Flash disaster

[Sherlock]

Afternoon All,

We appreciate this is short notice but we have just been advised that Google have released their changes to Chrome earlier than anticipated.

The resulting changes surround the use of Flash and the fact it won’t display to users who have the latest version.

As a consequence, until we roll out a fix at our end, we need you to manually change all bet365 Flash banners you are currently using to the alternative .gif sizes we have available.

If you can action this at your earliest convenience please.

Thanks.


Lyndsay Majer
Marketing System Administrator
Hillside (Media Services) Limited

In some browsers I still see the banners, in other I do not. This will be a problem for any bookie, many forced us to change.

However I am not sure to which banners I have to replace the odds banners, because even Bet365 interface shows for odds banners only flash even now.

I would like to get more detailed info, if we have to give up on odds banners completely.

[wonderpunter]

A few of the big news sites keep crashing.. flash problems.. now almost unusable.. Bovada pulled flash a while back.. personally i hate flash.. especially as I get a lot of mobile traffic.. btw bet365 All odds banners are flash just leaves you with the Geo targeted regular banners, Chrome's which haven't updated should be fine but most auto update..

[Sherlock]

I would like to know what Bet365 says about this

until we roll out a fix at our end

When will be the fix here? Everyone knew for long time this is gonna to happen. To replace all creatives is for me tens hours of work, I do not want to do it twice.

[universal4]

I have never used any of Bet365 flash creatives and sadly I have found them to be extremely lacking in gif creatives....especially anything that wasn't green. This is a great opportunity for their graphics team to roll out a whole bunch of gif and jpg creatives.....(hint in more colors than green)...lol

Sherlock it might be a lot of work and I am sure that Bet365 did not want to see their affiliates go through this, but if you switch as many of their creatives to non flash versions where you can, they should not have to be switched back.

I have not yet heard of one, but maybe there is a work-around piece of code that can be added??

Does this affect only those using the dynamic code or also those who host their own images and flash files?

Rick
Universal4

[Sherlock]

This affects any flash.

I can not replace any flash banners obviously, then it does not make sense at all. I want banners with odds. Non odds banners of course I do not use flash, because it is ****, but anyone at Bet365 was forced to use flash for banners with odds. Because they were a great creative, no one is even close to bet365 odds banners.

So if I replace it now with nonodds banners then exactly what I said will happen: I will have to replace the banners again for new odds banners.

[universal4]

I see your point Sherlock

I think maybe now the dev guys at Bet365 will see the need to offer alternatives instead of being single minded. Flash has long since been less and less attractive.

They should consider offering odds in different formats and sizes that can easily be integrated into php and asp pages....hopefully with background color choices ad possibly being open to size manipulation or at least in some common sizes that we can replace current creatives and run a gif or jpg banner above or below if they do not come up with alternatives with artwork embedded.

I would consider upping exposure for them if they had more alternative choices that were interactive or offered such things as odds that were not based on flash.

As wide of coverage that this group gets from a lot of affiliates I am sure they have already seen an immediate affect.

I hope for the sake of all affiliates affected they come up with some solutions quickly.

Rick
Universal4

[universal4]

I have started a discussion of this in the Chatter Box above because although it is a very important discussion that has a large effect on operators using flash (such as what Sherlock detailed above) so that discussions did not detract away from how this affects Bet365 Affiliates and what can be done to help with this specific operator.
https://www.gpwa.org/forum/flash-cha...ht-224227.html

Rick
Universal4

[DanHorvat]

When it comes to this particular operator, I always found their banners inadequate and single-minded. Flash with odds and geolocation, that's it.

The problem is, these banners don't resize properly so they're unusable for responsive designs. For example, a 728x90 GIF will resize automatically on a tablet because it's an image, and a 728x90 Flash banner will always stay 728x90. Sure there are ways around it but I don't have the time.

I'm glad this happened because now the Bet365 dev team - that was recently bragging about their brilliant ideas and technical skills - will actually have to do something about it. Banners are Bet365's weak spot.

[Vrindavan]

i cannot locate where are the gif banners, please help.

[Sherlock]

For most banners they do not have non-flash version, that is the problem. The non-odds banners give you a choice between flash and picture. The choice is done after you choose the language, category and banner. There is a radio button over the sizes of banners.

[Sherlock]

I'm glad this happened because now the Bet365 dev team - that was recently bragging about their brilliant ideas and technical skills - will actually have to do something about it. Banners are Bet365's weak spot.

I am afraid that nothing will happen for a long time. Everyone knew this will happen 2 months ahead. Now we got just the email, that creatives will stop working and... happy weekend with full autumn soccer + Mayweather boxing + NFL week 1 + Champions league. Ehm.

The problem with Bet365 is that they were the only bookie not just with odds in banners, but with dynamically changing odds, so the banners reflected even games live. That is why gif can not be used and flash was used.

[Sherlock]

I would really like to know what we can expect and timeframe.

[Rick Perry]

It´s not only about the banners, we have flash games on our sites

[Stephen_A]

Hi,

Just wanted to take a moment to reassure you that we are doing all we can to remedy the situation as soon as possible. Our tech team are working on a resolution to the issue that will enable our affiliates to promote us effectively without using flash banners.

The release of this fix is expected very soon, and corresponding communication will be sent to all of our affiliate partners directly when we have further details.

If you have any queries in the meantime please don’t hesitate to contact your Performance Marketing Manager.

Thanks,

Steve

Stephen Appleton
Performance Marketing Manager
bet365.com

[maxpower]

Rick Perry> Yes, it is even my situation :-/

[Stephen_A]

Hi,

The free play flash games are a completely separate issue to the above. Please just drop me an email if you're using our free play flash games and I'll be happy to provide you with more information. My email address is stephen.appleton@bet365.com.

Thanks,

Steve

Stephen Appleton
Performance Marketing Manager
bet365.com

[Sherlock]

Stephen can you please confirm that the (live)odds banners will work again (sometimes in near future). Because if not, I will make the major changes now and there is no need to wait for you. If yes, I will wait with the big action.
Thanks!

[Stephen_A]

Hi,

Development work is currently being completed for the bet365 live odds banners to be coded in html5.

Therefore we certainly plan to use them again in future and we'll notify you when they are ready.

Thanks,

Steve

Stephen Appleton
Performance Marketing Manager
bet365.com

[universal4]

I was hoping to see a response that suggested html5 as from what I have been able to determine from my research that will be the best thing going forward.

Html5 has been around a while and almost all browsers support it even as far back as IE8, although not as well as IE9. From what I can determine Firefox starting supporting it around version 18 and improved as updates occurred. Opera 12 and above and Safari 5.1 and above.

Not all elements may be supported in the versions I listed, but most often browsers will have been updated over the last few years and support has improved substantially since mid 2012.

Rick
Universal4

[wonderpunter]

I was hoping to see a response that suggested html5 as from what I have been able to determine from my research that will be the best thing going forward.

Html5 has been around a while and almost all browsers support it even as far back as IE8, although not as well as IE9. From what I can determine Firefox starting supporting it around version 18 and improved as updates occurred. Opera 12 and above and Safari 5.1 and above.

Not all elements may be supported in the versions I listed, but most often browsers will have been updated over the last few years and support has improved substantially since mid 2012.

Rick
Universal4

The biggest benefit is mobile users will now get the fast loading html5 instead of a regular banner which shows when flash is not present.. I might even give them a prime spot if the can pull this off