Selling ad spots makes business sense in 2023

[patdog]

When I first started in affiliate marketing (not gambling) - almost 20 years ago - the masters of the game were the affiliate programs. They were at the center of the game - affiliate and traffic - and obviously they were paying affiliates so they had a lot of power over the entire industry.

Then around 2012-2015 things changed.

Those who really got the power in the affiliate marketing industry, were those with traffic.
Pretty much anyone could create an affiliate program, set up some content and start selling.
But not everyone could generate consistent large quantities of traffic.

And since 2015, the masters of the games are large sites with lot of traffic.
And these guys do NOT work on revshare or CPA.
They sell ads.
You want the exposure? You pay!

And now even smaller affiliates with 2k-100k/day traffic are also selling ad spots.

In the gambling industry, this shift has not been done yet but is about to.
Anyone with a bit of money can create a casino and an affiliate program, it's not rocket science, there are turnkey solution for that.
This is why there are almost more casino affiliate programs than there are affiliates!

And I'm still very surprised why "affiliates" are not simply selling ad spots on their site.
Today in 2023, it makes much more business sense to sell ad spots and get your money right away
than to signup for an affiliate program, pray for them to convert and then pray again for them to pay you!
We have seen so many threads here of affiliate programs doing everything they can to NOT PAY...

My point is : if you are a gambling affiliate today in 2023, it makes much more sense to sell ads spots prepaid - maybe with a 20% dose of revshare or cpa - than to send your traffic for free to a program that 1/ consider you poorly and 2/ may not even pay you anyway.

Basing your entire business model on revshare/cpa is a bad business decision that will lead you nowhere in 2023.
Prove me wrong

[Topboss]

You are 100% correct with your logic and thinking and many affiliates feel the same way but the problem is that many casinos will not pay upfront for traffic.

They are happy to spend money setting up their brand and paying for an Affiliate program etc. yet they refuse point blank to pay for ads on affiliate sites which is targeted traffic, yet they will pay thousands for ads on news sites which are hit and miss at best.

The logic escapes me. They expect the affiliate to put trust in their new brand and give them top positions with no guarantees but they won't put money up to promote their own brand!!!

[OBBCO4U]

Excellent post and prepaid is the only way we will work these days.

As a brand, if you want the players from us, you will pay for them first. As you say in your post, that way, there's no chasing about for money that is rightfully yours.

[patdog]

thank god, I'm not the only one thinking that
thanks guys for the replies

The logic escapes me. They expect the affiliate to put trust in their new brand and give them top positions with no guarantees but they won't put money up to promote their own brand!!!

I believe that most of the time, they do not have the budget to buy.
They thought that by setting up an affiliate program, traffic and players would pour in.
They realize it's not the case and they try to maintain their business by spending as little as possible.
Of course, every case is different.
Or they just know they will not convert, and they just get the traffic they can for free.

It is obviously much easier to do nothing and get affiliate traffic for free.
There is no risk at all for the affiliate program.
I understand they want that

Excellent post and prepaid is the only way we will work these days.
As a brand, if you want the players from us, you will pay for them first. As you say in your post, that way, there's no chasing about for money that is rightfully yours.

I absolutely agree on this.
Managing a website, creating content is ALREADY a full time job.
So if you have to hire someone to chase your money, it makes no sense.
Prepaid is the only way to go indeed.

The industry is changing.
Some will adapt, many will die.