Affiliate Announcements
Lindar Media played an April’s fools joke on Affiliates in the UK online bingo industry, we love it!

You don’t hear this story everyday and most important, you don’t hear about April’s fools jokes on such level. Well, the guys at Lindar Media, who operate a couple of popular bingo affiliate sites such as onlinebingo.co.uk and twolittlefleas.co.uk, as well as actual bingo brands: circusbingo.com and pixiebingo.com, did it. They have managed to fool the top online bingo affiliates with the launch of a new bingo model called Square Bingo.
The story of the new brand’s launch is incredible and even managed to be quoted and mentioned by many. The games played and Imitation Game and managed to pull it off.
Below you can find the details of this prank and the outcome of it:
WHAT SQUARE BALLS SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ONLINE BINGO
After weeks of anticipation, Square Bingo finally launched on April 1, 2016. Except it didn’t.
Square Bingo was actually an April Fool’s Day experiment created by Lindar Media (that’s us) to gauge how the online bingo industry would react to a new, unknown and untested brand.
With just a few social media posts and a simple ‘Coming Soon’ page to the Square Bingo name, we were able to create a small but meaningful buzz among the country’s leading bingo affiliate sites.
But what does that tell us? Did a fictitious site shed light on some of the key issues affecting online bingo in 2016, and what did we learn about its treatment of the players that fund it?
THE IMITATION GAME
According to recent statistics from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), bingo sites had a Gross Gambling Yield (earnings retained by the operator after winnings had been paid) of £82m between November 2014 and March 2015. With such great rewards available, it is really any surprise that new bingo sites are launched on a monthly basis?
Well, we say new, but the majority of bingo sites are simply re-skins of older designs, intended to funnel players from one site to another with the promise of bigger bonuses and ‘original’ themes.

An overview of bingo site distribution by software in 2015
We operate a selection of networked sites ourselves and are also guilty of falling into this rinse and repeat cycle. But starting with the launch of Circus Bingo last July, and continuing with Pixie Bingo and Wild Spins, we are now trying hard to put our own unique mark on network software through the creation of distinguishable brands.
While Circus and Pixie are admittedly similar to each other, they are together much different from the 170+ other Dragonfish products – a trait that has been widely acknowledged by the industry:
“…to be fair they have tried to make it different and it looks totally different to anything else on this tried and tested network.” – Circus Bingo review, WhichBingo.co.uk
“…the site uses Dragonfish software but there is no way that we would be able to tell by looking at it. The new site uses a completely new template, and we have to say the site looks fantastic.” – Circus Bingo review, Bingoport.co.uk
“Circus Bingo is a Dragonfish network bingo site but is about as far from a standard Dragonfish skin as you could possibly imagine. The design of this circus and nuts themed site is absolutely stunning…” – BestNewBingoSites.co.uk
There’s plenty of room for operators to be adventurous if they want to be. Are players really crying out for another Welcome Bingo? We don’t think so.
Small steps, not giant leaps
PlayTech’s bingo variants and Tombola’s proprietary software aside, it has been years since an operator has offered a truly original approach, leading to genuine excitement when something slightly different arrives on the scene.
As a precursor to Square Bingo, PlayTech’s newest game, Cash Cubes, highlighted how even relatively simple changes continue to be celebrated as groundbreaking when it launched in March.

Cash Cubes: Bingo with cubes, not cards
Then in April we saw 888Ladies launch playing card based, Flash Fives. Both of these games are essentially still bingo at their core; replacing the standard bingo card with a different object and speeding things up a bit.
How many more times will this concept be copied?

Flash Fives: Bingo with (playing) cards, not cubes
A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE
Probably the biggest surprise about Square Bingo was that the domain wasn’t already taken.
After all, the formula for dreaming up a bingo site name is fairly simple:
1. Think of any everyday object, event, location, shape, colour… anything
2. Add ‘Bingo’ to the end of it
Square Bingo was no different. We deliberately chose it to be as plain and uninspiring as possible. Other names on the shortlist included Ironing Bingo, Paint Drying Bingo, Car Park Bingo and Grey Bingo.
Despite the boring name (Boring Bingo, anyone?), and with little to show besides the suggestion of more angular balls, journalists and affiliates began to take notice…
Making Square Bingo look real was actually quite easy. As well as the compulsory ‘Coming Soon’ page, we used a selection of channels to actively build community excitement. Here’s a breakdown:
- Set up Facebook & Twitter profiles for Square Bingo (5 mins)
- Posted one Tweet per day – usually including a square-based pun (30 secs per day)
- Followed every bingo affiliate account we could find (5 mins)
- Retweeted the occasional piece of bingo news (10 secs)
- Set up a basic coming soon page (1.5 hours)
Our marketing even received compliments:
“This new site has a brilliant marketing scheme by keeping us all in the dark while at the same time giving us just a tiny bit of information to keep us coming back for more.
“According to the site… it’s going to completely change the online bingo world” really? Seriously, talking about dangling a carrot in front of us and then pulling it away!” – latestbingobonuses.com
Truth is, it probably totaled less than two hours work. Compare that to a real bingo brand in the weeks before its launch:

A Tale of Two Twitters: Square Bingo vs Tip Top Bingo (Pre-launch)
No history? No problem.
Thanks to our rather basic promotional strategy, we were offered affiliate and advertising deals for Square Bingo in March. Sites were willing to promote an unknown bingo brand with almost no confirmed information about the site.
Remember, Square Bingo was to run on a completely new platform (Shapesoft) and be operated by a company that even Google had no record of (CBWFL Media). Would there have been quality checks before our campaigns went live to safeguard players or was their experience being overlooked by the hundreds of affiliate sites desperate to cash-in on their deposits? It would certainly seem so.

