from €100,000 to €1 million and suspension of the activity for up to six months: ●● To promote, sponsor or advertise games, or provide any intermediation service, when those offering the games lack the corresponding licence, or when the games are advertised breaching the conditions and restrictions set out in the licence or in the regulations, whatever media or channel is used for the advertising.●● Failure to comply with information or termination requirements issued by the SGR.

A media owner and/or the advertising agency could be jointly liable for these types of infringements with the gambling operator.

In my opinion, the SGR and other Spanish authorities will be very strict in clamping down on any illegal gaming activity and advertising. The Spanish government cannot afford the gaming and betting market to continue as it has in recent years, with foreign operators freely offering their games to Spanish residents without holding any domestic licence and without paying any taxes in the country.

Punishing regimeThe Law foresees gaming operators, as well as any other company which offers them support, publicity, promotion or which obtains profits from the illegal gaming activities, to be responsible for any breach of the Law. This is a very wide definition, which may include any company which directly or indirectly participates in the illegal gaming activity in any way.

The SGR has powers to implement the relevant penalty procedures and impose the corresponding fines. Other public bodies, such as the media, TV regulator and bodies from the autonomous regions, may also be accountable depending on the type of breach.

Those violations classified as ‘light infringements’ may be punishable with a fine of up to €100,000. Those classified as ‘gross infringements’ may be punishable with a fine ranging from €100,000 to €1 million and/or the suspension of the gaming activity for a six month period. Finally, those considered as ‘very gross infringements’ may be punishable with fines ranging from €1 million to €50 million and/or the loss of the licence and the closure of any gaming activity.

It is expected that the SGR will act with forcefulness against any operator, media

company or intermediary who benefits from its participation in any type of illegal game. Any type of gambling activity not under the umbrella of a Spanish licence shall be illegal in Spain.

CoNFereNCe PreVIew

Copyright © Optimal Payments Plc. All rights reserved. Optimal Payments Limited is authorised by the Financial Services Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (900015) for the issuing of electronic money. The NETBANX® trademark is the property of Netbanx limited. The NETELLER® and Net+® trademarks are the property of Optimal Payments Plc. Net+ cards are issued by Conister Bank Limited, pursuant to a licence from MasterCard International Inc. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Inc. NETELLER is a registered agent of Conister Bank Limited.

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Conference session at BAC 2011

Conference session at BAC 2011

The ever-popular Barcelona event is set to be the best attended to date



MARKETPLACE

ADVERTISING & PR

Game On

www.gameon-marketing.com

Global Gaming Events

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Media Skunk Works

www.mediaskunkworks.com

Omni-lInx

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AFFILIATE NETWORK

Bet365

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Betsson

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CAP

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CPA Industry

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Game On

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ALTERNATIVE GAMING

Affstars

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BINGO AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Affiliates United

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Bet365

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Betsson

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CAP


Gala Coral

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Live Partners

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Market Ace

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Star Games

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Virgin

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CASINO AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

888

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32Red

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Aff Europe

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Affiliate Club

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Affiliates United

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Asian Logic

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Bet-at-home

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Bet365

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Betfair

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Betsson

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Brightshare

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CAP


Casino City/GPWA

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Commission 365

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Commission Lounge

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Europartners

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Everest Poker

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Fortune Affiliates

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Gala Coral

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Gambling Affiliation

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GURU

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iGame

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Intertops

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Live Partners


Logispin

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Mr Green

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MyBet

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Paddypower

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Referback

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Roxy

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Slotland

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Stan James

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Star Games

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Victor Chandler

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Welcome to the Market Place listings section of iGB Affiliate

magazine. All listings are taken from the 2012 version of

our iGB Affiliate Directory; a 150 page guide to the affiliate

programs and service providers who are currently active

within the iGaming sector.

To request a free copy of this publication or to have

your company listed please contact Richard W on

E: [email protected] or

T: +44 (0) 207 954 3437

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7314 bet365 affiliates (148x52+3mm). 24/11/2011 15:38 Page 1






Virgin

www.virgingaming.com

Vuetec/Dublin

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FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS

