Let's Talk "Compliance"

[PromoteCasino]

@nwalker you make a lot of sense, alas our site features offers so we have to promote them. I am quite happy to add the terms, I just want to know what terms to put in.

[Renee]

@nwalker you make a lot of sense, alas our site features offers so we have to promote them. I am quite happy to add the terms, I just want to know what terms to put in.

The casinos websites theoretically should be compliant. So have a look what they have on them and add those?

[PromoteCasino]

The casinos websites theoretically should be compliant. So have a look what they have on them and add those?

Some casinos are requiring a link to their terms page which we have added where asked. But say for our bonus tables we are adding "significant terms" with the welcome offer where we are able to get them. It is this shortning of the terms that I would like, as you know it would be impossible to add the full page of terms to such a small space. If adding the full terms were needed we would have to remove them from the tables.

[nwalker]

Some casinos are requiring a link to their terms page which we have added where asked. But say for our bonus tables we are adding "significant terms" with the welcome offer where we are able to get them. It is this shortning of the terms that I would like, as you know it would be impossible to add the full page of terms to such a small space. If adding the full terms were needed we would have to remove them from the tables.

Perhaps this might help, it's an extract from the CAP Guidelines on Bonuses.

What is a significant condition?

Rule 8.17 of the CAP Code states:

All marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information is likely to mislead. [ ]

Most relevant of the non-exhaustive list of significant conditions is:

8.17.1

How to participate, including significant conditions and costs, and other major factors reasonably likely to influence consumers' decision or understanding about the promotion.

This and related Code rules can be found here.

Significant conditions are those which are likely to affect a consumer’s understanding of the promotion, and include any requirements for a consumer to deposit their own funds, together with details of play-through or wagering requirements. More specifically, these could include, but are not limited to: restricted odds; eligibility; deposit, wagering and withdrawal requirements - whether limitations or for different games.

If you are unsure about whether a condition is significant or not, include it. Further guidance can be found here.

If time or space is genuinely and significantly limited (for example a small pop-up banner) then other conditions must be made available within one click. However, the ASA is likely to take a dim view if there were creative opportunities to state or include relevant conditions and these were not taken.

The majority of complaints made to the ASA about terms and conditions in gambling advertising centre on the requirement for consumers to make a deposit to access their “free bet/bonus” or the number of times they must then wager their “free bet” and deposit money before they are allowed to withdraw any winnings. Consumers should easily and quickly be able to see these terms and conditions in full and these should outline clearly how much a consumer will have to wager to take advantage of an offer.

Enhanced odds promotions, often offered to new customers, should include details of any significant conditions: if winnings will be paid (in part or in full) as a bonus, rather than as cash which can be withdrawn by the consumer, this should be clearly stated.



5

Guidance for Advertisers of Free Bets and Bonuses

What about other conditions?

One click away

Where time or space is significantly limited, less significant conditions or full terms and conditions for an offer should be, at most, ‘one click’ away from headline claims.

In advertising on a marketer’s own website, emails or third party websites (such as advertorials) where space is not limited full terms and conditions of an offer should be included in the advertising itself. A clear hyperlink can be provided to the marketer’s general terms and conditions that apply across all promotions.

A word on affiliate marketing

Advertisers are responsible for the marketing conducted by third parties who are signed up to their affiliate program. In addition to the advice above, affiliate marketing should adhere to the rules set out in the Code. Find out more on our website here.

To sum up…

Significant T&Cs likely to affect a consumer’s understanding of a promotion must be prominent in all advertising and positioned close to the headline offer.

Advertisers’ own websites and emails are not limited by time and space and the full terms and conditions for offers should be easily accessible. In limited space media, less significant T&Cs can be one click away.

“Money back” offers must be in cash, not bonuses.

“Risk free” offers must incur no loss to the consumer.

“Matched bets” – any stake limitation should be treated as a significant condition and stated up front.

[Simmo!]

Advertisers are responsible for the marketing conducted by third parties who are signed up to their affiliate program. In addition to the advice above, affiliate marketing should adhere to the rules set out in the Code. Find out more on our website here.

