WEBMASTER NEWS
XLMEDIA BOSS HAILS
‘SOLID’ PERFORMANCE
XLMedia has announced a fall in
The group said it has prepared for
PINTEREST TAKES
ON INSTAGRAM
Facebook-owned image-sharing network
revenue and adjusted earnings for the launch into the potentially significant Pinterest has opened a content-marketing API
six months ending 30 June 2018. US gambling market and enhanced in a step into a sector dominated by Instagram.
its Asia-Pacific presence in the mobile
Revenues were at $59.1m
apps vertical and increased
compared with $67.9m in
revenues from new clients in
H1 2017, with adjusted
the region.
EBITDA of $20.9m
Pinterest, with more than 250 million monthly
users, blocks promotion of lotteries, gambling
apps or websites and does not accept ads for
online prize-based games. But ads for bricks-
compared with $22.8m. Ory Weihs, chief Gross profit of $33.5m executive of XLMedia, gambling” are allowed. “We’re excited to make it
said: “The Group easier for brands to collaborate with influencers
was down, from $35.2m
last year. XLMedia said
it has a strong balance
sheet, with $51.3m of
Ory Weihs,
chief executive of
XLMedia
produced a solid profit
performance in the first
and track performance on third-party platforms,”
said David Temple, Pinterest’s head of content.
half, against a backdrop of
cash and short-term investments to regulatory pressures and challenging
be deployed in further acquisitions for market conditions in the sector.
future growth. It added that it is “on However, we are now seeing positive
track to meet profit expectations for signals and expect to meet profit
the full year”. expectations for the full year.
Operating highlights included the
and-mortar casinos “that don’t lead to online
“Since the beginning of this year
RACING POST B2B
OFFERS SPORTS API
Racing Post B2B’s Sports API is designed to
help brands enhance SEO metrics by driving
completion of acquisitions totalling we’ve been focusing on implementing traffic to certain websites and keeping them on
$45.8m, including Finnish gambling- strategy and executing acquisitions there for longer, said the company.
related information websites for $18m to accelerate growth, allocating more and WhichBingo.co.uk for $10.5m. than $45m of capital for acquisitions.”
The content will focus on tips for sports
outside Racing Post’s traditional focus, including
American football, golf and handball. “It’s vital
that consumers gain an informed advantage
SBG HAILS EFFICIENT
MARKETING SPEND
SBG, which axed its affiliate All outstanding balances were paid
programme last autumn, said that into accounts by the end of October.
although marketing costs increased
The company said at the time that
by 23% in its latest annual results, the decision had been made “to give
this was less than revenue growth. us more control of our marketing
from a trusted source,” said Eugene Delaney,
Racing Post’s B2B director. Racing Post
said that the purchase would continue the
company’s diversification beyond racing.
SAFARI UPGRADE
TO HIT AFFILIATES
outputs and standards to ensure that Updates to Apple’s Safari browser will restrict
revenue ratio decreased from 23% to we can continue to meet the changing ‘fingerprinting’, which allows companies to
22%. Total revenue at SBG amounted regulatory requirements in our sector.”. track users online when cookies are switched
As a result, the marketing-to-
to £670.5m, a 30% increase on the
The decision came after the
off. Users will have to opt in to allow tracking.
previous year, largely driven by a Gambling Commission signalled a 36.7% increase in sportsbook revenue. tougher stance on operators’ liability October, with Safari accounting for nearly a
for their affiliates’ work. quarter of all online browsing. Apple’s senior
SBG terminated its affiliate
programme last year amid mounting
Last year, Lottoland agreed a
The update is expected to take place during
vice-president of software engineering, Craig
regulatory pressure from the UK’s settlement with the Commission to pay Federighi, said that the company’s new
Gambling Commission. £150,000 to good causes, in part due desktop operating system, macOS 10.14
to an advert run by one of its affiliates, Mojave, would make it “much harder for
operating on 2 October, with the MyVoucherCodes, before the authority trackers to create unique fingerprints”.
final payment cycle for affiliates fined BGO £300,000, again partly due processed at the end of September. to three of its affiliates. FOR MORE NEWS VISIT
WWW.IGBAFFILIATE.COM
SBG’s ‘Affiliate Hub’ portal ceased
iGB Affiliate Issue 71 OCT/NOV 2018
9