iGaming Affiliate Marketing Report 2022-2023 | PartnerMatrix

Competitiveness in affiliate marketing is becoming fierce as the numbers grow worldwide. This is due to the emergence of new markets and the overall development of the iGaming industry, generating more money than the Hollywood movie industry (which is around $140 billion). The $173 billion market predicted to be worth could reach $200 billion before 2023 and treble by 2027.

Simultaneously, since 2010, the amount spent on affiliate marketing has gradually risen, indicating that more businesses are increasing their investments and taking advantage of affiliate channels. With new brands launching their affiliate channels every day, new risks and fraud attempts are also becoming more frequent. In this article, we tried to cover all the essential events that happened in the iGaming affiliate industry in 2022, and what the foreseeable future holds for 2023.

iGaming Market Comparison: Focus on U.S. and E.U.

The casino industry in the U.S. has a rich history; however, online gambling started to gain momentum only recently when legislation was amended at the federal level. Now each state decides its own gaming legislation, and at the moment, online gambling is allowed in six states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Nonetheless, the online market is predicted to reach up to 7 billion by the end of 2022, which is bigger than in most Europe countries. This is also thanks to the rise of interest in online gambling after the Covid-19 impact, while the spread of mobile devices also accessed many new users to online gaming. The market is predicted to continue growing while activating new opportunities for affiliate marketers.

Things are also going well in Europe, with forecasts suggesting that the market value will reach around $30 billion by 2022. The general trend is also visible in European countries. This is both market liberalization and general access to online games through smartphones. The latest technological, crypto and V.R. solutions also play their part in popularizing games or activating players.

European countries with the most developed iGaming markets:

U.K. – Online gambling market size values at around $15 billion in 2022. Being one of the most saturated and legally strict markets, it is also dynamic and flexible for all kinds of affiliate activities.

France – Over the previous year, the value of the online games market in France was estimated at $5.6 billion. It should be noted that the market is growing and developing, and this applies to both casinos and online betting.

Germany – The market is valued at $2 million and is expected to grow to $3 billion by 2024. Online gambling activities are allowed in the country, though they are regulated by strict legislation.

Spain – In the first three months of 2022 alone, the Spanish iGaming market increased by 14.83% in gross gaming revenue (GGR), reaching $207.36 million. The Spanish segment has been developing very fast in recent years due to new amendments to the legislation and an increased interest in online betting and casino.

(!) The European market, due to the developed online infrastructure, is more competitive for affiliate marketing. Oddly enough, the U.S. market, as well as Asian and African countries, are more open to new casinos and affiliates. Another emerging region is Latin America with already established gaming markets in such countries as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

Online ads restrictions and how affiliate marketing saves the day

One of the trendiest topics of the year continues to be online restrictions for casinos. Google is still unyielding when it comes to gambling restrictions while allowing ads for certified casinos in certain legislated markets. But another massive content generator for iGaming, Twitch, recently started to allow only certified casino streamers after totally banning gambling content at the beginning of 2022.

Twitch’s official statement says: “We’ll be making policy update on October 18th to prohibit streaming of gambling sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games that aren’t licensed either in the U.S. or other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection.”

Despite the strictness of online rules, the market is starting to slowly liberalize, making steps towards legislated and responsible gaming, while affiliate marketing still ranks first among all reliable and measurable traffic sources.

In these situations, affiliates can be more useful than advertising. In essence, affiliates are recommending your games to those who are already interested in them. It is because of its effectiveness that many affiliates can receive commissions from a casino for more than $50-100K monthly.

Protecting an affiliate channel from fraud

Being an iGaming operator may sometimes seem challenging due to the market’s intense competition and the ongoing pressure that comes from the different countries’ gambling rules. Worse yet, operators and affiliates are now frequent targets of fraud.

But by understanding market rules and using the right tools, you can minimize or avoid any harmful activity. Casinos are subject to assaults, including bonus abuse, credential stuffing, and chargeback fraud, among many others. In affiliate marketing, frauds become more complex and harder to identify, and the best thing in this situation is to be prepared for a possible attack.

Here’s a list of some most common frauds that are being detected by PartnerMatrix’s Anti-Fraud Intelligence tool:

• At least one I.P. of the affiliate matches at least one I.P. of one of its players’ or sub-affiliates’ I.P.: in most cases, this may mean that the affiliate is trying to get commissions from a single account.
• The Active Players ratio of a single affiliate is higher than 50% during the calculation period: it means that suspiciously too many active players performed activities during the selected calculation period.
• Traffic comes from different sources which are not mentioned in your agreement or Affiliate System: if an affiliate commits to bring traffic from a certain blog, all the other traffic sources might be suspicious.
• Players show suspiciously short lifetimes: these players might be bots who are visiting your platform to perform some actions and send bonus money to their creators.
• The stake amount of a single bet is more than X% the total bets amount: our Anti-Fraud Intelligence can detect unusual behaviors such as a difference in bet amounts among affiliates and players.
• The affiliate’s login I.P. doesn’t match their country: this might mean that the affiliate is trying to get a commission by breaking the rules.

