Affiliate Compliance Best Practices for iGaming Publishers
Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective channels to acquire new players in the iGaming industry.
Publishers who operate comparison websites and other content platforms generate thousands of player referrals for online casinos and sportsbooks each day.
As the industry becomes more regulated, affiliate compliance is of increasing importance for both iGaming operators and their marketing partners, or affiliates.
Ensuring that affiliate marketing activities conform to the licensing and regulatory requirements of each market in which an operator licenses will help maintain those relationships and promote the long-term success of the affiliate publishing business.
Why Affiliate Compliance Matters
In the affiliate marketing relationship between iGaming publishers and casino operators, most affiliates tend to believe that complying with licensing and regulatory requirements is solely the responsibility of the casino operator.
While this is true to a certain extent, regulatory bodies are also placing increasing responsibility on operators to ensure that their affiliate partners are complying with those licensing and regulatory requirements.
Thus, mistakes made by an affiliate can impact the affiliate and the operator equally.
If an affiliate is found to be in non-compliance with regulatory requirements, they can face:
- Removal from an operator’s affiliate program
- Suspension of their affiliate account and commissions
- Investigations by regulatory authorities
- Poor reputation within the affiliate and operator community
- Loss of revenue from the operator
Ensuring that all affiliate programs abide by the regulatory requirements will allow them to avoid these penalties.
Understand the Rules in Every Market
Perhaps one of the most common challenges for affiliates is understanding that the regulatory bodies that license the casinos have different regulations for different markets.
The marketing practices that are in line with the regulations in one country may be against the regulations of another.
Before promoting an online casino to players, an affiliate should have a thorough understanding of the regulations in the markets in which they will be marketing.
This includes understanding the licensing requirements, advertising restrictions, bonus promotion rules, age limitations and responsible gambling obligations.
By publishing content that is tailored for each market, affiliates can minimize the risk of non-compliance.
Keep Promotional Content Accurate
Another challenge for many publishing affiliate programs is ensuring that promotional content is up to date with any changes that the operator may have made to their promotions.
This includes reviewing and updating content regarding welcome bonuses, wagering requirements, deposit bonuses, deadlines for promotions and the criteria that must be met to qualify for such promotions.
If content is outdated, it can lead to user trust issues and complaints from players to the operator.
Avoid Misleading Claims
Affiliate content should never promote claims that may be seen as misleading.
This includes avoiding language that makes exaggerated claims about the bonuses or other offers that a casino may provide to new players.
Content should be focused on promoting the factual content regarding the online casino in question to ensure that users feel confident in the information that is shared with them by the publisher.
Include Responsible Gambling Messaging
Responsible gambling content is required in most markets in which online casinos are licensed.
The responsible gambling content that should be included in publishing content includes information about age restrictions, responsible gambling messages, links to responsible gambling support organizations, and information regarding self-exclusion programs for online casinos.
Clearly Disclose Commercial Relationships
Transparency in publishing content is of the utmost importance.
Visitors to the websites of most publishers will expect that the content that is published on those websites may contain affiliate links that will allow the publisher to earn a commission should the user of that website take any of the suggested actions, such as registering with the licensed online casino.
Including content about these affiliate relationships will increase trust between the affiliate publisher and its visitors.
Examples of content that should be included may include content about the fact that the publisher’s reviews may contain affiliate links.
The publisher may also include content about the fact that they earn a commission if readers register with the online casinos that they recommend.
Include such content to maintain credibility and avoid regulatory penalties.
Review Content Regularly
The regulations and promotions of online casinos are subject to frequent change.
A publisher should review the content that they publish regularly to ensure that the information matches what is being promoted by the operators.
Many top affiliate publishers review their websites for compliance with regulations on a regular basis, often on a monthly or quarterly basis.
Monitor Operator Changes
The compliance of an affiliate publisher is dependent upon the compliance of the online casinos with which they partner.
Any change to a casino’s licensing, promotions, markets or responsible gambling policies may require changes to the content that is published by the affiliate.
