News

GVC Holdings has completed the multi-billion pound takeover of UK Sports Betting heavyweight, Ladbrokes Coral, following the company obtaining the required approvals.

As an affiliate marketer, it’s more vital that ever to keep a close eye on what is happening with the search engines, especially Google, as it continues to wage war against what it perceives to be low quality websites or sites that offer little value to their users. As an affiliate, you instantly place yourself in a position where you have to prove yourself to be of greater value.

After agreeing a marketing and licensing deal with playtech in March to establish its Ladbrokes Israel subsidiary, Ladbrokes has said that up to 100 members of staff are now facing redundancy.

We have seen three Penguin updates and version 4, or 2.0 as dubbed by Google, is either coming or is already here, depending on when you read this. Google is getting more and more aggressive in going after spam links (i.e. paid links, spammed links, article directories, etc) and since April 2012, we have seen thousands of websites tank for previous bad practices in linking.

Draft legislation published in May would see online gambling operators in the Netherlands subject to a tax rate of 20 percent, which compares favourably to the 29 percent currently paid by Holland Casino and individual arcade owners, although they could also be required to contribute to a special fund to help those with gambling addictions.

Industry trade group the Social Gaming Association (SGA) has announced that it will be assisting the UK Gambling Commission with the collation of industry data over the coming months, as the Commission considers formulating its future policy on social gaming.

Amaya Gaming Group Incorporated has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2013 showing a 496 percent year-on-year rise in total revenues to CAD$38.05 million ($36.73 million).

ARJEL President, Jean-Francois Vilotte, has again called on the French authorities to update the country’s iGaming taxation system after reporting mixed fortunes for the domestic online poker and sportsbetting markets.

This season, affiliates are allowed to register up to three teams per user name free of charge at the Barclays Premier League website. Affiliates can register by creating their team and then email their name, team name and bet365 affiliate user name to their bet365 affiliate manager. The affiliate manager will then send out the code that affiliates need to enter the league.

BALLY TECHNOLOGIES HAS signed a definitive agreement to acquire SHFL Entertainment for $1.3 billion. Bally revealed that the imminent transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies Play Fortuna and will see it offer $23.25 in cash for each share in SHFL Entertainment.

SOCIAL GAMING COMPANY Zynga has announced that it has abandoned plans to develop real money online gambling products for the US market following disappointing quarterly financial results.

THE FULL TILT Poker brand is set to undergo a significant facelift that will see it become Full Tilt Gaming, a move that will bring casino gaming to its current poker-only offering. The news is significant in that Full Tilt’s owners, Rational Group, which also owns its former arch-rival PokerStars, agreed a partnership deal with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City to enter the opening iGaming market in New Jersey.