Netent adds affiliate links to own gaming portal

[wolfie]

On the official Netent site players can now not only play the games, but also directly sign up through affiliate links.

There are 4 casino bonus offers underneath their games and a sticky "Claim Bonus" on the right side of the screen.

Now I guess they must be really hurting for money if they decide to go this route. Basically another way to cut out the affiliates for online casinos.

They are not UK compliant on the site by any means (no link to bonus terms and conditions, no link to www.begambleaware.org), so I do wonder what the UK Gambling Commission has to say about this.

Any thoughts?

[MaRcRaM]

https://www.netent.com/en/netent-bet...iate-business/

[Triple7]

They're free to do so, but it looks pathetic.

Also, the comments of their CFO. Like if it's about better bonuses for players, better experience for players, etc. It's about cashing for NetEnt. Their business lost half of its value last year and is worth just 31% of what it was worth in the summer of 2016. They're desperately looking for some ways to cash. That's the reason. Not providing NetEnt fans with great content. I always hate this kind of corporate bs statements.

It is also dubious that the account-blockers of Leo Vegas have a top spot while the website is far for compliant.

Addition: showing slots with cartoons, things appealing to minors, etc is just allowed after a age verification. ASA stated to us that an age verification has to be more than just asking somebody for his age. They advised a payment. Netent is not doing that.

[doovde]

I'm torn on this... on the one hand it could prove pretty profitable for them because they are the developer of the game and therefore probably should rank for search terms surrounding that game. The current version of their subdomain is pretty thin when you compare it to other sites about slots but there's nothing stopping them really beefing up their game pages (most currently about 150-200 words) and standing a good chance of doing well in the SERPS.

On the other hand I'm inclined to agree with Triple7 in that it looks a little desperate. Putting the spin of better player experience and bonuses is obviously BS. They just want commissions to prop up the business. Why not just come out and say 'we've identified an potential additional source of revenue which we're missing out on so we're going to build some affiliate relationships in an attempt to bolster our bottom line'.

In terms of compliance I don't see any bonus info currently listed on the site so all they need to do is add 18+ and begambleaware links and they should be good to tango.

I'll be very interested to see how their subdomain does over the longer term. It could be a quick win for them in some regards and it's probably not a terrible idea overall.

[petjah]

Or maybe they are really friends with casumo, leovegas, cashmio and comeon!

It really looks like a standard free2play affiliate website with some aff links underneath the game. Not a lot of creativity involved. They could have done this like, 10 years ago.

But it doesn't surprise me. Their live casino was once the newest and best (at least for mobile), nowadays they are nothing compared to evolution gaming.

[LeeGwilliam]

I see no problem with them operating a new revenue stream as an affiliate, an area of the online gaming business which has a higher EBITDA than both operators and software providers - we don't have a monopoly as advertisers.

However, it's been very badly implemented in terms of compliance, value to the user etc as others have stated.

Could be a great opportunity for a small webmaster to outreach and run that properly for them

Overall, wouldn't webmasters be more concerned if they'd done a really great job of it, from a competition standpoint?

[Cardy007]

Seems good for them but not so great for affiliates.

[Triple7]

They've changed the text to "Play [insert name of slot] at a licensed casino", while the brands they're showing aren't licensed in the jurisdiction where the IP is coming from.

[Haldus]

Weird step by Netent.

[allaboutthebets]

Just a quick and easy way to make money. Bet they don't have a quota or dropped to 10% rev share.....

[Sherlock]

Why not just come out and say 'we've identified an potential additional source of revenue which we're missing out on so we're going to build some affiliate relationships in an attempt to bolster our bottom line'.

Same reason in all hotels that claim they are so eco friendly that they do not change towels every day and I do not get a fresh roll of toilet paper, because of green earth blah blah. But we all know that they save 50 cents on material and 1 dollar on labour, so in the end the amount is significant.

I always wonder how would be my hotel business if I were honest to the customers. I am afraid it would not be much of success. But who knows. IKEA is honest in their restaurants (they force you to clean the table after the meal, and they explain it is about savings) and they do well.

[branders11]

All Netent have done here is growth hacked there website. Kudos Netent. People need to stop acting like its a bad thing. Its actually hilarious looking at comments such as ''they just need the cash'' Hmm yes. Thats business. Next

(they do need to make it compliant)

[Triple7]

https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NETB:SS

Again poor results, stock price downwards.

They need the cash, more than ever. They'll almost double the amount of releases, while most releases were already crappy last year.

[ocreditor]

Only a matter of time before more providers will follow this trend... it's a shame