Aff Europe

www.affeurope.com

Bet365

www.bet365.com

CAP


Easy Forex

www.easy-forex.com

LCG

www.londoncapitalgroup.com

Plus500

www.plus500.co.uk

24option

www.24option.com

Aff Europe

www.affeurope.com

PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

Intercash

www.intercashuk.com

Wire Card

www.wirecard.com

Algocharge

www.algocharge.com

EMS

www.emspaymentsolutions.com

Netteller

www.neteller.com

POKER AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Affiliates United

www.affutd.com

Asian Logic

www.asianlogic.com

Bet365

www.bet365.com

Betfair

www.betfair.com

Betsson

www.betsson.com

Commission Lounge

www.commissionlounge.com

Everest Poker

www.everestpoker.com/en

Guru

www.gururevenue.com

iGame

www.igame.com

InterPartners

www.interpartners.com

Intertops

www.intertops.eu

Live Partners


MyBet

www.mybet.com/en

Paddypower

www.paddypower.com

PKR

www.pkr.com

Poker Tracker

www.pokertracker.com

Stan James

www.stanjames.com

Star Games

www.stargames.com

SKILL GAMING AFFILIATEPROGRAMS

Affiliates United

www.affutd.com

Bet365

www.bet365.com

Betsson

www.betsson.com

Gala Coral

www.galacoral.co.uk

Live Partners


Paddypower

www.paddypower.com

Star Games

www.stargames.com

SPORTS BETTING

Affiliates United

www.affutd.com

Asian Logic

www.asianlogic.com

Bet365

www.bet365.com

BetDaq

www.betdaq.com

Betfair

www.betfair.com

Betsson

www.betsson.com

Brightshare

www.brightshare.com

CAP


Gala Coral

www.galacoral.co.uk

iGame

www.igame.com

International All Sports

www.iasbetaffiliates.com

Intertops

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Ladbrokes

www.ladbrokes.com

Live Partners


Logispin

www.logispin.com

Lux bet

www.luxbet.com

MyBet

www.mybet.com/en

Oddsfutures

www.oddsfutures.com

Paddypower

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Redbet

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RGS Malta Ltd

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SportingBet

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Sportsbet.com.au

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Stan James

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Vbet

www.vbet.com

Victor Chandler

www.victorchandler.com





72

webmaster world


There’s a new trend. Some marketers choose to use their Facebook page as a mobile PPC landing page – it’s actually quite clever. Michaela McNamara, Editor at CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com, explains why.

Basically, you’ve BeeN able to display AdWords ads on mobile devices since forever, but the fact that it’s been possible doesn’t mean that people have actually experienced decent results. (This is true for both AdWords and Facebook Ads.)

However, there is now a new trend. Some marketers choose to use their Facebook page as a mobile PPC landing page. Although this doesn’t sound like a big idea at first, it’s actually very clever.

What’s wrong with mobile PPc campaigns?Even though it’s the 21st Century, many people are still not convinced enough to shop or gamble via a mobile phone. There are many reasons for this; one being that sending your credit card data through an unprotected free Wi-Fi is not a clever thing to do.

Using a Facebook page as your landing page, however, creates a completely different environment.

1. People are used to FacebookFacebook has a great mobile app that makes people comfortable connecting to Facebook from a mobile phone and actually makes them comfortable accessing the site from a mobile in general. Therefore, when you use your Facebook page as a landing page, it doesn’t look suspicious and people are not confused by having to interact with an unknown user interface.

2. People can take immediate actionThe most popular action on Facebook is to Like something. Whenever a visitor Likes your page they are giving you the opportunity to post to their News Feeds.

This makes it a great lead generation technique. You get someone to click Like on their mobile phone, and then you can contact them whenever you please.

3. Mobile-optimised environmentFacebook is mobile-optimised by nature.

This means that every page you create gets an additional mobile-friendly look. You don’t have to worry about tweaking your page to fit many different devices, Facebook does this for you.

However, aside from these advantages we have to mention one flaw. Even though Facebook is massive, not everyone has an account, so you might lose on a couple of people here and there. You need to test this out yourself (in your niche) to find out whether it’s a real problem for you.

The organic sideOf course, you can always try to rank for your keywords in mobile search results

organically. If you want to follow such a path it’s probably better to optimise your own site on your own domain instead of investing SEO work in a page on someone else’s domain (in this case, Facebook’s).

PPC brings immediate results, and that’s why spending money on other domains is not a problem. SEO doesn’t bring the same immediate results, and you can’t just withdraw your assets in case anything goes wrong.

Of course, your mileage may vary. Feel free to experiment with different solutions, and don’t forget to let us know how using a Facebook page as a PPC landing page works for you.

Paid or organic Mobile Search: What’S better for your buSineSS?

“Facebook is mobile-optimised by nature. This means that every page you create gets an additional mobile-friendly look and you don’t have to worry about tweaking your page to fit many different devices.”

72_WEBMASTER-WORLD.indd 72 10/08/2012 16:14

Join us at the oldest and biggest event dedicated to the Spanish speaking iGaming market, iGB Espana 2012.

This year, iGB Espana will return as part of the Barcelona Affiliate Conference, maximising your exposure to the Spanish market. With all the latest developments and marketing strategies in this Spanish conference and Spanish speaking affiliates and exhibitors, this event will compliment the learning & networking flavours of BAC and bring you an international event with a local focus.

