BetConstruct launches a new Affiliate Program Management service for all its current and future partners to help them with affiliate marketing and management. 

Affiliate marketing has been gaining popularity in the iGaming industry, and BetConstruct is once again meeting market demands. The service aims to provide iGaming businesses with a complete list of tools and features to manage and optimise their affiliate marketing programs effectively.

One of the main highlights of the service is the coaching and consultation of the partner’s team members through multiple educational materials to maximise the effectiveness of the affiliate program. Additionally, the service offers landing page customisation, link and media creation support, and global configuration setups to accurately convey every business’ brand message and identity.

As for operations directly linked to affiliates and finances, the service includes a commission plan setup based on the target market and aligned with current trends to suggest the best price beneficial both for companies and affiliates. Contribution cost setup is also provided to manage budgets and ensure maximum ROI.

With its multi-faceted design and partner-centric approach, BetConstructs offers an all-in-one Affiliate Management service to cover every aspect of affiliate marketing fully. The service is accurately tailored to every partner’s requirements and is the perfect option for amplifying their ROI and boosting conversions.

BetConstruct constantly follows industry trends and is always ready to come up with new solutions resonating with partner needs and requirements!

Operator taking full control over affiliate management to ensure highest standards of regulatory compliance

5^th February, 2018 – Leading operator Betway has begun the process of bringing its affiliate programme fully in-house, underlining its continued commitment to meeting the industry’s highest regulatory standards.

Its third-party partners will now be fully managed by the operator to monitor more closely affiliate programmes in changing regulatory landscapes across several of its operational territories.

The move will see a migration of work from its current affiliate partner manager, Buffalo Partners, into – Betway Partners – which will then manage the affiliate programme moving forward.

The transfer of business will begin on March 1^st 2018 and Betway will work closely with its current partners to ensure they are kept fully informed of the changes and how it will affect them.

Anthony Werkman, CEO of Betway, said: “Managing the affiliate sector is vital in maintaining Betway’s values, so to ensure we remain fully compliant with changing regulatory requirements we will be formally bringing our affiliate programme in-house.

“We value our affiliate partners greatly and look forward to working with them over the next few years in order to grow this successful area of the business. In doing so we will be focusing on delivering the highest regulatory standards in all our markets as well as ensuring that a clearer alignment with Betway values and systems is in place, and through that greater overall transparency and accountability is achieved.”

“We will continue to work alongside regulatory bodies to ensure a safe and fair environment for all.”

Betway will offer affiliates across all its operational jurisdictions continued assistance as it begins the process of managing them in-house.

About Betway:

The Betway Group is a leading provider of first-class entertainment across sports betting, casino, bingo and poker. Launched in 2006, the company operates across a number of regulated online markets and holds licences in the UK, Malta, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Ireland.

Based in Malta and Guernsey, with support from London, Isle of Man, Stockholm and Cape Town, the Betway team comprises over 1,000 people.

Betway prides itself on providing its customers with a bespoke, fun and informed betting experience, supported by a safe and secure environment.

Betway is a member of several prominent industry-related bodies, including ESSA, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) and the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), and is accredited by trusted international testing agency eCOGRA. It is also a partner of the Professional Players Federation (PPF) and is a donor to the Responsible Gambling Trust.

In addition to the flagship Betway brand, the Betway Group operates a number of other brands including Dream Bingo, Bingo on the Box, Spin Casino and the Hippodrome Online Casino. For more information about Betway’s various products and licenced brands, please visit www.betwaygroup.com.

888 has denied it is shutting down its UK affiliate programme after a number of affiliates received emails yesterday stating they must no longer target UK traffic and 888 would no longer pay them commission for newly generated players.

In an email seen by iGaming Business, affiliates were told: “As you may be aware the regulatory landscape for affiliates is constantly changing and evolving, especially in the UK. In order to help ensure that we work with our affiliate partners in a compliant manner, we are seeking to exert greater control on the traffic which is generated from the UK.

“As a result, from January 29th 2018, you must not target UK IP addresses and/or any persons located in the UK. Therefore, we shall no longer pay you any commission with regard to money players in the UK which you generate.”

Some posters on the GPWA (Gambling Portal Webmasters Association) forum interpreted the email to mean the programme was shutting down. “Unless I’m reading things incorrectly with my dodgy eyes…bye bye then!” said one.

When contacted by iGB, the operator said: “888 takes the issue of responsible gaming very seriously and has taken a number steps to ensure its marketing complies with the Gambling Commission’s LCCP and ASA’s advertising codes.

“In order to monitor the actions of affiliates more closely, 888 has already terminated its relationship with a large number of affiliates and will continue to close and terminate accounts in order to work with fewer affiliate partners and have better oversight of their activities.”

Duncan Garvie, who runs affiliate and mediation site ThePogg, said he hadn’t received the email as he no longer works with 888, but that it didn’t surprise him.

“I’ve been anticipating this particular move for a while now. With the punitive approach the UK authorities have been taking towards operators and affiliates we’ve already seen a number of programmes close up completely or implement very aggressive terms.

“I was fully expecting one of them to work out eventually that they simply had to stop accepting UK traffic from affiliates rather than close or destroy their reputation with really questionable terms.”

Another poster on the GPWA forum pointed out the email did also contain the following line: “If you do wish to continue working with us in the UK please contact us, through this link: http://affiliates.888.com/contact-us.htm.”

His take on it was: “I think if you are prepared to work closely with them, accept the UK marketing guidelines and make any changes they request you to, that you can still carry on working with them.”

Operators have come under fire for their marketing activities, including those carried out by affiliates, over the past year and 888 was one of several operators to receive a warning from the Advertising Standards Authority over an advert run by an affiliate partner.

As a consequence, operators have been placing more and more compliance demands on affiliates. Bet365 recently carried out an overhaul of its programme and Paddy Power unveiled a ‘one-strike’ policy for affiliates in September.

In September, Sky Bet controversially announced that it was shutting down its affiliate programme altogether, although some have been cynical about its motives.

In a recent interview with iGaming Business’ sister publication iGB Affiliate magazine, Gambling.com’s Charles Gillespie said: “Let’s be clear — Sky still works with strategic media partners. My take on the Sky situation is that it was a set of unique circumstances — they are preparing for a listing this year, private equity owns the business, the owners and the management of the business are being very aggressive on hitting targets and what can be easier than turning off a bunch of legacy rev share and using compliance as an excuse?”

The 888 email suggested, however, that it will be taking a less heavy handed approach to historic traffic than Sky Bet, with the email also having stated: “The aforementioned shall not apply with respect to non-UK money players or to money players which you have generated in the UK prior to such date, subject to the Uffiliate terms and conditions found at http://affiliates.888.com/terms-and-conditions/ (the “Terms”).”

Source:iGB