market intelligence report: 3rd annual online gaming (exec summary)

INTERNATIONAL ONLINE GAMBLING AND BETTING INTELLIGENCE REPORT

January 2013 to December 2013

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

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WHAT WILL YOU GET FROM THIS REPORT?• In-depthmarketanalysiscoveringperiodJanuary2013toDecember2013.

• Acomprehensive“who’swho”inonlinegamblingandbettingwithintheUK.

• AnanalysisoftheonlinegamblingkeywordlandscapewithintheUScoveringthesubverticalscasino,poker,bingoandsportsbetting.

• DetailedinsightintothedevelopmentoftheonlinecasinosectorwithinkeyEuropeaninternationalmarketsincludingSweden,ItalyandSpain.

• Over200individualpiecesofkeyinsights&over100piecesofstatisticalinterpretation.

• Analysisofthetop300onlinegamblingoperatorsacrossthetop200onlinegamblingkeywords,spanningfivecountries.

WHAT QUESTIONS DO WE ANSWER?• Whichbrandsarethemarketleadersandwhichkeywordsaredrivingmarketvisibility?

• Whatareonlinegamblingoperatorsdoingtoachievemaximummarketshare?

• Whatisthesizeofopportunitywithinkeyinternationalmarkets?

INTRODUCTIONWelcometoourthirdmarketintelligencereportfortheonlinegamblingindustry.Stickyeyeshasbeenworkingwithonlinegamblingclientsformorethan15yearsandwebelievethatourunparalleledsectorexperiencehassignificantlycontributedtothevaluewehavedrivenforourclients.

Sinceourlastreport,publishedinJanuary2013,theonlinegamblingmarkethasexperiencedsignificantchange.AseriesofalgorithmupdatesthathavebeendesignedtoimprovethequalityofGoogle’ssearchengineresultspages(SERPs),havedecimatedthekeywordrankingsformanyofthemosthighprofilebrandswithintheUKmarket.Theresultofthishasbeentheradicalre-shapingofourclickshareindexandwenowseenewleadersacrossmanyofthemainsubverticalsincludingcasino,pokerandbingo.

Thisyear’sreportalsoextendsitsanalysisintoarangeofinternationalmarkets.WithDelaware,NevadaandNewJerseydevelopinganonlinearmtotheirgamblingmarkets,thisreportassessestheimpactoftherelaxationofonlinegamblingrestrictionsanddiscusswhatthismeansintermsoftheshapeandcompositionoftheUSSERPs.

OuranalysisdrawsattentiontothefactthattheexistinglevelofregulationhasmeantthatthecurrentkeywordlandscapeintheUSisstillanuntappedandimmaturemarket.ThismeansthatmanyUSgamblingSERPsareoccupiedbyadiverserangeofgamblingrelatedwebsitesthatvarysignificantlyintermsofqualityofcontentandproductoffering.

ThereportthenaddressestheonlinegamblingmarketwithintheEurope,analysingtheEuropeanUnion’sapproachtotheharmonisationofEUwideonlinegambling,itsattemptstoensureacompetitivelevelplayingfieldamongnationalgovernmentsandeffortstoensurecompliancefrommembernationswithEUcompetitionlawonthefreemovementofgoodsandservices.ThereportconcludeswithananalysisofthegrowthoftheonlinecasinomarketinseveralkeyEuropeanmarketsatdifferentstagesofdevelopmentintermsofmarketliberalisation,namelyItaly,SpainandSweden.

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UK MARKET: EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS• Consumerexpenditureononlinegamblingandbettingwillbreakthroughthe£2.5billionbarrierin2013,asmanyofthe

leadingoperatorscontinuetorecorddouble-digitrevenuegrowth.

• Thesportsbettingmarkethasgrownby79%since2009andremainsthemostdominantformofonlinegambling,accountingfor45%ofallrevenue.

• Intermsofrevenue,thefootballbettingsegmentcontinuestomovefromstrength-to-strength,growingby35%since 2010.

• Revenuefromremotesportsbetting(i.e.onlineandmobileplatforms)hasgrown29%,whileoverthecounter(OTC)bettinghasdeclinedby2%.

• Searchenginesarebecomingoneoftheprimarybattlesfieldsformanyofthetopgamblingbrandsandthisisreflectedinthegrowthofadvertisingexpenditurewithinthisarea.Since2009,onlineadvertisingwithintheareaofsportsbettinghasmorethandoubledfrom£4.6millionin2009to£10.8millionin2012.

