Introduction to GSN Games

**RobGSN** · 21 July 2014, 4:05 pm

Hi ?

Let me start by introducing myself and telling you a bit about my company, our affiliate program and what it could mean for you. My name is Robert Orr and I head up GSN’s Affiliate program.

GSN, the Game Show Network, is a multimedia entertainment company encompassing an 80-million subscriber television network and online game sites. We are the world’s biggest and most innovative skill gaming company with over 14 years of experience! We host over 1 million games every day with a network of over 50 million players with our Real Money Skill Games.

So what are Real Money Skill Games? Players compete and challenge one another in several types of tournaments, from Limited entry tournaments (anywhere from 2 ?100 players), to unlimited entry tournaments (with the competition ending after a pre-determined amount of time) and elimination tournaments (where the winners of head-to-head matchups continue to move onto future rounds). Players can choose from various categories, from classic card games (Solitaire, Hearts, Spades etc.) to selected titles such as Bejeweled 2, Zuma, Plants vs. Zombies and games made famous across the world such as Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal and the Price is Right to which GSN holds exclusive rights!

These Real Money Skill games, are games where a player’s skill is the dominant factor in determining the outcome. Your players wager real money and winners are paid a varying percentage of the total prize pool based on their final ranking. Sounds a lot like poker, right? Except that we use a system called “Fair Matching? which means that when a player enters a tournament, they are placed against players with a similar “player ranking?for that particular game to ensure as close to a level playing field as possible.

The big opportunity for you as an affiliate lies in the fact that there is no element of chance and thus not considered gambling. This means that they are legal in most U.S. states and throughout Europe. Legality makes it easy for players to deposit and withdraw money and for you to promote and earn substantial commissions, comparable to casual poker, bingo and casino players, while finding a new way to diversify and monetize (US) gambling and social gaming traffic.

Our affiliate management team is made up of marketing experts you can count on us to help you maximize acquisition and revenue opportunities. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.

We are looking forward to partnering with you!

Robert

Website: https://www.gsn.com/partner
Email: [email protected]
Skype: rorr-gsn

**edgarf76** · 21 July 2014, 6:20 pm

Welcome to the forum, this looks interesting

**Scampi** · 22 July 2014, 5:34 am

Hi, sounds very interesting. Could you tell me how playing slots such as Plants Vs Zombies and Deal or No deal is a game of skill?

**RobGSN** · 22 July 2014, 9:13 am

Originally Posted by Gambling Joe

Hi, sounds very interesting. Could you tell me how playing slots such as Plants Vs Zombies and Deal or No deal is a game of skill?

Hi Joe,

I just wanted to clarify our games a little further. Everything I mentioned in my introductory post above is in relation to GSN's real-money skill games (also known as Cash Games on GSN.com) where players compete against each other in tournaments and the highest scorer in that tournament, wins the cash prize pool which they can then cash out of their account if they would like.

GSN does also offer luck-based "social casino" games (slots, bingo, blackjack, video poker, etc.) however those are single-player games using our virtual currency (tokens). There is no cash out option to these games...they are purely for entertainment purposes.

We view our Cash Games as appealing more to the gambling audience thus why we highlight those games via our affiliate program. If the social casino games are appealing to you (and your audience), then we're certainly open to discussing a partnership based on promoting those games as well.

Thanks!

**Scampi** · 22 July 2014, 11:35 am

I've just signed up, some great ads you have there.

**Gamer** · 12 October 2014, 4:45 am

Welcome to GPWA, as well. I'm late, I know.

I am just collecting information about GSN.
Great site with good traffic and brand name that attracts visitors.
Omg.... must seriously consider adding them on-board.

**Puma** · 12 October 2014, 8:43 am

I signed up as well. I think it's a pretty unique idea.

**theGman** · 13 October 2014, 10:20 am

I have an account and every time i try log in it tells me i have an inactive account. I have tried to email with no success at getting a response re this issue and i am pretty keen to promote these Skill games. My username is euromill

What is the deal with making accounts inactive ? What is GSNs stance on player quotas and lifetime revenue share?

It seems that marketing partners these days wake up each day to find another program has changed things around so i would like to know here re these 2 issues. Oh and of course the little issue re my inactive account would be nice to know about as well.

**Gamer** · 13 October 2014, 10:55 am

From GSN Terms & Conditions:

During your participation in the Program, GSN and Affiliate agree that Net Applicable Revenue collected by GSN from a registered user of the Games through the Affiliate Site will be shared according to the agreed payment scheme and shall be no less than the default commission structure as advertised by the GSN Partnership Program.
For purposes of this Agreement, "Net Applicable Revenue" shall mean the gross amount of cash entry fees paid to GSN Games by all registered users of the Games through the Affiliate Site, excluding the prize amount paid out to players and less an "Administrative Fee".
For purposes of this Agreement,
Administrative Fee shall include, but is not limited to, payment processing fees (including, without limitation, chargebacks and fraud detection), special offers, discounts or credits, game content expenses, and any direct expenses of GSN cash games associated with site operation (including, but not limited to, hosting and player administration) for all users of GSN's cash games web site.
Administrative fees shall equal 5% of Gross Revenue, however GSN reserves the right in its sole discretion to modify the Administrative Fee from time to time to reflect changes in GSN's business operations.

