New Zealand. Grey Market?

[Zamsino]

Hello!

This is my first post in AGD, been mostly active on GPWA before.

So my first topic is on New Zealand. I currently run kiwislots.nz among others and managed to achieve som rankings pretty fast actually.

Now I did some research about this market and it seems legit in the sense that abroad affiliates can work there. However is there anyone who've heard of difficulties on this market like claimed domains any legal trouble?

Would appreciate any information about the NZ casino affiliate market there sinse the aussies are not to happy about it.

 

[AussieDave]

Hi Zamsino, welcome

Your correct, the NZ market is a grey arena (in some aspects). In other instances, it's pretty clear cut.

I've hosted a couple of NZ facing casino portals (used to own casinoslots.co.nz - since sold)...yes I'm in AU. As far as legalities, I'm not specifically au fait with them, sorry. However, I'm yet to hear of any affiliate being legally prosecuted, if that's your concern.

However, if your a NZ citizen, residing there, then, IMHO, your running the gauntlet in 2017. I guess it depends on whether you see the rewards outweighing the possibility of being legal prosecuted, as being a risk worth taking???!!!

On the other hand, if your not located in NZ, and don't host there, then you should be fairly safe.

 

[Zamsino]

Hi Zamsino, welcome

Your correct, the NZ market is a grey arena (in some aspects). In other instances, it's pretty clear cut.

I've hosted a couple of NZ facing casino portals (used to own casinoslots.co.nz - since sold)...yes I'm in AU. As far as legalities, I'm not specifically au fait with them, sorry. However, I'm yet to hear of any affiliate being legally prosecuted, if that's your concern.

However, if your a NZ citizen, residing there, then, IMHO, your running the gauntlet in 2017. I guess it depends on whether you see the rewards outweighing the possibility of being legal prosecuted, as being a risk worth taking???!!!

On the other hand, if your not located in NZ, and don't host there, then you should be fairly safe.

Thanks for the info!

I dont live or host in NZ, do you know of any legal movements being done towards abroad online gambling? I mean AU is a horror example i dont want them to follow

 

[Biti]

That last thing is interesting. Not host there. Where would you host it then? Seems that also AU is tricky?

 

[Zamsino]

That last thing is interesting. Not host there. Where would you host it then? Seems that also AU is tricky?

You can bascilly use any host to avoid beeing associated with NZ. You dont even need NZ IP addresses to rank there even though I though I had that.

I have swedish hosting with Swedish IP. Still ranking no 1 for "slots nz" in mobile search last time i checked.

 

[AussieDave]

These days the emphasis on hosting and owning a country specific c'TLD is not important (nor required) as it once was. If that was still a valid truth, then .com's etc hosted in the USA, wouldn't rank within the top 10 on Google in other counties

I still use dedi IP's though, but I also use SSL, hence 1 requires the other!

 

[Zamsino]

These days the emphasis on hosting and owning a country specific c'TLD is not important (nor required) as it once was. If that was still a valid truth, then .com's etc hosted in the USA, wouldn't rank within the top 10 on Google in other counties

True

What sites are you running these days mate?

 

[AussieDave]

Actually owning a c'TLD can be a right pain in the backside. Take my .au for example. That site is now closed. 8 years of hard work, down the drain. Here on wards it's .com etc or nothing. Least, I can sell a site with that TLD without country specific statutory headaches.

 

[Zamsino]

Actually owning a c'TLD can be a right pain in the backside. Take my .au for example. That site is now closed. 8 years of hard work, down the drain. Here on wards it's .com etc or nothing. Least, I can sell a site with that TLD without country specific statutory headaches.

Yea I totally agree.

I had to decide wheter to focus on my first main site mrbonus.se or zamsino.com.

Since Sweden probably gets regulated in 2019 I take the safer step of focusing on .com instead of .se.

Also it's good cause .com is expandable which differs from .se which is something you probably want to do if google likes the site.

 

[AussieDave]

Also it's good cause .com is expandable which differs from .se which is something you probably want to do if google likes the site.

Branding is very important. A lot of affiliates seem to miss that mindset.
Instead, gauge their branding quality on how many extra clicks it gets. Success follows, but only (least IMO) if your not Branding for the specific notion to garnish more traffic immediately.