• WilliamHillhasmaintaineditspositionasmarketleaderwithinUKonlinegamblingandbetting,recordingonlinenetrevenuegrowthof18%duringthefirsthalfoftheyear2013.Thisisalsoreflectedwithinthebrand’sshareofbrandrelatedsearchimpressionvolume,whichhasincreasedfrom19%to23%during2013.

• Searchimpressionvolumeforsportsbettinghasgrownby18%since2012,whilecasinohasincreasedby15%.Ofthetop10phraseswithingenericonlinegambling,bingocontinuestohavethehighestvolumeofsearches.Onlinecasino(18.11%)hasovertakenpoker,withthekeywordcasinointhirdplace12.13%.Newentrantsintothetop10includethekeywordsbingosites,blackjackonlineandonlinebingo.

• Throughout2013Googlehascontinuedstrengtheningthequalitysignalsthatunderpintheiralgorithmwiththeintroductionofupdatesandrefinements,includingPandaandPenguin.Theresultisthatmanyofthetopbrandswithinorganicsearchhaveseendramaticdropsintheirrankings,withonlyasmallnumberofbrandsbeingabletomaintainconsistenttop10positionsthroughout2013.

• Virtuallyallthemainsub-verticalswithintheUKonlinegamblingmarkethavebeenimpactedbyGoogle’supdates,withcasino,pokerandbingoexperiencingthemostdramaticchanges.

• OneofthemosthighprofilescasualtiesofGoogle’salgorithmupdatein2013hasbeen888,whichsawrankingsdropfor manyofthemostimportanttermswithinonlinegamblingincludingthephrasescasino,onlinecasino,pokerandonline poker.

• OthercasualtiesofGoogle’supdatesforvarioushighprofilekeywordsincludeCasino770,Bet770,SpinPalace, Gambling.com,TombolaandCheekyBingo

• PaddyPoweristhenewleaderwithincasino,whileBwinParty,viaitsflagshipbrandPartyPoker,leadstheorganicpokersubvertical.PokerStarsandFullTiltPoker(partofTheRationalGroup)areinsecondandthirdplacerespectively.

• Ladbrokesledthebingosubverticalformuchof2013,overtakingpure-playbrandslikeFoxyBingo,CostaBingoandCheekyBingobutthisdominancehassincebeenchallengedbyGala,whichlettheverticalduringthelatterstagesoftheyear.

• WilliamHillisthenewleaderoftheorganicclickshareindexforsportsbetting,closelyfollowedbyPaddyPower.Howeverthislead,coupledwithanaggressivePPCstrategy,makesWilliamHillthedominantforcewiththismarket.

• BothBwinandLadbrokeshavesignificantlystrengthenedtheirpositionswithintheonlinesportsbettingsubverticalandtheynowsitfirmlywithinthetopten.

• Thesportsbettingsubverticalfootballremainshighlycompetitive,whileonlinebettingcomparisonsiteslikeOLBGaredominatingtheorganicclickshareindex.MeanwhilebettingoperatorslikePaddyPowerandWilliamHillaredevelopinganaggressivePPCstrategyinordertomaximiseexposure.

• Withanaggregatedclickshareof20.59%,WilliamHillhasmaintaineditsleadwithinthesportsbettingsubverticalforhorseracing.However,itsleadwithintheorganicindexhasbeenerodedbyRacingPost,whichnowsitsinsecondplace,just 0.17%behindWilliamHill.Anyshiftinorganicrankingsorforeitherofthesetwobrandscouldresultinreshapingofthelandscape.

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US EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS• TheUSonlinemarketforgamblingremainsheavilyregulated,resultinginanimmaturemarketintheUSonlinegambling

keywordlandscape.ThismeansthatmanyofUSkeywordSERPsareoccupiedbyadiverserangeofgamblingrelatedwebsitesthatvarysignificantlyintermsofqualityofcontentaswellasproductoffering.Despitethisregulation,anumberofstateshavestartedtodeveloponlinearmstotheirgamblingoperations.ThemostnotableexamplesareDelawareandNevada,withNewJerseyfollowingsuitinNovember2013.

• TheUSonlinegamblingmarketcomprisesoffourkeysub-verticals;casino,poker,bingoandbetting.Themostcomplexsub-verticalisbetting,whichalsocomprisesgenericsportsbettingaswellasfootball,basketball,baseballandhorseracing.

• ThecasinoverticalhasthelargestsearchimpressionvolumeandispotentiallythemostlucrativekeywordmarketforthefledglingUSmarket.Ofthese,thekeywordsforcasino,slots,pokerandrouletteareprimarypowerhousespotentiallydrivingsignificantvolumetothoseinhighrankingpositions.

