Affiliate Success
Ad Fraud and Affiliate Marketing Strategies: How Online Gaming Companies Can Transform Their ROI
By: Richard Metcalf, Global VP, Sports Betting & Online Gaming, TrafficGuard
Betting companies can adopt cutting-edge technology and offer the very best odds, but amplifying your brand is still difficult in a saturated industry. As a result of relaxing regulations, international players can break into an increasing number of new markets but reaching local target audiences can be a challenge. For these businesses, affiliate marketing is a vital channel in driving new user acquisition and some of the largest sportsbooks like Paddy Power and DraftKings are among those utilising the strategy.
With competition fierce, businesses are in a constant battle to keep costs low. Cost-per-thousand (CPT) payment models for traditional TV advertisements are progress towards paying for performance, but vendors still cannot guarantee that exposure will translate to depositing customers. Affiliate marketing provides a cost-efficient, low-risk alternative because businesses pay for conversions only.
But with money to be made, affiliate advertising fraud is rife and affiliate partners are likely delivering invalid engagement. If betting companies are looking to expand their user base and market amongst big players, they must improve their visibility over affiliate partners’ traffic.
Tracking Affiliate Activity
From smaller players to large conglomerates, there’s an exciting opportunity for betting companies to establish their presence across global markets. In the US especially, rapid legalisation across multiple states has turned betting into a million-dollar industry and created a profitable opportunity for overseas operators to move into the new market.
However, marketing globally can be expensive and driving brand awareness in a new location is often time-consuming and resource-heavy. With affiliate marketing, betting companies can create a network of partners from across the globe and easily access international audiences. This strategy is also much more efficient and expansive than physical marketing methods as it removes the difficulties that are tied to building a target audience from scratch.
Although affiliate marketing is a valuable marketing tool for increasing brand awareness and authenticity, affiliate management platforms aren’t prioritising fraud. The measures they put in place themselves are often basic and easy to get around and fraudsters can easily fly under the radar by taking advantage of the lack of protection. The nature of affiliate marketing means there is a disconnect between the promotion, analytics and payment, preventing companies from getting a holistic view of the fraud impacting them in addition to paying out for valueless traffic.
Affiliate fraud in the betting industry includes any deceitful action taken by a third party to exploit marketing techniques. This can include click fraud, where fake clicks are generated on ads to earn commission payments; or cookie stuffing, where fake cookies are placed on computers to hijack affiliate sales. Malicious affiliate ad programs do this so they can earn money from false clicks or sales and target high-investment marketing campaigns.
Research by Forrester revealed that 81% of advertisers include affiliate marketing as part of their marketing strategy. The growth of the market, paired with the increase in competition, is why many are turning to affiliate marketing. However, by being cost-effective through performance-based pay, there is an increased attraction from fraudsters. Sports betting companies are not well-equipped to address the problems they face with ad fraud.
Statista predicts affiliate marketing spending in the US alone will reach $8.2 billion by the end of 2022. With the vast amount of money involved, sports betting companies are a target for fraudsters.
Getting Instant Access
In order to prevent fraudulent traffic, betting companies must increase the visibility they have over affiliates. By keeping track of partners’ activity, including reviewing their demographics, reputation and quality of traffic, they can increase the quality of their affiliate partners.
Betting companies can do this using third-party technology that can indicate that affiliate scams are taking place in real-time to deliver the most reliable fraud protection. Intelligent software that uses behaviour analysis, such as machine learning, can track the volume of data required to deliver an accurate, instant analysis of which traffic is valid, invalid and fraudulent. Machine learning can identify granular details such as an unusually high number of clicks on an ad, or a high number of sales from a single IP address to confidently assess and deal with invalid traffic so the betting company doesn’t have to pay out.
With this data, operators gain the confidence to cross reference the engagement affiliates charge them for, prevent any partners from trying to outmanoeuvre them and safeguard their business against malicious activity. With more protection over advertising campaigns and a larger proportion of clicks coming from conversion-ready leads, companies can build cleaner audience groups from high-value affiliate partners.
Better Visibility, Better ROI
Reaching a market size of $231 billion in 2022, the sports betting industry is becoming increasingly attractive to international operators and fraudsters alike. If you’re running an affiliate marketing program, there’s a high chance you’re paying out for partners’ invalid traffic.
Only using the data your affiliate program partners declare means you’re at risk of being misled. Affiliate programs need to be monitored to avoid scams and program fraud. By understanding which affiliate partners are directing invalid traffic to their websites and charging a premium price for it, sportsbooks can optimise their pay-outs and exceed competitors’ efforts.
Affiliate Success
ReferOn Shortlisted for “European Corporate Services Supplier” Category at EGR EUROPE Awards 2026
ReferOn, the next-gen affiliate management platform, has been named on the EGR Europe Awards 2026 shortlist in the “European Corporate Services Supplier” category, recognising the platform’s solutions that help real operators with their operations and growth.
Continuing 2025’s Momentum
The nomination reflects a busy 2025 for ReferOn, one that was highlighted by significant product updates, rapid growth, and an ascent to becoming one of the most recognised affiliate management platforms in the industry.
Going into the new year, the ReferOn team has ambitious plans to accelerate this positive momentum by scaling alongside its growing partner base with advancements to its product vision around clarity, transparency, and ease of use. The EGR Europe Awards 2026 marks a pivotal start to 2026, and an award win demonstrates that the platform’s direction truly resonates with operators and affiliate managers worldwide.
