TRAFFIC
Figure 2: User engagement – average page views
4.65
4.62
4.60
sites show almost the same patterns of
online activities and the same levels of
engagement (see Figures 2 and 3).
4.55
4.50
3. Top Traffic Channels
The top three traffic sources in gambling
are:
●●Direct – 37.21 percent
●●Referrals – 23.69 percent
●●Display ads – 21.51 percent
4.45
4.40
4.4
4.35
4.30
4.25
For online games
For gambling
Figure 3: User engagement – bounce rate
53.0%
52.90%
52.8%
52.6%
52.4%
52.2%
52.0%
51.80%
51.8%
51.6%
51.4%
51.2%
For gambling
For online games
Figure 4: Top traffic channels
40%
37.21%
35%
30%
23.69%
25%
21.51%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Direct
Referrals
Display Ads
In most segments, one would expect to see
higher numbers for traffic sources such as
direct, search, and, especially, social; and
lower numbers in terms of display ads and
mail. However, the traffic distribution in
gambling differs from other industries, and
gambling receives only 17.09 percent of its
traffic from search (paid and organic) and
1.46 percent from social.
What the data in Figure 4 vividly
demonstrates is one of the defining
characteristics of online gambling traffic:
the importance of affiliates. Affiliate
campaigns use partner “affiliate” websites
to deliver high-quality traffic and lead it
to gambling sites via links and banners.
Such campaigns are the primary source of
referral traffic in the gambling niche and
the reason why referrals, as a traffic source,
have an unusually high traffic share.
4. Top online gambling countries
The majority of visits to gambling websites
come from the UK (9.11 percent), where
online gambling is legal (see Figure 5).
Interestingly, the US comes in second place
with 8.40 percent of visits, even though
online gambling is technically illegal in
most states and gambling websites cannot
operate within the vast majority of the US.
This indirectly highlights the vast
opportunities for acquiring traffic even
in those countries that are against online
gambling. Germany, where only partial
regulation is in place, also sends an
estimated 5.98 percent of total gaming
visitors to gambling websites.
5. Top niches for referral traffic
The sports industries are (not surprisingly)
the main niches that bring traffic to
gambling sites. Sports websites bring a
massive amount of traffic to the industry,
which is obvious and expected, since there
are a lot of gambling websites that offer
iGB Affiliate Issue 57 JUN/JUL 2016
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