Affiliate managers who have their own portals...

[cassaon888]

Hi All,

I'm new to Affiliate Guard Dog and this is my first post here, btw. thanks for having me.

I have posted this exact same question at GPWA, I'd like to hear your opinion/s to this question as well.

How many affiliate managers do you know of that have their own casino portals? I feel this is a conflict of interest; since this gives them an "edge" over us normal portal owners.

Just to give an example; a mechanic who works for a large mechanical repair shop/garage is not allowed to do any mechanical repairs as a sideline job to supplement his income; since it contradicts his contractual obligations toward his employer.

IMO the same rule applies to the above.

Cass,

cassaon-casino.com

 

[lots0]

I don't know any good AM's that have their own gambling site.

But if I did, I don't believe it is a problem or gives them an 'edge'.

A good Am is going to spend all his/her time doing their job.
A good webmaster spends all his/her time working on the site.

So basically if a AM decides to be both a AM and an Aff they will most likley do both jobs half assed.

 

[lauferb]

Hi All,

I'm new to Affiliate Guard Dog and this is my first post here, btw. thanks for having me.

I have posted this exact same question at GPWA, I'd like to hear your opinion/s to this question as well.

How many affiliate managers do you know of that have their own casino portals? I feel this is a conflict of interest; since this gives them an "edge" over us normal portal owners.

Just to give an example; a mechanic who works for a large mechanical repair shop/garage is not allowed to do any mechanical repairs as a sideline job to supplement his income; since it contradicts his contractual obligations toward his employer.

IMO the same rule applies to the above.

Cass,

cassaon-casino.com

I agree
IMHO this is not right for affiliate manager to have his own casino portal
the reason is that all the seo tricks and other successful ways to maximize conversions that are used by affiliates are right there on the table and the affiliate manager can just collect it and use it for his own portal (meaning that eventually he is competing with his affiliates that are basically his partners)

 

[Vladi]

How about casinos that own their own portals?
The company that owns Purple Lounge also owns gambling.com

 

[arkyt]

How about casinos that own their own portals?
The company that owns Purple Lounge also owns gambling.com

Do some research on Spinspark ...

 

[6digits]

owns there own site

Look at CryptoLogic. They own Inter Casino while being an operator and in the same vein they also own casino.co.uk and winneronline.com

The fact that the Purple is owned by Media Corp who also owns gambling.com should not be an issue.

They operate as separate divisions and each responsible for there own targets, so is this wrong?

Another example is Online Casino Guide - Best UK Online Casinos by CasinoChoice.co.uk who easily earns in excess of 500K a month, also launched their own bingo program, and the bingo is successful. Makes you think doesn't it.

Thoughts

 

[Vladi]

I agree, not an issue. If you don't like it then don't work with the affiliate manager.

What would be an issue though is portal owners recommending their own casinos without disclosing that they own them.

 

[Eugene]

Another example is Online Casino Guide - Best UK Online Casinos by CasinoChoice.co.uk who easily earns in excess of 500K a month, also launched their own bingo program, and the bingo is successful. Makes you think doesn't it.
Thoughts

how is it possible? they don't get too much traffic. is it because of age of this project.

in my opinion when USA will allow online gambling large offline casino groups will buy good online casino programs with several brands (as we see now the trends of negotiations) and soon they will need some big web portals to promote their properties.

E.g. it is good idea to buy out some MGM, RTG, Playtech programs with about 3-5 casinos in each program. Totally 9-15 casinos. It is enough to give players the 'freedom' of choice + keep in mind their power of bringing back their players to these portals via ads via casino newsletters and offline advertising at their offline casinos. It is good strategy - vertical and horizontal integration.

 

[Aussie-Dave]

I
What would be an issue though is portal owners recommending their own casinos without disclosing that they own them.

As the industry matures so too does its transparency. Most big companies, especially those listed on stock exchanges, IMO are not going to risk credibility issues by not declaring affiliations & or associations.

Granted the industry is still chocker block with conflicts of interest. But slowly that too is being eroded. The industry seriously operated like the 'Old West' when it commenced - in part some operators still hold that mindset. However things are changing. Albeit not as fast as most may wish for though.


Cheers



Dave

 

[Rooster86]

We were thinking of developing an affiliate portal just to see what the competitors are up to. From an AM point of view, its important to understand what value is available to affiliates so that we can also offer competitive terms. I don't see any issue with it.

 

[JJJaffiliate]

SEO Tricks

I agree
IMHO this is not right for affiliate manager to have his own casino portal
the reason is that all the seo tricks and other successful ways to maximize conversions that are used by affiliates are right there on the table and the affiliate manager can just collect it and use it for his own portal (meaning that eventually he is competing with his affiliates that are basically his partners)

There's no real advantage for an AM, they know how much affs are earning admitedly and what KW's convert, but its not rocket science , KW's with the highest searches normally convert better but have the most competition, anyone can look that up on the internet, seo quake gives you all the info you need.

but saying that maybe there is a conflict of interests, not sure most AM's can afford to pay for content and links anyway

 

[WCD Admin]

Personally I don't agree with affiliate managers having their own portals.

At least call us competitors then - certainly not partners.

Casino programs and their staff should work on getting us paid on time, improving their product - and that's it. Otherwise, become an affiliate and quit. I can't be your partner and competitor at the same time. Just not sure how you do that. I guess if there weren't so many problems in the industry with people getting paid timely, and nice creatives in the backend, etc, maybe I won't be so harsh, but my god, some of these programs have exactly one banner per size for their programs.

They should be working on translating, getting internationalized, working on banners, feeds and other tools for affiliates. They should probably be paid a higher wage to take any urge for affiliate site out of their minds.

For the same reasons I won't hire someone to work for me who is also developing their own sites. Its not a very smart business move. Attention is split and it will equate to a half ass job somewhere.

 

[Janet]

It's definitely a conflict of interest. Either you're an affiliate manager or an affiliate, you shouldn't be both.

I believe affiliate managers, since they have backend access (pardon the phrase), might be tempted to 'move' good players...I dislike giving a competitor that kind of power.

if they want to have an affiliate site just to get a look at things from the other side, then they should put up loan sites or something that isn't in direct competition. Everything's pretty much the same except the keywords and difficulty to get to the top of SERPS.