Operators tend to attract new players in three ways: using ads, using affiliate websites or directly, if their brand awareness is strong enough. Either way they choose, there is always a large group of players who want to know a thing or two more before creating an account and entrusting the operator with their money.
Some will search for online reviews and some will simply browse the operator’s website, or turn to their online support. And then they discover that finding accurate information about an operator or a game is a real mess.
A lot of things can come into play when a potential player is looking for where to place their next bet. And since operators usually target a wider demographic, it’s not always obvious whether an operator has its services tailored to the player in question, their country, currency or language. Then there is also the question of which payment method to use, which sport to bet on, which provider’s games to play, which promotion to use, how much to deposit and later withdraw. (And so on).
It’s not until you set on this adventure yourself that you notice finding out this information and making sure it’s accurate can be a tough nut to crack. Okay, finding the information usually isn’t a problem. But as soon as you find it, you can see the next source has it a bit differently. So which is it: Is playing from your country restricted or not? Can you use this weird online wallet all your friends are using?
I know what you’re thinking: Forget random sources, just check with the operator! Okay,the operator’s info page says you can use your weird wallet. But after creating your account, you see no option to add that payment method… What’s that about?
The above is only an example, but it’s not an uncommon thing for a player to hit a wall like this. Some players will take it on themselves to get to the bottom of what they want to know, but some won’t. Due to the overflow of new operators on the market, it’s easier to find a new one than to go data diving. Either way, why take a risk as an operator or as an affiliate, when there are better ways to do this? I can’t speak for other affiliates, but it’s our job at Gamblineers to take the same steps any regular player will; so that we can give out the most accurate possible information to our information-hungry audience in our guides, listings or reviews. If players are looking for operators accepting German bettors, we want to list all operators that do this – not just those that did so three years ago and may or may not still be operating. Likewise, if a player wants to use a certain payment method to play and finds an operator that says it can, they don't want to find out the method is no longer supported... but that someone simply forgot to remove it from the list of banking options on the operator’s website.
Again, a simple example, but I think it speaks volumes. There are dozens and dozens of such small cases where this can happen, and I can hardly remember a handful of operators where I didn’t stumble at least once on my way to reviewing them.
It should be news and whatever else is relevant in the best interest of each operator to have their information, new promotion for new and existing players up to date, and accessible everywhere where their brand name turns up and players expect to find such information. After all, it’s this content that attracts new players. Some operators are already taking advantage of their own blogs and newsletters for their partners to help spread the word of any change and novelty to players; but they are still in the minority.
After working with hundreds of operators over the past few years, I noticed that there are very few who keep track of the changes they make to their own services and make sure everybody relevant is informed when those changes happen. For example, I make sure I sign up to the affiliate newsletter of every brand I work with, so I can stay updated about any news I should forward. Less than 30% of operators ever send anything.
We also noticed that a few brands decided to develop their own API, which is currently meant only for traffic statistics, but we believe that this is definitely the way to go for everybody in this industry who wants to put their services in front of players.
Whether you’re an operator, a game provider, a payment provider or someone else, having an API means every partner you work with can use it to get the most recent, relevant and accurate data in front of their customers. Since it’s a simple use of a few lines of code or a widget, the owner of the API then only has to keep their own database of information up to date and it’s automatically updated everywhere else where the API is used.
Imagine: Operators and game providers could display and synchronise live jackpots, wins, sports scores, promotions, latest news and different statistics all across the web and make every detail available for every player, no matter where they look. We believe the first people in the industry to take this step will gain quite an advantage, because they will be able to offer far more interesting content to their target audience. It’s always a harder road to take to be the first, but it often pays out.
