Affiliate Announcements
ThePOGG Network launches POGGWebmasters.com
ThePOGG.com Network has just launched its 3rd property, POGGWebmasters.com. Over the last 4 years ThePOGG.com has established a strong reputation for their thorough and professional approach to the management of player complaints, recently becoming the only affiliate model operation to receive Accreditation from the UKGC as an Alternative Dispute Resolution service. POGGWebmasters has been set up to extend this complaint service to affiliates.
“ThePOGG.com has done a great job of establishing itself as a very credible mediation and review service within the remote gambling sector. So much so that we became aware via forum posts and private communications that a significant number of affiliates were checking with our operator reviews on ThePOGG before selecting which program to work with. As time has passed we started to feel that there was a distinct gap within the marketplace for a resource that allowed affiliates to see at a glance how affiliate programs treated both affiliates AND players and another big gap in terms of a service where affiliates could gain help if they’d been mistreated. POGGWebmasters is our answer to these gaps.”
Affiliate Complaint Service offered for Free
POGGWebmasters is the first site to offer a dedicated affiliate complaint service. Building on their success and experience running ThePOGG.com’s player complaints service, POGGWebmasters provides a full complaints infrastructure to allow affiliates to submit a complaint, the complaint to be managed in the private manner which ThePOGG.com has demonstrated is most conducive to a positive resolution and finally a complaint report to be published to allow other affiliates to see the nature of the complaint, how it was managed and the actions that have ultimately been taken to remedy the situation.
Detailed Affiliate Program Reviews
Alongside the management of affiliate complaints full reviews have been posted of over 250 affiliate programs, with another 100 programs to be added in the coming weeks. These reviews focus on providing quality information to affiliates, presenting a breakdown of the terms and conditions offered to the affiliate – highlighting both positive and negative terms that affiliates should be aware of – and an assessment of the reputation of the programs with respect to their treatment of both players and affiliates.
Paid for Placement Model Rejected
POGGWebmasters is also the first affiliate community to reject the ‘paid for placement’ model for operators. To ensure that affiliate complaints are always managed with appropriate impartiality and that POGGWebmasters is free to take whatever actions they deem appropriate without restriction the site will not tie itself into ‘sponsorship’ type agreements. As such, instead of paying to receive premium advertising positions, featured program positions will be given to those programs that maintain an active representative within ThePOGG forum, contributing and improving the community and resources available to both players and affiliates.
POGGWebmasters aims to cover all types of gambling affiliate programs and for launch the majority of reviews tend to cover casino, sportsbetting and bingo and more will be added to cover lottery and poker. Out of about 300 affiliate programs reviewed upon launch, only about 50 have made the grade for being recommended.
Affiliates will also be able to gain links by posting on ThePOGG Network’s message boards, which will be significantly updated in the coming weeks. Three levels of Affiliate Membership have been set up allowing those affiliates that choose to work with stronger status programs to more easily gain rewards and incentives. Only affiliates choosing to work with Blacklisted programs will be entirely restricted from receiving links (and submitting complaints).
The driving purpose of POGGWebmasters is to help affiliates make more responsible choices in whom they choose to work with, both for themselves in terms of ability to earn money and for the players they send to the various operations they work with.
The launch of POGGWebmasters completes over a year of preparation that has seen ThePOGG Network extend its coverage of the gambling markets to include casino game strategies (POGGStrategies.com) and Affiliate Program reviews. The high quality information and wide coverage of various topics within the marketplace has turned ThePOGG Network into one of the most useful industry resources on the market today.
About ThePOGG
ThePOGG.com has been online since 2011 and is an online casino portal with nearly 1000 casino reviews that holds strict criteria for recommending a casino. Some of the standout features of the site include a UKGC Accredited Alternative Dispute Resolution service for player complaints and player terms and conditions monitoring. ThePOGG also offers a unique Deposit Guarantee service for their highest recommended casinos protecting players by giving their deposit back in the event of a unfair treatment. ThePOGG also does fairness reports and testing of various online casino games.
Affiliate Announcements
CasinoBeats Summit Set to Offer a Laser Focus on Marketing and Affiliate Strategies
Amidst the whirlwind of Google’s relentless updates and the intricate web of affiliate marketing, the upcoming CasinoBeats Summit, with a laser focus on SEO, AI content, and innovative traffic monetisation strategies, will offer marketers and affiliates a platform to tackle pressing inquiries head-on.
The ‘Marketing & Affiliation’ track will occur across both core days of the CasinoBeats Summit, 22nd – 23rd May, at the InterContinental Malta. The track will provide 4500 attendees with an in-depth exploration of key talking points shaping the worlds of marketing and affiliation.
Discussions will encompass leveraging innovative technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive video content to engage new audiences, the power of alternative marketing channels, and gaining a competitive edge through SEO strategies.
