Gambling Affiliates Union defends aff programme boycott threat 13/11/2009
THE GAMBLING AFFILIATES UNION (GAU) HAS defended an apparent turnaround on the group’s policy not to boycott affiliate programmes that fail to honour agreements with affiliates.
Despite the new trade group’s stated position at the GAU’s launch ten days ago that it did not intend to organise boycotts of offending affiliate programmes, the GAU is currently hosting three polls about whether or not to boycott three programmes.
The programmes in question are Affiliate Lounge, which promotes Betsson, Casino Euro and Cherry Casino; Grand Prive, which promotes the Grand Bay, Bella Vegas, Lake Palace, Jupiter Club and Road House casinos; and Vegas Affiliates, which promotes the Grand Hotel, Vegas Joker, Vegas Slot, Colosseum, Vegas Country and Vegas 7 casinos.
GAU chairman Paul White (pictured) denied that the polls marked a change of policy. White said: “Our polls and any resultant boycotts are purely there to give the information on the number of members that are boycotting a programme – we will not be saying that we recommend a boycott. They are purely for members to see how other members feel. We’re just giving members the information they need to make an educated decision.”
The programmes were chosen because they were subject of the highest number of complaints by Union members, White said.
The GAU already has more than 150 affiliate members, and aims to have 1000 within six months, meaning that a sustained boycott by GAU members could prove damaging to programmes.
However White stressed that the GAU’s aim was not to damage affiliate programmes. “We are not looking to close programmes down, we are just looking for them to be fair with affiliates,” he said.
White added that some GAU members with long-established relationships with affiliate programmes are likely not to adhere to any boycott.
“Affiliates know that certain affiliates will work with certain programmes even though there are problems with them because they are giving income that they can’t afford to lose. Having said that, if the union is boycotting them that will make it unlikely that there will be new members joining that programme,” he said.
In other GAU news this week, Affstorm became the first affiliate programme to receive an official GAU endorsement.
EGR Live, eGaming Review’s free to attend two-day conference and exhibition this month, includes a special Power Affiliates stream designed for the serious affiliate, with presentations on topics including successful exits and acquisitions, legal issues, revenue models and the disappearing distinction between affiliates and operators.
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Posted: 13/11/2009
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Anonymous
This is a really interesting move. While I understand that especially Grand Prive did not deal with Affiliates fairly, I am not sure how this will really help. What is really needed is industry standards and not any group deciding to take the law into their own hands. While GAU represents some heavyweight Affiliates at the moment, it make sense for them to be key drivers in getting standards in place for T&C's, payments, contracts and arbitration. Very much like the IAB does for advertising. We must be careful of choosing sides and branding programs at will. We should aim for a fair industry that sets clear rules for all. As Affiliate programs are like banks, they should have to stand up to rigorous inspection and accountability. I am interested to see how this plays out and hope that this does not become a witch-hunt as employees/industry stand to lose nearly as much as the Affiliates. Just my 2 cents...
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