When searching for an online casino we often come across websites professing to be objective Info Sites or Casino Portal Sites. They give us reviews and basic info on a number of online casinos (which in reality is hardly impartial). If we happen to like something, we click on the casino title or logo and are transported to the casino's website. But why must we go to such 'info' sites just to be directed to a casino that will give us the same information anyway? The secret lies in SEO, or longwindedly known as Search Engine Optimization.
In the very beginning when the online casino industry began forming its roots, a few URL's were registered by individuals that saw a gap in the market. Their new formed sites held some very important and powerful search terms that gained credibility with most search engines. An example of a powerful search term would be 'best online casinos', 'top online casinos', 'or best casino bonuses' - a few of a farrago of terms many players insert into Google's search bar daily - naturally, websites that were there from the beginning or have spent a lot of money to keep their ranking going will rank first for such terms. This way you enter an affiliate site rather than the actual 'top online casinos' which in actual fact ranks much lower in any particular search engine.
What you don't know is that once you click-on from an affiliate site an address (called a tag) is carried forth to the potential casino you might end up playing. Even if you close your browser and visit the casino later on from the same IP, the tag will still be visible to both the casino and affiliate website. The reason for the use of this tag is so that the casino can begin paying the affiliate site dividends after you begin depositing.
A waged war
One of the biggest silent wars happening right now is between casinos and affiliate programs. Online casinos are saying that affiliate programs shouldn't be making money out of nothing; and affiliate programs on the other hand are saying that since they were first to conquer specific search terms, they rightfully deserve a piece of the pie. The fact is that online casinos pay large amounts of money to affiliates just for directing players to their download sites. However, at the same time, many casinos do not really have the opportunity to rank first in the search engines and are forced to use the services of affiliate sites in order to survive. This to them is essentially the better of two evils: the first, having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve their rankings, and the second, not being able to gain new players at their casinos; online casinos and their owners always cringe when they have to pay affiliates up to 40% of their earnings just because a player clicked on a banner or casino review.
It is your choice
You're thinking, what do I care where my money goes. Right?
Wrong. As client at a casino, your affiliate tag will always be carried with you, which behind the scenes may essentially pose as a burden to you. Once you are directed from an 'info' or 'portal' site, your name is placed on an affiliate commission list, letting the casino operatives know that you will in the end of your stay (no matter how long) not be as profitable to them as a player who has come into the casino via organic search (straight from the search engine and into the casino). This means that you might not make a VIP list, for example, and although the casino will never tell you that, you can be sure that there will be a bias towards you. In the casino industry everything is ultimately about numbers - so when there is an available extra cash bonus that casino operatives need to give away as a promotion, you name will be at the bottom of the list; because if you happen to spend more money at the casino, part of that money will have to go back to the source, which is the affiliate website. And casinos don't like giving away more presents than initially planned.
What to do not to be branded as a bad apple
The easiest thing to do once you have done your research is to type out the name of the casino in the search bar of your preferred search engine and get to the casino organically. This of course is one more action that you have to fulfill, but totally worth it if you wish not to be singled out in any particular way. Essentially the question posed here is, why should affiliates take a commission on your behalf when you can take that commission for yourself by being branded as an organic and bonus-worthy client?
In the very beginning when the online casino industry began forming its roots, a few URL's were registered by individuals that saw a gap in the market. Their new formed sites held some very important and powerful search terms that gained credibility with most search engines. An example of a powerful search term would be 'best online casinos', 'top online casinos', 'or best casino bonuses' - a few of a farrago of terms many players insert into Google's search bar daily - naturally, websites that were there from the beginning or have spent a lot of money to keep their ranking going will rank first for such terms. This way you enter an affiliate site rather than the actual 'top online casinos' which in actual fact ranks much lower in any particular search engine.
What you don't know is that once you click-on from an affiliate site an address (called a tag) is carried forth to the potential casino you might end up playing. Even if you close your browser and visit the casino later on from the same IP, the tag will still be visible to both the casino and affiliate website. The reason for the use of this tag is so that the casino can begin paying the affiliate site dividends after you begin depositing.
A waged war
One of the biggest silent wars happening right now is between casinos and affiliate programs. Online casinos are saying that affiliate programs shouldn't be making money out of nothing; and affiliate programs on the other hand are saying that since they were first to conquer specific search terms, they rightfully deserve a piece of the pie. The fact is that online casinos pay large amounts of money to affiliates just for directing players to their download sites. However, at the same time, many casinos do not really have the opportunity to rank first in the search engines and are forced to use the services of affiliate sites in order to survive. This to them is essentially the better of two evils: the first, having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve their rankings, and the second, not being able to gain new players at their casinos; online casinos and their owners always cringe when they have to pay affiliates up to 40% of their earnings just because a player clicked on a banner or casino review.
It is your choice
You're thinking, what do I care where my money goes. Right?
Wrong. As client at a casino, your affiliate tag will always be carried with you, which behind the scenes may essentially pose as a burden to you. Once you are directed from an 'info' or 'portal' site, your name is placed on an affiliate commission list, letting the casino operatives know that you will in the end of your stay (no matter how long) not be as profitable to them as a player who has come into the casino via organic search (straight from the search engine and into the casino). This means that you might not make a VIP list, for example, and although the casino will never tell you that, you can be sure that there will be a bias towards you. In the casino industry everything is ultimately about numbers - so when there is an available extra cash bonus that casino operatives need to give away as a promotion, you name will be at the bottom of the list; because if you happen to spend more money at the casino, part of that money will have to go back to the source, which is the affiliate website. And casinos don't like giving away more presents than initially planned.
What to do not to be branded as a bad apple
The easiest thing to do once you have done your research is to type out the name of the casino in the search bar of your preferred search engine and get to the casino organically. This of course is one more action that you have to fulfill, but totally worth it if you wish not to be singled out in any particular way. Essentially the question posed here is, why should affiliates take a commission on your behalf when you can take that commission for yourself by being branded as an organic and bonus-worthy client?
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