UK Gamstop Marketing Issue

At least two Rightlander clients have had communications from the UKGC in August 2020 about the issue of affiliates promoting to self-excluded players and as a consequence, our new Radar team has been investigating the issue in more depth.

This is one of the more serious issues to have been raised in recent times and our clients who hold UK Licences and who are linked from these sites are very concerned at this marketing move.

THE PROBLEM
More recently, at least one of these sites started embedding videos from video sharing sites such as Youtube and bringing in news feeds from outside sources. This has started to result in mentions of licensed casinos cropping up on the sites and this is what the UKGC have been focusing on in their recent communications.

It is always possible with news sources that links are embedded but I would expect that the UKGC have enough nous to recognise that, where this happens, it is hardly reasonable to hold the operator responsible as their financial relationship is with the creator of the content who would usually also have no idea this was happening.

ONGOING MONITORING
In July 2020 and again in August 2020 we have found 3 sites that promote gambling to self-excluded players and link to over 40 prominent UK-licensed operators. That is a significant find but as a Rightlander client you will be informed as soon as we identify the threat to your brand.

A number of these affiliate sites will present a challenge to remove as they are supported by a number of unlicensed casinos, but cutting off their revenue stream and nullifying the links is the way forward for a licensed operator. The affiliates are creating new sites all the time so it is a game of cat and mouse and inevitably some sites will take longer to detect.

PROTECTION FOR BRANDS
The Rightlander Radar team consists of players and iGaming affiliates who know what to look for and they are constantly analysing the data and sources such as Google and scanning to ensure that clients have an extra level of protection.

Any brands that are not Rightlander clients can sign up for Radar. Contact us for more information.