• TheUScasinosubverticalisrepresentativeofthismarketimmaturityandissubsequentlydominatedbyaffiliates,aswell asfreeorlowqualityflashcasinogames.FoxwoodsandRiverCasino,whicharelandbasedoperations,aretheonlyUS commercialoperationthatarevisiblewithintheorganicclickshareindex.ThePokermarketisdominatedbyinternationalbrandsPokerStars,FullTiltPokerandPartyPoker.Thebingoindexexhibitssimilaritiesaswiththecasinomarket.ThemoststrikingfeatureofthegenericbettingsubverticalisthatitisdevoidofanyindigenousUSlandbasedcommercialgamblingbrands.

EUROPEAN MARKETS (ITALY, SPAIN AND SWEDEN): EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS• LiketheUS,onlinegamblingwithintheEUislefttoindividualmemberstatestoregulate,leadingtoadisjoined

market withinEurope.However,overthepastseveralyears,theEuropeanCommissionhasmadenotableattemptstoharmonisetheonlinegamblingsectorbetweenmemberstates,whichcouldultimatelyleadtoagenuinelyEuropeanonline gambling market.

• Italy,whichstartedmarketliberalisationin2006,hasasearchmarketingclickshareindexthatismadeupofablendofthelocalItalianoperatorsaswellasinternationalbrandslike888,WilliamHillandPaddyPower.Interestingly,asignificantamountoftheclicksharewiththeindexistakenupbyaffiliatestylesitesthataredirectingtraffictopaid,onlinereal-moneybrands.

• AlthoughtheSpanishindexconsistsofamixtureofinternationalandlocalbrands,clickshareisheavilyweightedtowardsinternationaloperators,with888beingtheleadingbrand.TheSwedishonlinecasinomarketisledbyBetsson,whichhasaclickshareof24.20%.IncontrasttobothSpainandItaly,internationalbrandsdohavethesamelevelofpresencewithintheclickshareindex

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ABOUT THE AUTHORSPhilipMcGuin,HeadofInsightandMarketResearchatStickyeyeshas15years’experienceintheareasofonlinemarketing,performancebasedleadgenerationaswellas,dataanalysistechniquesincludingwebmetrics,portfolioscorecarding,attribution,econometricsandstatisticalmodelling.HehasworkedbothclientandagencysideforarangeofsectorsincludingpublicbodiessuchasEuropeanParliament,EuropeanCommissionpromotingtheEU’spolicyonInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)aswellastheDepartmentofTradeandIndustry(DTI),marketingpolicyone-Government.HealsohasextensiveexperienceintheprivatesectorasHeadofMarketingforanenterprisesoftwareprovideraswellastheHeadofOnlineMarketingforoneoftheUK’sfirstprivateonlinehighereducationtrainingproviders.PriortohiscareerintheprivatesectorPhilipworkedasadoctoralresearchfellowinEconomics,Politics,PublicPolicyandAdministration.

ABOUT STICKYEYESStickyeyesisaninternationaldigitalmarketingagencywithapedigreeinsearch.

Ourservicesinclude:SEO,PPCanddisplay,social,PRandcontentprovision,consultingandinsightanddesignanddevelopment.

Weworkwithmanyofthelargestgamingcompaniesonaninternationalbasisandmanyofourteamhavegamingoperatorexperience.We’reproudofourabilitiesandbelievenootheragencyhasourstrengthanddepthofexperience.OurworkwithgamingcompaniesrangesfromoneoffmarketreportstoascertainopportunitylevelsfornewbrandsorproductsthroughtofullservicedigitalmarketingtomaximiseROI.

OurpedigreeinthegamingindustrywasrecentlyrecognisedattheUKSearchAwardswherewewonfourawardsincluding‘BestUseofSearchinGaming’andthecoveted‘BestAgency’award.

Ifyouwouldliketodiscusshowwecanhelpyoupleasecontactus,we’llstartwithadeepdiveintoyourperformance,howthatcomparestoyourcompetitorsandwhereweseegapsandopportunities.

www.stickyeyes.com

Paul HillSales Director0113 391 2929paul.hill@stickyeyes.com

WANT TO KNOW MORE?IfyouhaveanyquestionsonthefindingsorwouldliketospeaktooneoftheteamaboutmaximisingtheROIofyoursearchandsocialstrategiespleasecontact:

DISCLAIMERTheinformationcontainedinthisreportisforreferencepurposesonly.Althougheveryefforthasbeenmadetoensureaccuracyofdata,theanalysisisStickyeyesowninterpretationandthecompanycannotbeheldliableforanysubsequentbusinessdecisionsimplemented.The contentofthismarketintelligencereportremainsthecopyrightofStickyeyes.Permissionisgivenforthereporttobecirculatedwithin

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