Here to protect and serve: how affiliates are paramount to supporting regulated markets

When emails from Belgian operators started to mount up in my inbox, I was not surprised. Legislation restricting gambling advertisements has been a trend for a while now, but Belgium has gone further than many countries by banning all gambling advertisements, including through affiliate marketing, from 1 July.    

How to protect vulnerable groups is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and gambling is not exempt. I don’t envy the regulators. If they aim to please everyone, they are in an impossible position. However, I don’t think that a full-on ban is the way forward. It is a solution that looks good on the surface but is likely to lead to a worse situation. I believe this for two reasons.

Gambling is a ‘people’s sport’. Among the public in most European countries, gambling is a very popular form of entertainment. In Sweden, for example, one out of three people gamble at least once every quarter, according to a survey conducted by the Swedish Gambling Authority in June 2022.

The other reason is people will always find a way to gamble online. Demand creates supply, so there will invariably be those who offer the means to do it.

The most important mission for a regulator is to protect players. The number one priority should then be to keep them within the regulated market and not lead them in a direction where they choose options outside of it.

So, what will happen in Belgium now? What will be the consequence of the advertisement ban?

As an affiliate working with Google Traffic in several regulated markets, I can at least tell you one thing: when the responsible affiliates who want to promote the licensed brands can’t do it anymore, they will leave the market. And when they do, those turning to Google to find gambling options will only find unlicensed operators. For the average person, an unlicensed operator looks exactly like a licensed one. The black market will grow, the government will lose out on tax revenue, operators will leave the market and, most importantly, players will end up outside of the system that was created to protect them.  

The solution 

This is why I don’t envy the regulators. There is no easy fix. But, we have to find a way to incentivise good behaviour and discourage bad behaviour.

In the Gambling Authority’s survey of gambling habits in Sweden, there were some interesting findings, one being that the most common reason for using unlicensed operators was better bonus offers. If that is the main reason for players choosing unlicensed options, then there should be an investigation to see if there is something to be done.

What I do know is how to identify a licensed operator, and in this instance affiliates are one of the best tools at the disposal of the regulator. People will always look for gambling options online. If we limit the responsible affiliates, players will be exposed to an increased number of unlicensed options.

Don’t get me wrong, I am pro-regulation, as I see it as the only way for this industry to earn the approval it deserves. If done in a good way, it will enable its own harmonious ecosystem of regulators, operators and affiliates, and keep those wishing to disrupt it locked out.

If regulators want the affiliate perspective when it comes to the balance of the market, we are more than happy to help. My plea to every regulator is this: continue to regulate. It will create a great market for all parties, but please take action to reward good behaviour and not the opposite.

This article was originally published in EGR Magazine. View issue 229 here.

Jacob Ljunggren is director of operations at Leadstar Media. Having spent the past six years in various roles across the company, he is now responsible for the development and strategy for all Leadstar Media products, including over 50 brands in 30+ markets.