Nowadays, contemporary customers can hardly imagine everyday life without the Internet. We already have a generation that has only heard stories about old days when Internet connection was a really vague concept. We have become reliant on having fast and secure Internet access at any place we go and that convenience has brought about many changes in customers’ daily routine. They are now enabled to pay their bills online, shop, communicate, engage in entertainment activities, play social games or place real-money bets at online casinos.
It goes without saying that the Internet has a huge impact on the online gambling segment, an industry that is now worth billions of dollars. Anyone, who has a stable Internet connection and resides in a jurisdiction where online gambling is allowed, is free to place bets across multiple channels.
A lot of online casinos have emerged over the years. Some of them established themselves as trustworthy brands that paved the way for the further development and growth of the online gambling sector worldwide. Along with the old-established casinos, new brands entered the market and managed to build up solid reputation over a relatively short period of time. Some others could not survive through the tough competition and closed down.
Anyway, those that enjoy nice traffic and take pride in being widely recognised, often use the services of third-party providers that promote their products and make more people aware of the fantastic gambling atmosphere they ensure. If you visit several gambling websites and you notice similarities in bonus programs, software providers or the layout, that means that they are affiliated.
Technically, an affiliate program is an agreement between a website owner and a merchant. The website owner is compensated for the traffic they bring to the merchant’s site through links promoting particular brand. The affiliate is paid a commission for every customer that does business with the merchant or takes advantage of the products and the services the merchant offers.
Affiliates play an important role in generating more traffic and popularizing the casino sites themselves. When a casino site inks a contract with an affiliate, there are several key points they agree on, including the commissions’ duration and the negative carryover transfer. In an event of a change in the Terms and Conditions, partners are immediately notified via email.
All too often retroactive changes are not beneficial to affiliates. Gambling history remembers a few occasions when retroactive changes in affiliate programs’ terms and conditions have caused debates and disagreements. We have listed the most notable ones without putting them in a particular order.
bwin
Back in 2010, changes in BeWinners affiliate program were a subject to lengthy discussions. BeWinners was the affiliate program of bwin, betoto and SAjOO and the implementation of retroactive amendments in the terms and conditions made the industry leaders define it as a Rogue Affiliate Program because of the imposed predatory terms.
The objective was to boost bwin’s profits at the expense of their partners’ profits. Needless to say, partners were totally against these terms, but their disapproval of the introduced changes did not seem a reason enough for bwin to rescind the new policies.
The following change affected affiliates the most. According to the new terms, their commission was to be forfeited, if no invoice was created over a 12-month period. If the Partner failed in creating an online invoice within 12 months after the commission was credited to their account, the same amount was deducted. The commission could be invoiced provided that the partner had a total of €50 in their wallet. If the amount was smaller than €50, the commission was carried over one or several months until the sum of €50 was reached.
As for the negative revenue base, it was not carried over the next month, but that term did not apply for the negative commission, which was transferred to the next calendar month. If the contract with the partner was terminated, the negative commission was required to be paid within a month.
The revenue share was determined by the number of Paying Actives the partner acquired during the previous month. The percentage moved to 5% three years after the date the customer had become a Paying Active.
These changes made a solid number of affiliates withdraw their support for bwin and stop promoting their services. The majority of affiliates redirected their traffic elsewhere. They drew the argument that when a casino promised a lifetime revenue from players’ accounts, it had to adhere to these terms. The retroactive changes of the terms and conditions earned bwin a rogue status. Although the majority of clauses were in bwin’s favour, they expected the affiliates to continue promoting their services.
The wave of discontent made bwin managers give some answers in forums. In brief, they reassured their partners that the new plan had its disadvantages but overall, it was a good one. Opting out of the new plan was possible, but it meant one would be entirely excluded from the affiliate program.
Following the changes’ implementation, bwin earned a rogue status and the expected result was a rapid decline in revenues.
BetVictor
BetVictor was yet another prominent casino operator that changed the terms and conditions of its affiliate program. Customers were timely notified via email about the amendments introduced.
The changes came into effect on December 1, 2015. According to them, the BetVictor Affiliate accounts became a subject to a negative rollover. According to BetVictor’s management, the changes were well-thought-out and that was the sole fair affiliate commission model.
