Four major online bingo affiliate marketers who together claim to generate 80 percent of traffic to bingo websites in the UK are considering a collaborative approach to negotiating reward terms with bingo site operators, reports eGaming Review.
The Bingobase, Bingoport, Superfreebingo and Unlucky For Some bingo portals are apparently in talks under the working title of the Bingo Affiliates Group, and spokesman Chris Wesson told EGR that the group was not trying to intimidate operators, but to develop a better working relationship.
Wesson, who is md of Superfreebingo, said: “What we’re saying is ‘let’s make it fair from the beginning, before you change the rates on us, let’s have a discussion, at least negotiate’”.
That said, however, Wesson also intimated that the superaffiliates should also look at the question of compensation for inactive players referred to operators, who have then “cross-sold” these to other platforms and reactivated them, cutting out the original referers.
One possibility could be a code of best business practice designed with the needs of both operators and affiliates in the Internet bingo industry in mind, suggested Wesson. And he stressed that the priority issue ought to be a clause requiring operators to discuss any proposed change in commission rates beforehand and negotiate with affiliates.
“Historically, affiliates have been one-man bands working from home,” Wesson told EGR. “But the industry is changing, growing up, they’re turning their affiliate businesses into proper companies. As a result, super affiliates who drive large volumes of traffic and have recruited people, want to be treated fairly and as any other company would be.”