Take your place in one of Europe’s biggest markets and reach 400+ million Hispanic Speakers.

New for 2012, BAC incorporates

11th-14th octoBEr 2012 inSidE thE Bac Expo

www.iGBEspana.com

event statistics• 2011 saw 403 delegates attend

• 91% of delegates were native Spanish speakers

• 47% of delegates were affiliates

• 89% of delegates rated the event ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’

• 5% worked exclusively in the Latin American Market, 73% attract traffic from LatAm & Spain

• 100% of conference sessions were (and will be) in Spanish with expert speakers in their fields helping you create language specific strategies


webmaster world

Why you should be paying attention to social gaming.

In recent years, the presence of social media has grown steadily in tandem with the increased consumer access to Smartphone technology. One of the major appeals of social media is that no matter the distance between two people, they can interact and share as if they were right next to one another. Funnily enough, this is a major force when it comes to gaming in general. With games like bingo or poker, the social aspect is just as important to the game as the eventual payout.

Thus, it’s no surprise that the two realms have begun to merge in the form of social gaming. Of course, in some respects the combination of social interaction and games is not necessarily a new concept. Plenty of Internet-based games have contained massively social aspects. However, presently, social gaming has managed to monetise the rewards of those games without sacrificing any of the sociality. Another novel trait of the current approach to social gaming is how engaging it is, which is precisely what makes it such a fruitful opportunity for affiliates. Affiliates stand to gain revenues and visibility by engaging players in social gaming. Just what is it that makes social gaming so lucrative?

naturally integrated marketingWith a variety of channels available for your promotional purposes, it is important to integrate your marketing strategy to ensure that you are not wasting time or resources. Saturating one channel can often be inefficient, but by diversifying your marketing you can ensure that you are getting maximum returns on all of your investments.

Luckily, social gaming is a naturally integrated vertical. Social games often operate within the boundaries of a social media platform, think Facebook and FarmVille. By virtue of being inscribed in an existing form of social media, social gaming is part of both the mobile and social channels. People can play these games just

as readily from their phones as they can from their computers. So when promoting social gaming, you would be hard-pressed not to hit two birds with one stone. Your efforts have an expanded reach that is not limited to a single medium, which means more visibility and, if done properly, more acquisitions and referrals.

Additionally, your reach with individuals within both channels increases. Think about yourself. How often during the day are you away from both your phone and your computer? Chances, are not very often. This means that by promoting social gaming, you have the ability to reach your audience more often than by being solely social or mobile oriented. More time with your audience can easily correlate to more conversions.

audience targetingSocial gaming also has rather unique implications for the type of audience you can promote towards. Since social games are built for mobile devices and existing social media platforms, they can be limited in their technical functionality making them less complex than the games you would play on a console. As such, these limitations mean that social games are highly focused and stylised. In turn, the standard social gamer is often a unique player compared to serious console game players and players that deal in real money stakes. A social gamer is someone with an interest in gaming, and generally no desire to buy a console or sign up for a real gaming site. Rather, the social gamer plays through other sites he is already on which means that using social media to draw in social gamers is much easier than driving players to specific sites.

The sociality of social gaming also means that your demographic research is already complete, you simply have to analyse it. People with common interests will often play common games, which means that when promoting a social game, you already have an idea of what potential players will respond

favourably towards. Besides interests, you might find that social gaming divides players by age and gender as well, which further helps you craft bespoke approaches. In general, the more tailored your promotions are, the more engaging they will be.

Personal approaches help illustrate your interest in the players and their experience while simultaneously avoiding the dreaded hard-sell. No one wants to be sold to, and social gaming naturally divides your target audience in a way that allows you to inform rather than sell.

Even better, the interactive portion of social gaming means you can get involved with players personally. In the end, being part of the community that is also your audience means that you will know their needs best and your opinions and recommendations will be respected.

All in all, social gaming is a force to be reckoned with, and a great opportunity for all affiliates. The games are simple, which means that almost anyone will try them out. Such a large audience is already favourable when it comes to successful affiliate marketing, and the natural, visible segmentation that occurs from the social nature of the games makes personalised marketing that much easier. Traditionally, the affiliate industry has strived to divide audiences for marketing purposes. With social gaming, you achieve that division while integrating your marketing channels. As it stands now, social gaming is a wonderful tool for building your visibility, generating revenues, and providing a fun, interesting product. When it comes to iGaming marketing, what could be better than that?

AffiliAte-MArketing-Ville

Nicky SeNyard is ceO of income access, overseeing their independent iGaming affiliate network, market-leading affiliate software and expert affiliate management services.

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iGB Affiliate 34 (August/September)

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