The panel titled ‘Finding CRM harmony: Automation vs Experience’ will delve into the growing influence of customer relationship management (CRM) and the most effective strategies for its utilisation. Industry experts Matthias S. Kaiser (Head of CRM at Tipico), Alexandru Ababei (CRM Global Promotions Manager, Betsson) and Zurab Magalashvili (CMO, Adjarabet), will explore how CRM implementation can align with existing processes for player experiences and how CRM data can aid in proactive responsible gambling initiatives.
The conference session ‘Future-Proofing Marketing: Unveiling Trends Beyond the Hype’ will discuss the latest marketing trends and assess their long-term potential. Marketing experts Calvin Samut (Head of Brand, Socios), Cecilia López Boronat (Marketing Content Manager, Clobet Limited) and panel moderator Dennis Algreen (Marketing Director, SBC Events), will explore the longevity of these emerging trends, the danger of chasing trends and whether businesses should prioritise long-term brand stability over fleeting marketing fads.
The conference on the second day will commence with the panel ‘Monetizing Traffic Beyond Traditional Models’ focusing on the significance of alternative marketing channels such as Whatsapp and Telegram. Experts Silvia Almeida (Chief Media Officer, Clever Advertising), Leanne Muleba (Chief Operations Officer, Matching Visions), Eleonora Norbiato (Head of Acquisition, SKS365) and panel moderator Maria Tsnompilantze (Content Marketing Manager, SBC), will deliberate over how useful these alternative channels are, what metrics are particularly relevant for monetization purposes and whether the quality or quantity debate is over in the age of SEO.
The panel titled ‘The Uncharted Territory of Grey Hat SEO – Traffic, Cloaking, PBNs, Parasite SEO and More’ will delve into the nuances of SEO and PPC tactics, exploring the benefits of both Google-approved and grey hat strategies. Led by experts Vadim Aidlin (Chief Executive Officer, PushnotiAds) and Julia Logan (CEO & Founder, Zangoose Digital), discussions will encompass the use of PBNs, the impact of bot traffic, successful partnership SEO strategies and best practices regarding cloaking.
The first core day of the event will also feature a dedicated ‘SEO Trilogy’, hosted by Ivana Flynn alongside a host of industry experts as they tackle the continuously evolving SEO landscape.
The conference will also provide delegates with dedicated tracks covering key industry verticals such as casino, leadership, industry, and regulation and dedicated sessions for women in gaming. Moreover, attendees will be able to participate in innovative session formats such as hackathons, roundtables, and workshops.
Affiliate Announcements
Catena Media readies for online sports betting launch in North Carolina
Catena Media is well positioned to record a solid launch of online sports betting affiliation in North Carolina when the state opens for licensed sports wagering.
The group’s national brands, led by LegalSportsreport.com, are attracting North Carolina bettors with dedicated content, as is Catena Media’s state-focused NCSharp.com website. Alongside Catena Media’s own brands, the group has also published content in collaboration with media partners including Advance Local, owner of NJ.com and other news websites.
In the countdown to launch day, Catena Media held several top rankings for key organic search terms used by potential bettors to find relevant sports-betting-related content and offers.
Prior to the official go-live, the group has deals in place with five major operators offering sports betting platform access to North Carolinians. The customer agreements in North Carolina consist of a mix of revenue share and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) agreements.
North Carolina, with an adult population of 8.5 million, allows anyone aged 21 and over to place sports bets online.
Ryan Harper, Catena Media Vice President North America, said: “We have had a solid run-up to the launch date and are pleased with our efforts so far. We also expect the March Madness NCAA college basketball tournament later this month to be a big driver of new depositing customers in North Carolina.”
North Carolina expands Catena Media’s operational footprint in North America to 29 state and regional markets.
Affiliate Announcements
QMRA to enter Belgium, Poland and Estonia: Game Lounge joins immediately with Belgian website, Place2bet as well
QMRA was launched recently. QMRA is a Quality Mark for international iGaming affiliates, servicing the following markets initially: The UK, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Spain and USA Michigan.
Various websites joined already. Among which Leadstar Media with 4 German websites, BetterWorldCasinos.Com (UK, launching member), Unilead with a Swedish website and the Gaming Innovation Group with websites for three markets (UK, Germany, Sweden).
As of now, QMRA will be active within the following three markets as well: Poland, Estonia and Belgium.
For Belgium, the situation is interesting. All advertising, including affiliation, was initially banned under a Royal Decree. Recently though, the government decided to allow search engine affiliation (https://gamingcommission.be/nl/operatoren/kb-reclame) under the terms of article 10 of the named Royal Decree.
Compliance will be of high importance within the Belgium market. QMRA received applications for this market immediately.
Two new QMRA applicants:
Game Lounge, a well-known and large iGaming affiliate company (over 200 employees), applies with GuideCasino.Be. Place2Bet applies to QMRA as well, with Place2Bet.Be.