Next 12 Months for The UK's Online Bingo & Casino Industry?

**casionmark** · 27 November 2017, 4:17 am

Interesting - I looked at that too. Maybe ASA compliance will be a requirement for some programs in future as alternative to licensing for affiliates.

Truth is at moment everyone is interpreting their own way (see free spins / fair spins / extra spins etc).

I'm still seeing inconsistent ts and cs on operator sites despite current climate.

**Renee** · 27 November 2017, 6:50 pm

If operators are responsible for affiliate advertisements (which we now are) it's only natural that they are going to be stricter. The idea that everyone is interpreting the rules in different ways is annoying for affiliates, but if you are given guidance on the parts of your site that apply to that program and you make those changes (their casino reviews etc), IMO that should be compliant enough for the program because if the fine comes after that, it falls on them, not you.

I've emailed one affiliate 3 times to get things changed on their site and despite them replying to 2 of my emails they still haven't changed anything. So then if we get fined for what they are doing, what do you guys think the acceptable consequences would be?

Having ASA go over your site is a good move. They are overly cautious IMO but it should mean you aren't getting pulled up.

**Strutt** · 4 December 2017, 4:34 am

And now LeoVegas just bummed most of their UK Affiliates today in a Skybetesque fashion - https://www.leovegasaffiliates.com/n...iance-uk-1312/ Time to pull their traffic ASAP!!!

**PromoteCasino** · 4 December 2017, 4:52 am

Originally Posted by luckymedia

And now LeoVegas just bummed most of their UK Affiliates today in a Skybetesque fashion - https://www.leovegasaffiliates.com/n...iance-uk-1312/ Time to pull their traffic ASAP!!!

So are they actually going to let the affiliates know who stays and who goes? Or will it be just a case of not being able to login to our accounts?

**Strutt** · 4 December 2017, 5:05 am

It's not my place to say mate - I expect they'll be putting together some drivelling bullshit right now though to reply to this forum - and try to make out they haven't "Done a Skybet"

**PromoteCasino** · 4 December 2017, 5:06 am

I suppose that is bad news for Royal Panda affiliates too

**Renee** · 4 December 2017, 5:45 pm

I guess maybe everyone overlooked my question...

If an operator receives a fine for an affiliate's non-compliant advertising in the UK, what do you guys think the consequences should be?

We have no intention of closing ANY affiliate accounts and are still taking UK traffic, so I am pretty curious on what you guys think is acceptable considering operators run the risk of fines because of third party (affiliate) content they have no control over?

**Triple7** · 4 December 2017, 5:58 pm

Originally Posted by Renee

I guess maybe everyone overlooked my question...

If an operator receives a fine for an affiliate's non-compliant advertising in the UK, what do you guys think the consequences should be?

We have no intention of closing ANY affiliate accounts and are still taking UK traffic, so I am pretty curious on what you guys think is acceptable considering operators run the risk of fines because of third party (affiliate) content they have no control over?

I think everybody is responsible for its own acts. Hence, if an affiliate does something wrong, fine should be his of course. I understand the panic, but...

Some programs year by year tolerated awful campaigns, etc. Also everybody has different opinions, what is very annoying. Program A wants this, program B wants this, etc. Some programs are sending mails that take a hour to read even without getting the point of it.

We've had ASA had a look at our design, changed some things and will ask them again. If they're fine with it, that's what we will communicate with programs. If they're fine with it, it should be ok for a program too.

But sure I understand that you have to do something if people do not comply after 2 or 3 requests. If people do not want to comply there is nothing else you can do than just close their links, but respect the agreement you made once with them. And that's a bit the point. In some cases it feels like it's used to get rid of affiliates.

**Renee** · 4 December 2017, 7:25 pm

Originally Posted by Triple7

I think everybody is responsible for its own acts. Hence, if an affiliate does something wrong, fine should be his of course. I understand the panic, but...

Some programs year by year tolerated awful campaigns, etc. Also everybody has different opinions, what is very annoying. Program A wants this, program B wants this, etc. Some programs are sending mails that take a hour to read even without getting the point of it.

We've had ASA had a look at our design, changed some things and will ask them again. If they're fine with it, that's what we will communicate with programs. If they're fine with it, it should be ok for a program too.

But sure I understand that you have to do something if people do not comply after 2 or 3 requests. If people do not want to comply there is nothing else you can do than just close their links, but respect the agreement you made once with them. And that's a bit the point. In some cases it feels like it's used to get rid of affiliates.

IMO if the ASA are saying your site is fine, there should be no reason you are getting a fine. I've sent lots of stuff over to them and they are overly cautious. I'd encourage all affiliates to do the same thing.

My question was more about the affiliates who have been asked to change but are not, and are still displaying non compliant copy (according to the guidelines, or an operator's understanding of them). Shutting down links is one thing, but if an operator has been fined because of something the affiliate will not change, how do you recoup the costs for that without confiscating future commission?

Of course this is just a curiosity based on what's going on with programs right now, but in the case I mentioned above where I've asked the same person 3 times to change their content, and they are replying to my emails but not bothering to make the updates - where do I draw the line? So I guess for me looking at these programs, I see that they are trying to force affiliates to make the changes by locking them out first and although it's working by getting affiliates to change their content, it may also be working negatively against them where people will just remove them all together.

So what is the middle ground?

**Pokerface** · 9 December 2017, 2:36 pm

An interesting read and thought provoking. 2018 certainly will be interesting for the industry and reflecting back on the first post of these comments. As for content we try very hard to ensure accuracy and if I receive feedback from a program that something needs updating I try to act on it almost immediately as well when I receive a general e-mail with updates.

Sometimes when trying to complete a review there is a need to reach out to the operator and sometimes through chat. Often when contacting chat and they realize you are not a player they are very reluctant to provide help and we must contact an account manager. Some reply very quickly, some not so.

When it comes to promotions although most programs provide thorough information about the promotion as well as within the T&C's there are some that leave a lot of required information missing.

Certainly the responsibility of ensuring accurate information resides with the owner of the site however it goes both ways to ensure the information is accurate. If obtaining accurate information is difficult then there are delays and information could be missing. I appreciate timely responses to questions and feedback on the content .... bottom line we all want accurate information.

**Cash Bonus** · 7 January 2018, 3:44 pm

I really don't think that Affiliates will be requiring licences

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