Local Heroes A
clear majority of e-gaming revenue from European customers will go to regulated local operators for the first time this year, according to Global Betting
and Gaming Consultants (GBGC). But that’s not unalloyed good news for casino operators seeking to develop onshore products; thanks to regulatory constraints, it’s in the virtual casino sector that offshore looks set to continue its dominance. In 2011 51.3 per cent of all e-gaming
revenue went to regulated domestic markets with the rest flowing offshore, but the firm believes that the proportion will jump to 60.1 per cent this year thanks to new markets opening up and structural changes in the sector. New regulated operations are expected to begin soon in countries including Denmark, Germany, Greece and Spain. However, the firm warned: “Major operators
like PokerStars,
Bwin.party, Unibet, and 888 Holdings have accepted the new regulatory landscape in Europe even though the higher taxes and increased costs make once profitable markets a lot less so. Domestic, local licences do have benefits for operators because they make advertising and payments easier to undertake. But the success of the new licensing model is dependent upon governments being able to prevent non- domestically-licensed operators from continuing to attract players.” Restrictions on online casino games, for
example, will continue to mean that around 60 per cent of European spend on Internet casino games and slots will still go offshore, GBGC predicted.
That’s entertainment
Older women in Britain are not gambling more, despite reports, but they are keen players
Plus: what women want, improving your Facebook presence, and That Domain Name Again.
of online games for entertainment, according to a new study from ICM Research. A survey of 10,000 adults was supplemented
by in-depth interviews with women over 45, after a National Centre for Social Research report recently suggested that the group was experiencing a rapid escalation of gambling activity.
“Older women are gaming as an alternative to
standard entertainment such as TV and puzzle books,” said ICM. But “contrary to popular general perception”,
the researchers added, “online gambling is least popular among older women”, suggesting that they are unlikely to be a prime market for casino operators moving online.
“The social element of online gaming is
really important – they go online to interact with current friends and to make new ones. While the games draw them in, they tend to make repeat visits to chat, socialise or interact with younger family members. They are open to brand tie-ins and sponsored free games as long as commercial information is integral to the game and doesn’t interrupt them.” However, the researchers added, “they worry about damaging their computers and prefer games they don’t have to download. They also prefer free games as they are concerned about getting carried away and spending too much.”
Just another brick…
Most businesses with a Facebook page make a “fundamental mistake” by directing fans straight to their Wall, the part of their Facebook presence where they post (or should post) regular updates. That’s according to Art Division, which has
created a new online tool called Like It Pages which allows you to easily edit your Facebook presence.
The balance of European power in e- gaming is starting to shift to onshore operations, reports Barnaby Page.
By sending visitors straight to the wall, say the software guys, businesses “fail to convert a big percentage of their visitors into fans and they also fail to tell their fans exactly what they do and therefore lose out on sales and enquiries”. But “by driving visitors to a dedicated landing page, giving them a clear reason or incentive to join their fan page, they can double their fan conversions”. Most casino operators may not have big difficulties in getting people to understand what they do. But as Facebook increasingly becomes one of the default places for consumers to seek information on anything and everything, it will pay to get that presence right. More info at
www.likeitpages.com.
World domination imminent
The new owners of
Gambling.com, the domain name which changed hands last year for what I suggested was likely to have been a vastly inflated price, claim they’ve gained an “800 percent uplift in customer conversions with partner advertising” by relaunching it as a content-based operation featuring reviews of online casinos, playing tips and so on. Said Charles H. Gillespie, Chief Executive
of Kax Media, which is publishing the site: “The domain name has a long history, at certain times commanding a wide audience and at other times not as much. We hope to restore
Gambling.com as the pre-eminent resource for online gambling information and the first stop for every online gambler.” What they haven’t said, however, is what base
that 800 percent uplift starts from, and I suspect it’s pretty tiny by the standards of major commercial Websites.
MARCH 2012 59
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68