In other words, if an affiliate’s revenue share is a negative amount, that negative amount is carried over the next month. The affiliate is paid out when they had a positive balance in any month.
Needless to say, affiliates were not particularly fond of what they described as a breach of their original contract and they expressed their fears that BetVictor was to be included in the Rogue list, if more such changes in its affiliate program T&C occurred.
bgo
bgo and its affiliate program bgo Buddies also made retroactive changes to their affiliate program terms and conditions, but although these changes were not as major as the amendments other operators implemented, they still made some affiliates reconsider their decision to promote bgo services.
According to the revised T&C, bgo decided it was best for the company to move affiliates to a tiered revenue share. Or in other words, the amount of money affiliates receive is determined by the number of new players they brought in.
Affiliates that do not bring even one new player receive a 15% commission. Affiliates that bring between 1 and 10 players receive a 20% commission, etc. According to the affected parties, the decision might actually have been the best one, although it was not the most beneficial for affiliates.
Affiliates demanded the new T&C to be valid only for new bgo partners, but they had no success as the bgo buddies applied the term to existing partners, too. Existing affiliates also accused bgo of not providing them with a chance to agree or disagree with the new terms and failing to notify them about the changes on time.
Sky Betting & Gaming
Affiliate Hub, the Sky Betting & Gaming affiliate program, presented its partners with an unpleasant and unexpected change in T&C. Back in November 2015, predatory terms were implemented and according to them, affiliates are required to bring in at least six players per month in order to receive a 25% commission. Failing to do that results in a 20% drop in the commission and affiliates get just 5%. The changes are retroactive as they are applicable to both new and existing Sky Betting partners.
The new rules met the opposition of existing affiliates who accused Sky Betting & Gaming of being a dishonest partner that failed to inform them about the upcoming changes. They also stated that the gambling operator was unwilling to discuss the matter in advance and reach a decision beneficial to both parties.
The new terms and conditions were said to have an extremely negative impact on the small affiliates as they deterred their growth. Some affiliates stopped promoting Sky Betting & Gaming services. Others drew bet365 affiliate system as an example of as a program beneficial to all involved parties.
Gala Coral
Mere weeks ago, Gala also notified its affiliates about changes in the existing T&C. The changes came into effect on May 1, 2016 and partners of the gambling company were sent a comprehensive explanatory email, urging them to accept the new terms when they log into their accounts on May 1 or later.
The amendments in T&C affected mainly the so-called Inactive affiliates. If an affiliate fails in referring at least one new player for a 2-month period, the referral commission is reduced to the default commission plan and the affiliate account is deemed inactive.
In addition, Gala reserved the right to reduce the referral commission by 10% of the net revenue for the remaining period of the contract.
Gala partners commented on these changes and said that the new terms “alter” the meaning of the term Inactive Affiliate. The latter is used to describe affiliates that focus all their efforts on generating traffic and as a result, they do not bring in many new players. Technically, an inactive affiliate is someone who does not send Gala any traffic, so the affiliates were disappointed by the new terms they defined as “shaving”.
PokerStars
Back in June 2015, Amaya also introduced retroactive changes to PokerStars’ affiliate program. Affected parties were notified about the new terms and conditions one month in advance. According to the previous terms, affiliates were eligible for a lifetime revenue share for every player they bring in. As of June, 2015, affiliates receive a commission only for the first two years of players’ activity.
The language of the email PokerStars sent to affiliates, suggested that the platform intended to attract recreational players and further popularize the game of poker throughout the world. The changes were imposed as PokerStars aimed at introducing their services to new audiences, rather than paying affiliates for rakes generated by existing players.
Needless to say, affiliates were discontent with the new terms and said these changes would not help PokerStars grow. They did agree that it was a smart move, but pointed that it was not favourable to the smaller affiliates and it was intended to reward only affiliates that have been constantly bringing business to PokerStars. They also added that the changes in affiliate deals were in contradiction with Amaya’s pledge to contribute to the growth of poker economy. Affiliates that were really valuable for PokerStars not only referred players, but also reminded in an unobtrusive manner that poker is a great game. PokerStars was regarded as a platform that was actually caring towards communities and affiliates demanded it to demonstrate its trustworthiness and loyalty towards partners.
