INTERNATIONAL ONLINE GAMBLING AND BETTING INTELLIGENCE REPORT
January 2013 to December 2013
EXECUTIVESUMMARY
3
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.
44 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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.
5
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
91
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 [email protected]
WANT TO KNOW MORE?IfyouhaveanyquestionsonthefindingsorwouldliketospeaktooneoftheteamaboutmaximisingtheROIofyoursearchandsocialstrategiespleasecontact:
DISCLAIMERTheinformationcontainedinthisreportisforreferencepurposesonly.Althougheveryefforthasbeenmadetoensureaccuracyofdata,theanalysisisStickyeyesowninterpretationandthecompanycannotbeheldliableforanysubsequentbusinessdecisionsimplemented.The contentofthismarketintelligencereportremainsthecopyrightofStickyeyes.Permissionisgivenforthereporttobecirculatedwithin
your ownbusinessforinformationbutitscontentshouldnotbereproducedwithoutprioragreement.
WestOne,WellingtonStreet,Leeds,UnitedKingdomLS11BAT+44(0)1133912929F+44(0)1133912939
24GrevilleStreetLondon,UnitedKingdomEC1N8SST+44(0)2030084461
[email protected]@Stickyeyeslinkedin.com/company/stickyeyes