It's a bit like dropping a pebble into a pond. Not many ripples to start with, but they grow and increase with time.

 

[Biti]

Actually owning a c'TLD can be a right pain in the backside. Take my .au for example. That site is now closed. 8 years of hard work, down the drain. Here on wards it's .com etc or nothing. Least, I can sell a site with that TLD without country specific statutory headaches.

Yes, this true. I do believe it has some ranking advantages, but in case of governments taking action, it's tricky to have websites hosted in a specific country or with a cTLD.

You can't re-direct that .AU? In other markets I see quite some websites re-directing to .com, .net or even .nu.

 

[AussieDave]

You can't re-direct that .AU? In other markets I see quite some websites re-directing to .com, .net or even .nu.

Yes I could BUT... I'd rather not Red Flag myself. Not that it's been spoken on, or even mentioned, but if we look back to the USA Black Friday domain seizures, I'd like to avoid any and all association to a .au going forward. Agree, it's a shame about the 8 years. But, I don't want to attract any attention from the AU Feds. Hence, redirecting traffic could very well place me on their radar - given I reside in Australia

I still have other TLD's, so it's not so bad. Not like I'm starting from scratch, again!

 

[Book of Ra review]

You can bascilly use any host to avoid beeing associated with NZ. You dont even need NZ IP addresses to rank there even though I though I had that.

I have swedish hosting with Swedish IP. Still ranking no 1 for "slots nz" in mobile search last time i checked.

I agree with you, the location of the host doesn't much weight anymore. you can rank with any IP as long as your SEO strategy is good

 

[TheGooner]

Would appreciate any information about the NZ casino affiliate market

Firstly, New Zealand is NOT not a GREY market.

Here is a simple summary of the situation.
a/ Local physical gambling at casinos is controlled
b/ Sports betting and horse racing has a state monopoly (TAB),
c/ Online casino and poker is not allowed within the country and is explicitly banned.
d/ Advertising offshore online gambling to New Zealanders and/or specifically targeting New Zealanders is also explicitly banned.

So that's pretty black and white - you might call it very, very, very, very dark grey - but we should probably call it black.

However, New Zealand is a small island state in the middle of the pacific, and it has little to no reach offshore, and does not actively monitor this space.
So overseas affiliates have taken that lack of action as permission to run freely - many doing as you have done - taking a nz specific domain to target NZ citizens.

Will New Zealand change it's stance and become more active? Possibly.
New Zealand is often influenced by Australian policy, and after a recent MMP election it's possible that a left-leaning coalition may get power.
This is still in negotiation - but if a Labour / Green / NZF alliance does get in then they are more likely to legislate against foreign sites, and have more restrictions. (30%)
On the other hand, they may have 1000 other things that they want to do and this area may continue to be ignored. (70%)

But don't be confused into GREY market talk - it's as illegal in New Zealand as it is in the United States, Australia or Singapore.

Good luck with your internet venture.

 

[Betivity]

Really interesting information, thanks for sharing guys.

 

[Zamsino]

Firstly, New Zealand is NOT not a GREY market.

Here is a simple summary of the situation.
a/ Local physical gambling at casinos is controlled
b/ Sports betting and horse racing has a state monopoly (TAB),
c/ Online casino and poker is not allowed within the country and is explicitly banned.
d/ Advertising offshore online gambling to New Zealanders and/or specifically targeting New Zealanders is also explicitly banned.

So that's pretty black and white - you might call it very, very, very, very dark grey - but we should probably call it black.

However, New Zealand is a small island state in the middle of the pacific, and it has little to no reach offshore, and does not actively monitor this space.
So overseas affiliates have taken that lack of action as permission to run freely - many doing as you have done - taking a nz specific domain to target NZ citizens.

Will New Zealand change it's stance and become more active? Possibly.
New Zealand is often influenced by Australian policy, and after a recent MMP election it's possible that a left-leaning coalition may get power.
This is still in negotiation - but if a Labour / Green / NZF alliance does get in then they are more likely to legislate against foreign sites, and have more restrictions. (30%)
On the other hand, they may have 1000 other things that they want to do and this area may continue to be ignored. (70%)

But don't be confused into GREY market talk - it's as illegal in New Zealand as it is in the United States, Australia or Singapore.

Good luck with your internet venture.

Thank you very much Gooner, very useful and good information