Incidentally, while in essence true, that statement does gloss over the fact that the ICO and ASA will be fining affiliates directly in certain situations. Not so much for non-compliant marketing promotions as I understand it but in more serious situations (ie: misleading consumers by intimating people frequently win big money with certain bets)

[PromoteCasino]

Ok, so I should not wait for the company to give me their exact copy that needs to go with the offer. Busy week ahead then, it is just that the likes of Paddy's, Betfair and Ladbrokes say we have to use their copy to the letter.

[Simmo!]

Ok, so I should not wait for the company to give me their exact copy that needs to go with the offer. Busy week ahead then, it is just that the likes of Paddy's, Betfair and Ladbrokes say we have to use their copy to the letter.

Are bonuses actually worth the hassle do you think? I think if it was me I'd just remove bonuses and say something like "This casino usually has a bonus offer" or "Click here to see the latest offer". For 3 reasons: firstly, I genuinely believe that most valuable players aren't that bothered about bonuses; secondly, because of the hassle involved in remaining compliant and thirdly, for those that do want a bonus, you raise their expectations when they hit the website as they are getting more than they expected.

You could argue that it removes an effective call to action but then, why are they on your site in the first place if they don't want to play? They could go somewhere else that advertises all the bonuses of course but are they then a valuable player? It's all about the trade-off but as a player myself, bonuses are the last thing on my mind when I go to find a casino as I just see them as a trap to stop me cashing out. Ironic I guess as this whole compliance thing should put a stop to that

[allaboutthebets]

Are bonuses actually worth the hassle do you think? I think if it was me I'd just remove bonuses and say something like "This casino usually has a bonus offer" or "Click here to see the latest offer". For 3 reasons: firstly, I genuinely believe that most valuable players aren't that bothered about bonuses; secondly, because of the hassle involved in remaining compliant and thirdly, for those that do want a bonus, you raise their expectations when they hit the website as they are getting more than they expected.

You could argue that it removes an effective call to action but then, why are they on your site in the first place if they don't want to play? They could go somewhere else that advertises all the bonuses of course but are they then a valuable player? It's all about the trade-off but as a player myself, bonuses are the last thing on my mind when I go to find a casino as I just see them as a trap to stop me cashing out. Ironic I guess as this whole compliance thing should put a stop to that

Starting to agree with this. The hassle of updating an offer every other week is getting daft and now these new rules are here it seems the easiest way to stay compliant.

[PromoteCasino]

Are bonuses actually worth the hassle do you think? I think if it was me I'd just remove bonuses and say something like "This casino usually has a bonus offer" or "Click here to see the latest offer". For 3 reasons: firstly, I genuinely believe that most valuable players aren't that bothered about bonuses; secondly, because of the hassle involved in remaining compliant and thirdly, for those that do want a bonus, you raise their expectations when they hit the website as they are getting more than they expected.

You could argue that it removes an effective call to action but then, why are they on your site in the first place if they don't want to play? They could go somewhere else that advertises all the bonuses of course but are they then a valuable player? It's all about the trade-off but as a player myself, bonuses are the last thing on my mind when I go to find a casino as I just see them as a trap to stop me cashing out. Ironic I guess as this whole compliance thing should put a stop to that

Unfortunately, the project I am working on at the moment features betting offers and I feel obliged to show the welcome offer. So will have to show the terms. I have no issue at all showing the full terms on a post or page it is just the table that is the issue. Anyway working on it as we speak. To be fair it is not so much hassle as the site is fairly new.

I too believe that brands having to comply will make it a better experience for the punter as we have all had issues when it comes to interpreting very vague t&c's.

[allaboutthebets]

There are still a lot of big sites that aren't following these rules. Especially the new ones from Paddy & Betfair. Wonder what will happen to them......

[Simmo!]

There are still a lot of bog sites that aren't following these rules. Especially the new ones from Paddy & Betfair. Wonder what will happen to them......

They'll get cut off from the programs at some point I'm sure. The wider concern comes when one of these is serious enough to result in the operator being fined - or worse - which then in turn leads the operator to consider an affiliate cull or even the closure of the affiliate program. Then all the affiliates who have tried hard to comply suffer for it.

I have no issue at all showing the full terms on a post or page it is just the table that is the issue.

Just as an aside, have you considered using a partially or fully hidden (drop down style) div with a CTA that expands it to show the terms and which reveals a second CTA? Would keep the table looking neat and meet the obligations.

