The Responsibilities of a Gambling Affiliate

I’ve noticed one or two threads on popular gambling forums recently concerning the promotion of purpotedly “rogue” gambling operations by affiliates in the sector. One of two posters have been singling out affiliate sites as being ethically challenged so I thought some analysis of their decisions to promote known dodgy outfits would be in order.

The first questions that need to be answered are where does the buck stop with an operator who knowingly defrauds players out of cash and just how common is it? In my experience, the number of good operators outweighs the rogues, but there is no doubt the bad ones exist. The 2006 UIGEA legislation in the USA has had the side-effect of removing most of the good operators from the market putting US players at far greater risk and the key is, as ever, research. Outside the US, the problem is less er, problematic, because the good operators have developed strong brands and 9 times out of 10 outperform their rogue counterparts in search engines. When - if - the USA finally regulate online gambling, there is no doubt that US gamblers will feel a lot safer.

But why do these rogues even exist? Personally, while affiliates contribute to their success, I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the software providers who choose who they licence to. In some instances, this is done very well - Wagerworks, Cryptologic and to a large degree Microgaming have got this strategy right down the years, perhaps with the odd and often unforeseeable exception. But Realtime Gaming have got it so wrong and as things stand, most prominent US-facing casinos use RTG software. Brands like the Crystal Palace gorup and Virtual Casino Group (who subsequently bought the Crystal Palace operation) are prime examples of why RTG has such a poor reputation.

True, there are good RTG licecees out there - the excellent iNetBet and Club World spring immediately to mind - but RTG owe more to these brands than any brand owes to RTG. Without them, the RTG reputation wouldn’t even be up for discussion. It’s abou ime RTG stepped up to the plate IMO and look in their own back yard for the enemy. They might take a financial hit from revoking certain licences, but longer term the benefits are obvious.

But affiliates - this is where I get confused. Why would any affiliate with an ounce of business sense promote a casino or poker room that ripped off players? It’s illogical. If they are prepared to rip off players, then surely it stands to reason that they will rip off affiliates. Stats that dive to zero, players that suddenly disappear from financial spreadsheets, overheads that are charged to an account effectively rendering it useless and cross-promotion to other properties without due consideration for the referrer. Bottom line is, the affiliate is getting a dose of their own medicine.

Like it or not, the gambling affiliate has an accompanied moral responsibility to ensure that players they refer are sent to gambling operations that will repsect their deposits and their winnings. A lot choose to ignore that, a lot don’t understand that and a fair few don’t understand the business they are in but there is a rather satisfying irony that they are probably getting ripped off too. If they’d have sent that player to a casino or poker room that treated them well, the affililiate would probably be a lot better off. Not just in terms of money, but in terms of nurturing player loyalty.

Tell someone the truth and they are more likely to trust you again.

Large chunks of the online gambling industry go un-policed and it is up to those involved to prove that it is a responsible and above-board environment. It’s never exactly been steeped in moral esteem, but while people within work unethically and without some sense of shared responsibility, it is destined to rely on regulation. And with regulation, many of those that flouted the responsibility will be in for a bit of a shock when the properties where they have large player bases are no longer allowed to operate in territories they are geared up for. For an affiliate with a large player base, this means the day may come when that is wiped out overnight.

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