bgo Buddies - update the offer or else

[Engineer]

Dear Affiliate,

Following on from our communication yesterday regarding the recent Welcome Bonus changes to both bgo and Power Spins we would like to remind you to update all live sites and social media presence to reflect this change, we consider you actioning this change as a matter of urgency .

We will be announcing further feature updates to bgo and Power Spins on Monday 16th October and encourage you to look out for this email.

We must emphasise the seriousness of not reflecting the changes that we have made in your communications. As a compliant Operator, we will be enforcing non-co-operation accordingly.

Taking this into consideration as of 23:59 BST Monday 16th October 2017 any affiliates that have not implemented these changes will have their bgo buddies accounts suspended until updated . After 23:59 BST Friday 20th October 2017 , any affiliates continuing to show out of date/non-compliant offers will have their accounts closed.

bgo Entertainment Ltd will be adopting a zero-tolerance approach to breaches of ASA , CAP, LCCP and ICO regulations with regards to affiliate promotion, as outlined in our compliance guidelines.

Please find our compliance guidelines here:

If you require further clarity please do contact your Affiliate Manager.

Kind regards,

bgo buddies Affiliate Team

 

[Bonus Paradise]

3 days time and it is also weekend! Nice

 

[CygX1]

These short notices are sickening. This program is obviously not valuing its business partners a lot, otherwise this would not be done. It is not like the Gaming Commission only informed about the compliance updates just this week.

 

[PaaskeUK]

This is beyond a joke. Now think about all the other affiliate programs???? I have around at least 70 other affiliate programs who promote in uk I have not heard from. Also I receive tons of different text messages to my phone with both spame messages sign up here or also promotions. UK casinos are not allowed to send out Text / sms messages anymore. This is really going well LMAO

 

[bonustreak]

They were completely rude to me as well over the last few weeks. I had enough of the 'tough language' towards me and told them to close my account since it was useless for years anyway. They faced a huge fine for their own deceptive marketing so now they are taking it out on affiliates. Bye Felicia.

 

[Shay]

They are a bunch of shitbags. All I got to say about that...

 

[casinonewbie]

They are a bunch of shitbags. All I got to say about that...

So they ain't your buddies? ... LOL.
BGO big on BS that's about it.

 

[Mr Live Casinos]

From one point of view they are trying to protect themselfes and make sure that all their "partners" are on the same page. On the the other hand the term "partners" is loosing its meaning because you will never say to your partner : You have 5 days to do your part of the job or else... Not the first time we are seeing this tactic though so not surprised at all

 

[Webzcas]

Weren't BGO recently hammered by the UKGC along with the likes of 888? Yep just looked and they were to the tune of £300k

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.u...usiness-fined-for-misleading-advertising.aspx

Perhaps they should have got their own house in order in the first instance. Also hopefully this action by the UKGC will ensure programs no longer turn a blind eye to their 'affiliates' hacking thousands of sites, redirecting said hacked sites to landing pages with their properties on. Also, it may just stop the crappy for seo articles which clearly cross a line.

It appears therefore that those of us who are responsible are being well and truly caught in the crossfire.

 

[PaaskeUK]

Hi I was really angry about this and sent a not so nice email off to them. BUT by surprise i actually found an email already from last year so myself and anyone who received this can not really complain about them now.

I feel very embarrassed as they also sent something earlier than that. It is also our responsibility as affiliates to once and a while to check terms and conditions also from Gambling Commision if we promote directly for UK or also other regulations.

I am not trying to defend them as it is the same with Casumo they were actually nice and sent out apology last week and told the situation.

All in all i think its the Gambling Commission who is to blame for all this mess and the other regulations. I am sure all these affiliate programs are threaten from Gambling Commision that they will give them huge fines or shut affiliate program down if their affiliates do not follow rules and or new rules. Think about how hard this situation is for Affiliate programs and affiliates looking at how many they have??

To finish my post we should all look at least at the positives in this as many of the spamming affiliates who steal lot of the traffic i know some Russian and from other eastern countries most of these will be shut down as they dont even have proper nice Content they write etc they just steal traffic to get players from you guys and me. All this could mean all us fair affiliates will get more traffic and more players in future hopefully

See the old email from BGO buddies below (and NO i am not trying to defend anyone here as i have bad results with them and last years had basically no traffic almost after i gave bit up on them)

Tue 10/05/2016 16:23 bgo buddies <info@bgobuddies.com>

We hope you're well.

As you are aware from previous correspondence, the UK Gambling Commission has strict guidelines about how to promote brands like bgo online and so we wanted to reiterate these rules to make sure you are compliant.