[allaboutthebets]

They'll get cut off from the programs at some point I'm sure. The wider concern comes when one of these is serious enough to result in the operator being fined - or worse - which then in turn leads the operator to consider an affiliate cull or even the closure of the affiliate program. Then all the affiliates who have tried hard to comply suffer for it.

So what do we do......shop them in.....

[PromoteCasino]

Just as an aside, have you considered using a partially or fully hidden (drop down style) div with a CTA that expands it to show the terms and which reveals a second CTA? Would keep the table looking neat and meet the obligations.

I have considered having a tab but that would involve a click which would be against regulations as it has to be in view. Would a partial view with the terms showing that expands would that be compliant?

As I am technically a pleb when it comes to css and styling, I couldn't do it myself anyway.

So what do we do......shop them in.....

As much as I would like to just for the grief of having to do my own, I am not a grass
I am sure they will get round to it as it is a big site.

[allaboutthebets]

I have considered having a tab but that would involve a click which would be against regulations as it has to be in view. Would a partial view with the terms showing that expands would that be compliant?

As I am technically a pleb when it comes to css and styling, I couldn't do it myself anyway.


As much as I would like to just for the grief of having to do my own, I am not a grass
I am sure they will get round to it as it is a big site.

I'm not a grass either but I don't think it's fair that there are affiliates spending a lot of time and effort changing things and lots that don't seem be doing much. Maybe they will change them.....

[Simmo!]

I have considered having a tab but that would involve a click which would be against regulations as it has to be in view. Would a partial view with the terms showing that expands would that be compliant?

The T&Cs have to be one click away so technically that's probably compliant however there are different interpretations of even that right now. Your visible CTA couldn't just take them to the site: it would have to reveal the DIV, then I guess in that DIV would be a second CTA that does take them there. Two clicks for the user, that's the issue I guess.

[PromoteCasino]

The T&Cs have to be one click away so technically that's probably compliant however there are different interpretations of even that right now. Your visible CTA couldn't just take them to the site: it would have to reveal the DIV, then I guess in that DIV would be a second CTA that does take them there. Two clicks for the user, that's the issue I guess.

That is the issue it is all about interpretations by brands. I think I will play safe and have the main terms which should be bog standard for most of my offers displayed. Looks shite on the desktop but ok on mobile.

[golfbettingsystem]

On thing that MUST change going forwards is the lead time and communication around promo changes. It's not acceptable for any program to be sending out a message that they've 'just updated' their offer and all affiliates must follow suit in the next 10 minutes or they're non-compliant.

I understand that this is a fast-paced industry where changes are necessary, however marketing and compliance teams need to work with affiliates in mind and communicate changes in advance and with significant enough notice so it's not constant fire-fighting. The programs that don't do this will inevitably get less exposure as affiliates opt to work with those who are realistic and communicate well in advance of changes.

[MJM]

^Amen to that, and sometimes there is an 8 hour time difference and they want it done "tomorrow".

[Renee]

Some casinos are requiring a link to their terms page which we have added where asked. But say for our bonus tables we are adding "significant terms" with the welcome offer where we are able to get them. It is this shortning of the terms that I would like, as you know it would be impossible to add the full page of terms to such a small space. If adding the full terms were needed we would have to remove them from the tables.

Here is an example of ours - important terms showing on the homepage with link to the T&Cs. So you could list those terms on your site. I imagine the other groups would have this on their sites too so you should be able to copy those.
Luxury Casino

Just as an aside, have you considered using a partially or fully hidden (drop down style) div with a CTA that expands it to show the terms and which reveals a second CTA? Would keep the table looking neat and meet the obligations.

According to the CMA body that looks at the sites to see if they are compliant this is not acceptable. We had this and had to change it even though they had to read the terms before they clicked through to download/play at the casino.

As a side to this, note that anything that conveys urgency is also against the rules. For example, Click here to play now is against the rules because the word "now" conveys urgency to play. So you can write click here to play, but can't write click here to play now. Rubbish rules.

Simmo do you have any info where it says they will be fining affiliates?

[GlitzyBingo]

Another thing affiliates should think about is there website title tags especially if it has an offer in them as this will probably be picked up on next.