It's seems that GSN site operations expenses are transfered to be paid by affiliates. Funny!
That's not good news!!!!!!
Do GSN pay for the expenses of my site operations, hosting, administration, etc.?
Starting from 35% commission minus administrative costs, means commission of % ?????
I am also curious how much is the real commission structure and whether this is lifetime revenue share?

**RobGSN** · 15 October 2014, 1:31 pm

Originally Posted by Gamer

It's seems that GSN site operations expenses are transfered to be paid by affiliates. Funny!
That's not good news!!!!!!
Do GSN pay for the expenses of my site operations, hosting, administration, etc.?
Starting from 35% commission minus administrative costs, means commission of % ?????
I am also curious how much is the real commission structure and whether this is lifetime revenue share?

We appreciate the discussion and just wanted to add some clarification to the point regarding our commission calculation.

When a player joins a Cash Games tournament, their entry fees are split between prize contribution for the tournament and the operator's hosting fees. The percentage of fees might vary by tournament but between 75% - 85% of the entry fee is paid out to the players in prizing. The remaining 15% - 25% represents the revenue -- of which a portion (typically 35% rev share) is shared with affiliates. To the best of our knowledge, these margins are significantly higher than those commonly found in gambling operations.

The "Administrative fees", which are common in the gaming industry, are associated with a number of business-related costs -- most notably the royalty fees that GSN incurs by licensing top branded titles such as Wheel Of Fortune & Deal Or No Deal which are major drivers of acquisition for our affiliates.
As a result, we view these fees as a shared expense between GSN and our affiliate partners.

We realize that terms & conditions can often be confusing so we appreciate you raising these questions so that we could help clarify for anyone who may be interested in promoting GSN Cash Games.
Feel free to reach out to me directly ([email protected]) if you have any other questions or if we can help you get started.

-- Robert

**CharlieGSN** · 15 October 2014, 1:43 pm

Originally Posted by theGman

I have an account and every time i try log in it tells me i have an inactive account. I have tried to email with no success at getting a response re this issue and i am pretty keen to promote these Skill games. My username is euromill

What is the deal with making accounts inactive ? What is GSNs stance on player quotas and lifetime revenue share?

It seems that marketing partners these days wake up each day to find another program has changed things around so i would like to know here re these 2 issues. Oh and of course the little issue re my inactive account would be nice to know about as well.

Hi theGman,

Thanks for reaching out regarding your account status. It does look like your original application was declined, however the reasoning behind that decision is unclear. With that said and based on the information you provided, we would love to work with you and help set up a new account ASAP.

In terms of our stance on player quotas and lifetime revenue share, affiliates can continue to earn revenue over an entire players lifetime and there aren't any player quotas. With that said, our terms and conditions do include an activity clause that requires affiliates to generate 1 new player per month in order to remain an active partner, however we make a conscious effort to proactively work with our partners to establish a win-win relationship for both parties.

If there are any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected].

Thanks!
Charlie

**edgarf76** · 15 October 2014, 3:39 pm

Hi Charlie, have you guys made any changes with your tracking cookie policy yet? When you get a chance please let us know, thanks.

**RobGSN** · 15 October 2014, 3:53 pm

Originally Posted by edgarf76

Hi Charlie, have you guys made any changes with your tracking cookie policy yet? When you get a chance please let us know, thanks.

Hi there,

No changes have been made yet however I can tell you that we are in the process of finalizing an agreement with a vendor that will provide enhancements to our tracking capabilities. We'll be happy to share more details once the agreement is finalized but we've heard the feedback loud and clear and are excited that we'll be able to offer cookie tracking in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks!

-- Robert

**Scampi** · 15 October 2014, 4:09 pm

we are in the process of finalizing an agreement with a vendor that will provide enhancements to our tracking capabilities

That's great, you have the most unfriendly affiliate policy I have yet encountered.

**Gamer** · 16 October 2014, 3:16 am

"In terms of our stance on player quotas and lifetime revenue share, affiliates can continue to earn revenue over an entire players lifetime and there aren't any player quotas. With that said, our terms and conditions do include an activity clause that requires affiliates to generate 1 new player per month in order to remain an active partner, however we make a conscious effort to proactively work with our partners to establish a win-win relationship for both parties."

Why do you say that you do not have players quotas?
let us imagine, I bring in 2 players per month and (it happen sometimes) not any player in one month. Then, I am treated as non-active partner and you cut all revenue share payments, even for the all previous players??
It's a shame that so good gaming brand have so ugly looking affiliate agreements.

**CharlieGSN** · 28 October 2014, 11:29 am

Hi there,

Wanted to clarify that we do not close affiliate accounts without sufficient communication. We are definitely aware that affiliates can have good and bad months, and we always try to work proactively with our partners. In the scenario you described, we would never jump the gun and cut all revenue share payments because your account is "non-active" for one month. We are in the business of activating accounts, not closing them and we succeed when our partners succeed.

Thanks!
Charlie
[email protected]

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