The two main points to ensure you comply with are:

1. You MUST make sure that any bgo creative that has an offer or promotion on it, whether it be casino or bingo has, as a minimum of 'T&Cs Apply' written on the creative itself.
2. You MUST make sure that you send all traffic through a link that is currently available in your bgo buddies affiliate account to ensure that the T&Cs for the promotion/offer is one click away from the advert. All current links direct traffic to compliant pages.

To ensure that you are fully compliant please update all your bgo creative to the latest versions, which can be found under marketing tools in your bgo buddies account. Note that these rules apply to marketing by any method, so whether you are promoting bgo with banners on your website, on social media, via mailers or any other method you are using, you must follow these rules.

Further information about the CAP/BCAP rules can be found here and the Gambling Commission's Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice are available here .

If we see non-compliant bgo adverts, we reserve the right to terminate the affiliate agreement with our partners.

Please feel free to email us if you have any questions or if you need help with accessing our latest creative

All the Best,

The bgo Affliate Team

 

[Shay]

There is a huge difference between the email you detailed, which says make sure you're complying with the "t&c disclaimer" as well as using proper links that comply with UKGC requirements on their end and the email the OP received.

The OP's email states there's going to be a bonus change - change it on your site or else. And of course, they're threatening account closure to go along with it for those not complying with timely updates. Interestingly, we did not receive any type of communication from bgo on this (yes, our business does have an affiliate account despite anything any of their affiliate managers might try to spout off about).

My understanding is that bgo was in fact hammered by the UKGC for their own advertising being misleading (couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch IMO considering they did a cash grab on us last year).

That said, they surely worded it in such a way that it would create urgency for some, while others are going to laugh it off - at which time they will be "justified" in their eyes to do a "close and grab".

Considering this program (last I knew) does not credit affiliates with their in house cross promotion of their brands, they are far from the most affiliate friendly program around so if they can find another way to grab more money and feel justified in doing so, they surely will IMO.

 

[NDG]

You are right. This affiliate program does not credit affiliates if a player is cross promoted to their other
brand, and even if the player decides to sign-up with the other brand directly through your affiliate links.

There are many UK licensed brands that I haven't heard anything from. So, why the sudden urgency from
a few of the affiliate programs? Maybe, this is just an easy excuse for them to close more affiliate accounts.

 

[PaaskeUK]

Just received this email from a so called BGO Buddies brand. Just makes me laugh make sure you update and follow UKGC rules and they still send this crap out to players???

Notice just the subject. Misleading me thinks also are they still allowed to use free spins when this requires a deposit. (PS im reporting them to UKGC now - I have never made a deposit at Powerspins)

I can't be bothered uploading picture as well but its states > GET UP TO 50 FREE SPINS WITH YOUR NEXT DEPOSIT NO STRINGS ATTACHED! and a big fat square DEPOSIT NOW.

From: Power Spins [mailto:news@emails.powerspins.com]
Sent: 16 October 2017 18:11
To: *******@ **********
Subject: Here’s up to 50 Free Spins to play with

Take advantage of our brand-new Welcome Offer.

Get 1 Free Spin for every £1 of your first deposit, up to a whopping 50 Free Spins!*

And the best bit? Unlike at other online casinos, whatever you now win with our Free Spins is paid to you in cash – no strings attached.

Use your them to play the following great games: ***********************

 

[KasinoKing]

Just received this email from a so called BGO Buddies brand. Just makes me laugh make sure you update and follow UKGC rules and they still send this crap out to players???

Notice just the subject. Misleading me thinks also are they still allowed to use free spins when this requires a deposit. (PS im reporting them to UKGC now - I have never made a deposit at Powerspins)

I can't be bothered uploading picture as well but its states > GET UP TO 50 FREE SPINS WITH YOUR NEXT DEPOSIT NO STRINGS ATTACHED! and a big fat square DEPOSIT NOW.

From: Power Spins [mailto:news@emails.powerspins.com]
Sent: 16 October 2017 18:11
To: *******@ **********
Subject: Here’s up to 50 Free Spins to play with

Take advantage of our brand-new Welcome Offer.

Get 1 Free Spin for every £1 of your first deposit, up to a whopping 50 Free Spins!*

And the best bit? Unlike at other online casinos, whatever you now win with our Free Spins is paid to you in cash – no strings attached.

Use your them to play the following great games: ***********************

I trying to think of the word... I know it rhymes with "Bankers"...

KK

 

[AussieDave]

I trying to think of the word... I know it rhymes with "Bankers"...

Does it start with a W?

 

[KasinoKing]

Does it start with a W?

Maybe...

So these bankers said in their compliance e-mail on Friday that they would e-mail the new offers on Monday (yesterday)...
No e-mail was sent

But anyway, checked my history with them and I haven't been paid since 2014... because my earnings with them for the last 2 years are so pathetic that I haven't reached the £100 minimum payment threshold! (Currently about £80 owed).
I've made the changes they asked for, but if they close my account, I won't be shedding too many tears.

KK