Refie’s Human Impact
Refie, the platform’s human layer, transcends a mere surface-level companion. It hops around dashboards and workflows, providing relevant assistance, such as fixing reward logic, identifying anomalies, and making suggestions to the user.
In 2026, ReferOn plans to enhance Refie’s functionality with advanced platform gamification, engaging users and transforming how affiliate managers interact with their day-to-day operations. These developments will pave the way for personalised, smart intelligence on the platform and set an industry standard for affiliate tech.
Alex Bukin, General Manager, commented on the nomination and plans for 2026, “ReferOn made great strides in the past year, with major product developments, key recruitments, and a rapidly growing partner base. With this growth, our expectations have risen, and we want to establish ourselves as a platform that accelerates affiliate tech across the board. Being nominated for the ‘European Corporate Services Supplier’ category solidifies our ambition and is a meaningful start to our new year. With Refie driving more innovation, we look forward to driving our goal of transparency, clarity, and customer-facing features even further.”
Affiliate Success
ReferOn Wins Prestigious “Best Affiliate Software 2025” at SiGMA Central Europe B2B Awards
A milestone achievement as ReferOn continues to impress
ReferOn, the next-generation affiliate management platform, has taken the title of “Best Affiliate Software 2025” at the SiGMA Central Europe B2B Awards, held in Rome.
The award recognises ReferOn’s rapid growth in becoming a leader in iGaming. It distinguishes the platform for its cutting-edge architecture, exceptional product innovations, and measurable impact on affiliate operations.
Redefining Affiliate Management
In a short amount of time since its inception, ReferOn has become one of the most recognised names in affiliate technology, leading the way by creating user-centric features that help the real needs of affiliate managers.
The platform recorded rapid adoption, supporting an influx of tens of thousands of affiliates and millions of clicks while continuously evolving and growing with new features and refinements. The platform’s approach to innovation and user-facing experiences is its new living interface, Refie. Refie brings awareness and human-like interaction to the platform, helping make affiliate operations more personable and accessible.
Building Beyond the Standard
Alex Bukin, General Manager at ReferOn, commented on the win, “This award is more than recognition. It empowers and validates our team, encouraging us never to stop building. At ReferOn, we always aim to shape how affiliate marketing should work. At its core, it should be simple, transparent, and powerful. Every new integration and feature comes from a team that deeply understands the product and what real affiliate managers need. This helps us refine our platform to be the best it can be. And we’re only getting started!”
Continued Momentum
ReferOn’s win at SiGMA Central Europe marks another significant achievement. In 2025, the platform conducted multiple migrations and released groundbreaking features to transform affiliate operations. Its sights are set on 2026 — a year that will be focused on product refinements, sustainable growth through key industry partnerships, and delivering more key solutions for real affiliate managers.
Affiliate Success
Casino Guru secures SiGMA Central Europe B2C Awards’ Best Affiliate 2025 distinction
Casino Guru has won the “Best Affiliate 2025” category at the SiGMA Central Europe B2C Awards, distinguishing the company’s efforts in delivering the best online casino database and guiding players to the safest casinos of their choice.
Via Tuscolana hosted the ceremony on Tuesday, November 4, in Rome, Italy, distinguishing a number of companies, among which was Casino Guru, which secured the landmark accolade for itself.
Commenting on the win, Casino Guru’s Head of Casino Research, Matej Novota, said: “Winning the Best Affiliate 2025 award at the SiGMA Central Europe B2C Awards is a meaningful milestone for us as we approach the end of the year. At Casino Guru, we are honored to be recognized in this category. Our mission has always been to build the world’s most comprehensive online casino database and to offer impartial insights that empower players to make informed decisions. This award strengthens our resolve to continue serving as a trusted bridge between players and operators, while upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and fairness in everything we do.”
Casino Guru has been awarded for its unflagging commitment to providing players with the most reliable up-to-date information about casinos and bonuses.
At its core, Casino Guru is committed to making the gambling industry safer and promoting best practices in Responsible Gaming. The company plays an active role in shaping these standards, drawing on its extensive experience, expertise, and firmly held values of fairness, integrity, and transparency.
Platforms such as the Global Self-Exclusion Initiative and Casino Guru Academy have been created to foster a better understanding of Responsible Gambling and how players and industry professionals can leverage it to their benefit.
Notably, the Casino Guru Awards have become a trend-setter in actively encouraging change on the part of industry stakeholders, and distinguishing deserving individuals and companies across numerous categories, such as Rising Star in Responsible Gambling, Most Impactful Social Responsibility Initiative, Fairest Bonus Policy, Industry Culture Shaper, and more.
Casino Guru has worked tirelessly, developing the world’s most complicated ranking system, the Safety Index, which carefully examines each casino’s offer, focusing on criteria favored by players, and issues an objective score that is also regularly updated.
Besides the Safety Index, Casino Guru has launched and maintains a world-beating independent adjudication service, the Complaint Resolution Center, which has returned more than $50m to players, including closing cases that involved more than $1m disputed by a single player.
Casino Guru is proud to receive the latest accolade from the SiGMA Central Europe B2C Awards, celebrating the company’s commitment to making gambling safer and better for everyone out there.
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