Mobile Gambling Affiliate: "How to Target Mobile and my Experience with the Market"

The following article has been written for affiliates targeting the mobile gambling niche by an affiliate who successfully works in this sector. 

Before I get started, I know a lot’s been hyped up about mobile gambling in the past.  Back in 2005, people expected mobile gambling to take over the industry.  But that never happened, and any talk of mobile gambling has cooled ever since.

However, in October 2010, a number of UK bookmakers, such as Betfair, Bet365 and William Hill, launched iPhone sports betting apps for the first time, and signalled a huge change for the industry. Since these apps were first launched, news reports have  noted record levels of growth in the mobile betting industry. 

William Hill’s mobile betting turnover alone has increased by 400% in the 12 months after the release of their iPhone and Android app.  Bet365 and Ladbrokes have all seen similar figures, and some Affiliate Manager’s I’ve spoken to recently expect mobile betting revenue to overtake online betting at some point in the future.  In 2009/10, mobile gambling  represented around 5% of the total gambling market; by 2012 this is expected to increase up to 12%.  Tons of bookmakers have been heavily promoting their mobile betting services on TV and Premier League matches too.

How to Target the Mobile Gambling Niche:

With regards to targeting the mobile gambling niche, I think there are several things you need to take into account.

First of all, mobile gambling is a fully integrated product on most sports betting sites.  Customers can use the same account to log into their account on their mobile app or websites, which means you shouldn’t think of the mobile niche as a small market. Instead, you should consider it as another means of targeting legit sports bettors.  I really think you can expect the same levels of revenue and lifetime value from mobile sports bettors – the same can’t be said for mobile casino players.

Secondly, the US is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to mobile gambling, which makes it tougher for US affiliates. This is mainly due to the UIGEA 2006, which has stymied the majority of investment in mobile technology.  That being said, Sportsbook.com and BetUS.com both offered iPhone betting for a short period before they left the US market, and Bodog and BetOnline have just launched new mobile services.

In terms of mobile casinos, the US market is horrifically far behind.  Slotland offers one of the only US-friendly mobile casinos, and this has converted terribly from my experiences.

Finally, you might want to invest in a mobile script for your website if your targeting these niches.  Over 60% of people living in the US have a smart phone and if you want to convert mobile traffic successfully then you need to have a mobile-friendly website.  From my own experiences I’ve seen 50%+ of my traffic from mobile devices, and an AM told me he’d seen a 50% increase in conversions for a mobile-casino site which used a mobile landing page.

Average Deposit Size, Revenue and Player Value for Mobile Gambling

As I mentioned before, I think mobile sports betting players are the same value as online sports bettors (hence why you can receive the same CPAs and revshare deals).  Obviously it depends on the exact keywords you’re picking up sign-ups from, but mobile bettors in general will be on the computer too (and visa versa).

With regards to mobile casinos vs. online casino revenue, I’ve seen a huge difference in value.  Most of my mobile casino players will be “testing” out the games for free, which means I’ve seen a much lower conversion rate of around 5-10% for signups > depositors.

The average deposit size of mobile casino players will also only be around $50-$300.  You might get the odd player depositing $1k+ but this is extremely rare.  I haven’t seen my mobile casino players playing online either, so mobile casino and online casino products are much less integrated than sports betting.  This has been shown by the small CPAs I’ve been offered recently.  The mobile casino market also seems very country-orientated.  Certain countries will have very high value mobile casino players (because of marketing campaigns in that region) while other country’s players will be worth very little.

When it comes to mobile poker, I haven’t really bothered with this. I admired Switch Poker’s first real money mobile poker site when they launched in 2010, but I think mobile screens are just too small and gnarly to be playing poker.  You’re not going to get any serious pro poker players or grinders playing on their mobile devices either, which will make the market less valuable.  I had 12 rmps at Switch Poker and in about 5 months they’d earned me around 12 Euros in commission.

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About the author:

This article was provided by Adam, who’s been targeting the mobile gambling niche on a number of sites for over 12 months now.  He also runs his own blog at UKPokerAffiliate.com.