WEBMASTER NEWS
RAKETECH, CATENA FINALISE AFFILIATE ACQUISITIONS
RAKETECH GROUP has acquired
Danish poker community Pokernet.dk,
as well as online gaming affiliate
websites Odds.dk and Casinoguide.
dk, while Catena Media has acquired
Newcasinos.com and related
affiliate assets.
Founded and operated by several
experienced poker enthusiasts, Pokernet.
dk is a Danish poker community that has
developed into a large user network that
covers all types of casino games.
Odds.dk has a number of partner sites
in various online gaming verticals, and
the acquisition also includes Casinoguide.
dk, as well as Blackjack.dk, Bonusodds.dk,
Casinoguide.dk, Livescore.dk, Spilforslag.
eu and Sportbonus.net.
In a statement, RakeTech said the new
assets will help strengthen its presence in
the Danish affiliate market, having recently
purchased sports betting community
BetXpert.com and sports content platform
TVsporten.dk.
Michael Holmberg, chief executive of
RakeTech, said: “Pokernet.dk and Odds.
dk are a perfect fit for RakeTech; we are
delighted to have acquired these new
assets and look forward to continuing to
provide relevant and high-quality content
with a focus on sports, poker, and casino
to Danish users.
“Our aim is to create real user value and
increase the relevance for the operators.
“Going forward, we will continue to
look for suitable acquisitions that
complement our portfolio, as well as
growing our business organically by
providing great content.”
888'S UK LICENCE FACES GAMBLING COMMISSION REVIEW
888 HAS ANNOUNCED that its
UK licence is currently under review
by the country’s Gambling
Commission (UKGC) national
regulatory body.
In a statement, 888 said the review
relates to the “manner in which a
subsidiary of the company has carried
on its licensed activities to ensure
compliance with the UKGC operating
licence held by the licensee”.
The online gaming operator also said
the review will assess certain measures
it employs to ensure social responsibility
to its customers, including effective
self-exclusion tools across different
operating platforms.
The announcement follows the UKGC
fining BGO Entertainment £300,000
(€354,200/$286,700) for misleading
advertisements, and comes as the
Commission continues its examination
of operators operational licence
conditions and codes of practice.
888 said: “The company is dedicated
to providing players with a responsible
as well as enjoyable gaming experience
and the licensee will be proactively
engaged in a cooperative and collaborative
manner with the UKGC throughout
this review.
“The company will make a further
announcement as and when appropriate.”
XLMEDIA EXPANDS INTO ROMANIA WITH AFFILIATE ACQUISTIONS
XLMEDIA'S ORY WEIHS has
reaffirmed his company's commitment
to the igaming industry with the
announcement that it has bought a
portfolio of Romanian-facing affiliate
websites and obtained a licence
in the country.
The digital marketing company paid
approximately US$1m for the online
betting and gambling content websites,
the most significant of which is
ponturi-bune.ro, a predominantly sports-
focused affiliate site that also covers the
casino and poker verticals.
Although this year XLMedia has made
significant acquisitions outside the igaming
space, including Canadian credit card
comparison website Greedyrates.ca and
mobile performance marketing platform
ClicksMob, chief executive Ory Weihs
said the Romanian deal demonstrated
its continuing commitment to the
igaming industry.
“We have quite a lot of activities outside
of gambling but still gambling is our biggest
vertical and this is a display that we are
still very much interested in investing in it,”
said Weihs.
“Although this is a smallish deal it
shows that even though we’ve acquired
assets outside the gambling sector
in the last couple of years as well,
we’re still very much interested to
grow in gambling, especially in
regulated markets like Romania, and
we expect to make more acquisitions
in the future.”
XLMedia was issued a Class II licence
by Romania’s National Gambling Office
(ONJN) in January. There are currently
28 other affiliates currently holding
licences in the country.
Ponturi Bune counts large European
operators such as 888, Unibet and NetBet
among its affiliate marketing partners
SPANISH ONLINE GAMBLING REVENUE CLIMBS IN Q1
REVENUE FROM SPAIN’S ONLINE
gambling market increased by almost
20% year-on-year during the three months
to March 31, 2017.
According to figures released by Spanish
national gambling regulator Dirección
General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ),
revenue in the first quarter amounted to
€122.7 million ($133.4 million).
However, while this total represents an
increase on the amount collected during the
corresponding period last year, it is down
2.4% on revenue generated in the final
quarter of 2016.
Betting revenue was up 2.6%
year-on-year to €71.6 million, while sports
betting turnover also climbed by 4% to
just under €1.4 billion.
Elsewhere, online casino revenue jumped
30% year-on-year to €32.5 million while
casino turnover increased 31.3%, due in
part to a 42% increase in spend on both
slots and roulette – each of which reported
revenue of around €13.7 million.
In addition, despite online poker
spending dropping by 1.8% in the first
quarter, revenue from this sector of the
market was up 2.4% to €15.1 million,
with cash games accounting for 64.4% of
all poker spend in the period.
The DGOJ also said that online bingo
revenue was up 6.9% year-on-year to
€2.4 million.
iGB Affiliate Issue 63 JUN/JUL 2017
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