Maintaining close communication with the affiliate managers of the online casinos will ensure that publishers remain up to date with changes.
Build a Compliance Checklist
By creating a standard process for publishing content, affiliate publishers can avoid human errors that may result in non-compliant content being published online.
Such a publishing process can require that each article or content item be reviewed for compliance with specific content elements before it is published online.
These elements may include the accuracy of the content regarding bonuses, compliance with affiliate publishing requirements, responsible gambling content, geographic targeting, licensing information, internal links and calls to action.
Protect User Data
As many publishing affiliate programs require visitors of their websites to provide their data for various reasons, such as to subscribe to their newsletter, contact the publisher or to create an account with one of the affiliated online casinos, these publishers are also responsible for the data of the users of their websites.
To ensure that they are in compliance with data regulations, publishers should ensure that they:
- Only request data that is necessary for the performance of their services
- Clearly publish notices regarding the data they require
- Securely store the data of their users
- Respect the data preference choices of its users
Creating a system for the responsible management of user data will ensure that publishers remain in compliance and maintain the trust of their users.
Work Closely With Affiliate Managers
Affiliate managers of the online casinos have detailed knowledge of their licenses, promotions and compliance with regulatory authorities.
By working closely with these individuals, publisher companies can gain information regarding the latest promotions, creative assets and regulatory changes that will impact the content that they publish online.
Using these communication channels will create strong relationships between publishers and operators that benefit both parties.
Use Technology to Support Compliance
Publishers use a variety of technology in the management of their websites and their publishing programs.
Some of the most helpful technologies include website content management systems, link monitoring software, compliance scanners, geo-targeting software, broken link detection software and analytics programs.
All of these software packages will significantly reduce the amount of work that must be performed manually by the publisher and increase the accuracy of the information that is published.
Common Affiliate Compliance Mistakes
A variety of mistakes are made by affiliates each year in relation to their compliance with licensing and regulatory authorities.
Some of the most common include:
- Promoting bonuses that have expired
- Promoting to markets in which the operator is not licensed
- Failing to include affiliate disclosures in content
- Using licensing information that is out of date
- Publishing content that contains broken links
- Forgetting to include responsible gambling content in their articles
By routinely reviewing their content, publishers can avoid making these mistakes.
The Business Benefits of Affiliate Compliance
In addition to avoiding penalties for non-compliance, there are a variety of business-related benefits that will result from adopting the compliance best practices discussed in this article.
Publishers that follow these compliance practices will experience benefits in the form of:
- Better relationships with online casino operators
- More confidence from advertisers in the ability of publishers to manage their content and marketing campaigns appropriately
- Higher quality partnerships with online casinos
- Trust from their website visitors and users
- A positive reputation in the publishing and affiliate industry
Compliance creates a variety of business benefits for affiliate publishers.
Preparing for Future Regulations
The regulatory authorities that license online casinos are continuously updating the regulations that they require of those online casinos and their partners.
Some of the changes to come in the future may include changes to advertising regulations, affiliate monitoring, disclosure requirements, transparency requirements and responsible gambling requirements.
Affiliate publishers that are already implementing the compliance practices and processes today will find it easier to adapt to changes to come in the future.
Compliance is a Competitive Advantage
For most affiliates, compliance with regulatory requirements is a burden to their publishing program.
However, the leading affiliate publishers see compliance as a means of ensuring the trust of both their users and their casino operators.
The trust that is gained through the accurate publishing of content, transparent marketing, responsible promotion and great operator relationships is something that is impossible for competitors to gain.
Thus, as more jurisdictions implement regulations regarding online gambling and its promotion, compliance with these regulations will become a factor that determines the success of affiliate publishers.
Final Thoughts
Affiliate compliance in the iGaming industry is no longer an option.
Rather, it is a necessity for all publishers who intend to build a successful business in this area.
By focusing on the best practices for compliance in the affiliate publishing business, affiliates will find that they are able to build better relationships with their partners, earn the trust of their customers and create businesses that are capable of standing the test of time in a highly-regulated market.