The extent of our communication with affiliates before April 1
World First Features
We updated Square Bingo on the first of April to include a list of (fake) world-first features, including the much-predicted square bingo balls, a spin the square bonus game and an exclusive partnership with a famous London landmark.

Revealed: The full list of Square Bingo features
We sent a version of this press release to hundreds of people in the bingo industry, published news on OnlineBingo.co.uk and Two Little Fleas, and updated the Square Bingo social profiles. We were fortunate that our work in the lead up to 1st April kept people invested in the launch and allowed the scenario to play out in full. The whole thing could have immediately been called out as a joke, so why wasn’t it? We put this down to two reasons:
1. People were actually excited about the unlikely ‘innovation’ of square bingo balls
2. Affiliates didn’t want to harm their chances of doing a deal with us should the site not be fake – our players are worth money, after all

Tweet (since deleted) by WhichBingo.co.uk
April Fools!
Sticking to the traditions of April Fool’s Day, we finally revealed the truth about Square Bingo at 12 noon.
Our reveal included a message to affiliates and an exclusive Circus Bingo deposit code, designed to appease any players who felt robbed of a new site. Then, something strange happened: coverage of Square Bingo began to disappear.
We were accused of everything from having ‘more time on our hands than we know what to do with’, to conducting a ‘publicity stunt to get new players though the virtual doors of the site’.
These were the same people who just hours earlier were outwardly expressing their excitement for the features being teased.

News update by PlayingBingo.co.uk
We were disappointed (but not surprised) that the exclusive Circus Bingo offer was ignored, despite it being live for a significant part of the day.
Many of our affiliates were informed of the promotion, but not one updated their site to let their players know. Surely if sites were truly offering the best deals for players, they would have actually told them about it? Apparently not.
People simply turned their backs on Square Bingo because it was no longer a way to make money.

Square Bingo reveal page with Circus offer
THE FUTURE OF ONLINE BINGO
Square Bingo has reaffirmed our two major predictions for the future of online bingo:
1. The replication of tired experiences will lead to sites failing to build sustainable brands and loyal audiences.
2. Players will eventually resent being funneled between identical sites and flock to those with truly exceptional features, putting smaller sites at significant risk of closure.
We don’t know when the bubble will burst, but it’s surely only a matter of time, especially given ever-tightening rules and regulations.
UK Chancellor, George Osborne, recently unveiled plans to extend the General Betting Duty which would see operators paying tax on free bets like no deposit bonuses.
While the plans are still to be confirmed, they have the potential to immediately cut the profits of operators, leading to the possible abolition of bonuses altogether – one of the key differentiators between bingo sites in the current environment.
Some sites are already receiving negative feedback from disgruntled players over hefty wagering requirements; how long before they start rejecting them completely? What will attract players to a new site if there is no monetary incentive? This is the question that operators will need to answer.
The influence of affiliate deals on reviews
Affiliates are also responsible for driving the industry forward, but very few bingo portals offer genuinely honest and trustworthy reviews of bingo sites.
Reviews are instead based on the deals negotiated between sites and brands, leaving players without the insights they need to make informed decisions and making the ratings effectively worthless.
hat incentives are there for operators to create a new site of real value when its ultimate quality is determined by affiliate deals and welcome bonuses? Will we only see a rush of new ideas before the general betting duty is extended or will more forward-thinking operators step up earlier?
If the bonus culture was suddenly stopped, operators and networks would be forced to condense their portfolios and refocus on just a handful of sites.
Building new sites and moving players around comes at a hefty cost, so it makes sense to offer fewer higher quality sites and build a database of genuinely loyal players.
Who will take the first step and revolutionize the online bingo scene?
A BETTER DEAL FOR PLAYERS
The reaction to Square Bingo and its world first bingo balls highlights just how desperate the industry is for change.
We believe that it’s possible for operators and affiliates to provide a better and more rewarding experience for players in a way that remains profitable.
We’ve seen huge progress in the industry’s approach to responsible gambling in recent years. That same ideology and determination should be applied here too.
If we offer better – and expect better – we could all create an industry that is truly fun, fair and exciting for everybody.
It’s time to start thinking outside the box.
The article has been embedded from the following link: https://onlinebingo.co.uk/news/why-we-created-square-bingo
We have to stay it is a wonderful story and yet something to learn from in your are in the online bingo affiliate industry and why not the casino or sports betting. Imagine if there would have been bad intentions behind this prank….
Affiliate Announcements
Experienced execs launch new UK affiliate, YourTopCasino

