As a news website and an affiliate, Casino News Daily has always strived to provide honest and unbiased information about the latest happenings in the global gambling industry. And we consider it now our duty to provide the latest information on a topic that has been discussed in the iGaming affiliate space for several years now.
Casino News Daily was informed on Friday that Buffalo Partners will take charge of Betway Partners’ revenue share affiliate accounts from August 1, 2017. There is barely anybody left in the iGaming industry who is not familiar with Buffalo Partners’ reputation as one of the roguest affiliate programs and its history of continued affiliate unfriendly practices.
It seems, however, that the affiliate program for one of the major gambling operators seems to be unconcerned about the fact that its name will once again be related to a program that has been generally recognized as a one with terrible reputation.
There have been multiple speculations over the years about Betway/Buffalo Partner’s common ownership and the latest turn of events came as another evidence about the solid truth these speculations might be based upon.
Buffalo Partners was formed in mid-2014 from the merger of the former Wagershare and Referback affiliate programs. Many considered that combination an odd one, particularly given the fact that Wagershare’s had previously brought upon itself a wave of affiliate discontent due to the implementation of retroactive Terms and Conditions changes that had blocked payments to affiliates who had failed to bring new players.
From the very beginning of its existence, Buffalo Partners boasted about its long experience in the iGaming industry. It operated and has been operating Microgaming-powered casinos, mainly licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
It was not long after the affiliate program’s start that reports about affiliate-unfriendly practices emerged.
In the first place, the migration of Referback brands to the new affiliate program – that is, Buffalo Partners, resulted in all its brands being stripped of their UK licenses. In fact, all Buffalo Partners brands did not have the necessary approval from the UK Gambling Commission to operate in the country.
Reportedly owned by the same group, Betway Partners announced the launch of the UK-facing Spin Casino brand. Referback UK players were to be migrated to the new online casino. However, a number of affiliates informed about the sudden disappearance of their players. Although this has been generally recognized as one of the most despised practices in the iGaming affiliate space, the following paragraphs are the ones to actually reveal why Buffalo Partners has the terrible reputation it has.
For several years now, affiliates have groundedly accused the affiliate program of working with a notorious affiliate hacker who has been attacking and using well-ranking websites to drive traffic to Buffalo Partners’ casino brands.
The affiliate program has repeatedly tried to convince everyone concerned that it was by no means been working together with said hacker and that their account/accounts have been blocked. And affiliates have over the years continued providing evidence that Buffalo Partners has either done nothing to stop the violator or has in fact even helped them, benefiting from the amount of new players they have driven to its brands. Either way, by remaining inactive or relatively inactive, Buffalo Partners has been facilitating the conduction of criminal activities and such acts are or at least should be punishable by law.
It is yet to be seen how affiliates will be affected from the affiliate program taking over from Betway Partners. However, years of unfriendly practices have been enough to evoke nothing but deep concern of what the future may bring.
