Article: iGaming affiliates feel "mistreated" by operators

[The Buzz]

Interesting read from Jake Pollard at CDC Gaming about the state of the iGaming affiliate industry and the role giants like Better Collective and Catena Media play in it.

Some excerpts:

It’s useful to remind ourselves why affiliates matter. They have always played an important role in driving large numbers of players to digital sportsbooks and casinos, but speaking to many of them over the years, one observation (or complaint) that is often heard from them is that they very much feel like the fifth wheel of the carriage.

Unloved and, in their view, mistreated by operators who will change the terms of their agreements unilaterally and without notice, affiliates will often comment that they are viewed as annoying at best and an outright irritant at worst. And unlike operators, they don’t have trade bodies to represent their commercial or regulatory interests, whether that is with operators or lawmakers.

When it comes to the operator-affiliate relationship, it’s also notable that the situation has barely changed over the years. The larger affiliates – among which we can include the two groups mentioned at the start of the article and the likes of Gambling.com, XL Media, Gaming Innovation Group and privately-held companies such as Oddschecker (Bruins Capital) or iTech Media – can ‘hold their own’ in commercial dealings.

Catena CEO Michael Daly told CDC Gaming that the group has an “extremely strong organic SEO business” but it “did not have a global paid media division as hence this divestment was not a sale of such”. Meanwhile a spokesperson for Better Collective said paid media provides “flexibility and scalability when we have new state launches or geos (markets) and provides deep insights into keyword ranking”.

They added: “Having invested in moving paid media from cost per acquisition (CPA) to revenue share, we have built an expanding snowball of recurring revenue share income, which was short-term dampening in 2021, but has now created more fuel to invest further in this business.”

Despite the tracking issues, many U.S. affiliates have reported, Better Collective’s move to a revenue share model is indicative of a maturing industry stateside. However, it also drives enough traffic to operators to be able to implement the shift with confidence that it will be paid for it, even if there isn’t full visibility on the data.

The different outlooks illustrate how Better Collective has adapted to the situation over the past few years, while its 8.5% stake in Catena Media gives it an important vantage point through which it can monitor any M&A goings-on at its nearest U.S. rival; and it would not be a big surprise to see Better Collective bid for the whole of the group in the medium term.

Read the entire article here: https://cdcgaming.com/commentary/iga...ging-industry/