Emerging affiliate marketing tools

Along with the difficulties come new solutions that help in the daily routine and contribute to the transparency of processes.

Real-time reporting and tracking

The core success strategy of affiliate marketing is to keep track of who, when, and where does what. Real-time statistics allow affiliates and casinos to trace the same information about users. Real-time data can also be handy when quick action is needed, such as identifying and cutting off harmful traffic sources.

Important visual marketing tools

It is important to allow your affiliates to use different marketing tools to promote your games. This can refer to allowing your affiliates to generate pre-sized banners and GIFs within your affiliate software dashboard, having quick access to design elements (such as logos, game images), and anything that can help promote your brand. Affiliates usually use different networks to promote your game, including social media and website blogs, so you need to cover all their marketing needs.

Security issues

Apart from commission fraud attempts, when casinos or affiliates try to take over a partner by using forbidden schemes, offenders might try to simply hack the system and withdraw all the funds. Security of your casino and affiliate operations is a very important yet complex issue, and it is always good to have an incident support team for your affiliate software that can quickly react to any changes.

According to data presented by Mejores Apuestas

Best Affiliate Networks for casinos

This list includes some of the popular affiliates that are open to cooperation with all types of certified gaming platforms.

Popular Affiliate Networks for Casino Operators

• AskGamblers: One of the most popular gambling affiliate networks! There are a lot of various casinos on the resource, and any player can place a complaint on it, leave reviews, or impact a casino rating. AskGamblers aims to work with licensed operators and allow players to make informed choices about where to play and how to be informed about responsible playing.
• AffPapa: A platform for operators and affiliates to find each other and make connections based on different preferences. It has a broad network of startup and established operators and affiliates looking to enlarge their network. Users can quickly find a suitable partner by setting search parameters that meet personal requirements and preferences.
• GPWA: The platform offers one of the oldest forums in the industry, with an extensive list of casinos and affiliates. The information is freely available, so visitors don’t have to register. The differences between free and premium subscriptions are minor. The convenience and efficiency of paid services are worth the required investment. Operators will not have to fear unpredictable financial losses.
• Affiliate Future: Unlike other projects, Affiliate Future covers several business sectors at once. The brand cooperates with world-famous airlines, restaurants, online stores, casinos, bookmakers, and other businesses.
• SlotsCalendar: This is another popular platform to promote your new games, upcoming bonuses, tournaments, jackpots and anything that can interest your potential players.
• Mr Gamble: The platform covers different casino markets including North America, Europe, India, and more. It has a huge depository of casino reviews, and you might be interested in your casino appearing on some popular pages of the portal.

Bloggers & Streamers

• Roshtein: They released more than 160 films over 80 hours in length during the past six years. Since 2022, the streamer has posted 69 videos, compared to 25 in 2021. The typical Roshtein video will have 8,800+ views, 110+ comments, and 210+ likes.
• CasinoDaddy: This is a YouTube channel creator and Twitch streamer for online casinos. CasinoDaddy has released more than 2,290 videos over the previous six years.
• AyeZee: The channel’s videos have received over 795,000 likes, 132,000 comments, and over 33,681,000 views. Slot machines and live dealer games are the most common topical video subjects.
• Xposed: The most often discussed video gaming themes are slots, card games, and live dealer games.
• Dough Polk: Douglas “WCGRider” Polk is a successful American professional who is rightfully called one of the best heads-up players in the world. He made several million dollars playing poker, starting with just $20.

(!) If you’re a startup casino, it is not necessary to look only for cooperating with world-class affiliates. You can always initiate a partnership with startup affiliates who offer cool blog posts, reviews, or appearances in popular listicles.

Wrapping Up

Global online gambling growth is expected to increase by 9% over the next five years. Considering that rules and big players have already been established, the expected growth still looks impressive.

Achieving great success in affiliate marketing is possible because it has already proven its effectiveness for a long time now. However, launching a successful affiliate channel can seem complex, and the solution to that complexity is choosing the right software and team to support you with the integration and maintenance.

If you’re looking for advanced affiliate software for your casino or gaming platform, reach out for a live demo presentation of the PartnerMatrix system!