A team of experienced iGaming executives has launched YourTopCasino, a new UK-facing affiliate brand designed to help players make smarter, safer choices when selecting an online casino.
The founding team – led by Chris Prentice and comprising marketing, retention and design experts – brings more than 30 years of industry experience with them from senior roles at companies including Grace Media, ActiveWin and Betable Group.
The brand enters the market with a fresh perspective, including a focus on responsible gaming, with reviews including detailed assessments of session limits, deposit limits, time-out tools, and self-exclusion options.
“The YourTopCasino team brings together years of experience across all parts of the iGaming value chain, so a move into affiliation was a logical next step,” said Chris Prentice, co-founder and director at YourTopCasino.
“We saw a gap in the market for an affiliate brand that doesn’t just prioritise conversions, but actually helps players engage with online casinos in a healthy and informed way. By building YourTopCasino around trust, transparency, and responsible gaming, we’re creating long-term value for both players and operators.”
In addition to expert reviews, the site offers a growing library of responsible gambling resources.
As the UK market continues to evolve, YourTopCasino’s player-first approach positions it as a timely and forward-thinking addition to the affiliate space.
Affiliate Announcements
XSOLLA PARTNER NETWORK ENHANCES DEVELOPER AND CREATOR EXPERIENCE IN MARKETING WITH NEW FEATURES AND DATA INSIGHTS

Xsolla, a leading global video game commerce company, introduces significant updates to the Xsolla Partner Network, an advanced affiliate marketing engine designed to connect game developers with content creators. These updates enhance the experience for both developers and creators by introducing new interaction tools, expanded data accessibility, and deeper integrations with the Xsolla Rainmaker platform.
The growing influence of content creators on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok has reshaped game marketing strategies. Developers increasingly seek streamlined ways to discover, manage, and measure creator partnerships. The Xsolla Partner Network addresses this demand by providing an all-in-one solution for creating and scaling performance-based campaigns, now with added tools to enhance usability and campaign success.
New Xsolla Partner Network updates significantly benefit developers and creators, enhancing their ability to collaborate effectively and succeed in their goals.
For developers, the platform now offers:
- Enhanced search functionality to discover, compare, and invite creators who best align with campaign goals
- Detailed creator profiles with insights such as concurrent viewer metrics, games played, and campaign performance, enabling developers to make informed decisions
- Integration with Xsolla Rainmaker data from Twitch and YouTube Gaming, providing robust analytics like streamer views, follower counts, and game-specific performance data for data-driven decision-making
- Streamlined collaboration tools, including direct distribution of promo codes, tracking links, and game keys
- A flexible revenue share model, allowing developers to set customizable commission rates for creators driving successful transactions
Creators gain access to a comprehensive creator toolkit designed to simplify campaign management and accelerate growth. The redesigned interface provides intuitive tools and features that make managing campaigns, engaging audiences, and enhancing content creation easier. By removing the 50-subscriber minimum threshold, the platform is now accessible to micro creators, enabling them to kickstart their careers.
Additional features for creators include:
- Real-time performance tracking, offering insights into campaign results.
- User-friendly account navigation, simplifying platform usage.
- Opportunities to partner directly with game developers, helping creators grow their audience and monetize their work by driving sales for games and in-game content featured at Xsolla Mall.
- Creator sites at Xsolla Mall enable creators to resell digital content, showcase campaign details, collect donations, and share links to all social media platforms to increase visibility.
- Overlays, providing game-branded promotional graphics and animations for live streams to boost engagement and drive awareness.
- Chatbot is designed to share tracking links and promo codes in real-time chats during gameplay, reward viewers, and engage the community.
With these updates, the Xsolla Partner Network empowers developers and creators to collaborate seamlessly, unlocking new opportunities for success in the evolving landscape of game marketing.
“The Xsolla Partner Network has always been a powerful tool for developers to grow their games and for creators to monetize their passion,” said Chris Hewish, Chief Strategy Officer at Xsolla. “With these new features, we enable seamless collaboration between developers and creators, ensuring both can achieve their goals more effectively.”
Affiliate Announcements
QMRA Recognition by Google & Meta in Denmark – A Milestone for Compliance
QMRA has now been active for nearly a year, and we are proud to have welcomed many members who share our commitment to responsible affiliation. We continue to work towards becoming the leading compliance indicator for international affiliates.
Beyond compliance, we are expanding our efforts into advocacy. For example, in Finland, we have launched lobbying initiatives as the government considers restricting affiliate activities.
Most importantly, several QMRA members are actively seeking advertising licenses from Google and Meta in various jurisdictions. We are pleased to confirm that in Denmark, both platforms have recognized QMRA membership as a decisive factor in granting these licenses. This information has been directly communicated to us by our members.
This is a significant milestone for QMRA. It confirms that our compliance checks and the presence of the QMRA quality mark on an iGaming affiliate website are taken seriously by key industry players. Additionally, we know that in other markets, QMRA membership is already being considered in similar assessments.
We will continue to strengthen our position and expand our influence. Thank you for your continued support in upholding responsible affiliation standards.
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