Latest UK Online Bingo Site Opens its Doors

Gina Bingo now liveThe latest UK online bingo site to open its doors to real money play is Gina Bingo.  Gina Bingo brings with it a breath of fresh air as it’s not part of any of the large bingo networks the other recently launched UK online bingo sites have joined.  This means it is a totally new experience for many as Gina Bingo uses software that is made available for the first time to the UK market.

Gina Bingo is powered by software provided by Byworth Entertainment which so far has been used on sites targeting mainly the US market.  It is operated by Plex Gaming,  a subsidiary of Bingo Entertainment, a name that is very well established in the world of online bingo as it is one of the oldest companies in the online bingo market providing  bingo games since 1999.

The site does offer the usual array of features in addition to many exclusive ones.  It offers both 90 ball bingo and 75 ball bingo and side games such as slots, scratch cards and many other instant casino games.  In addition to its 4 pay to play rooms it also offers a round the clock free bingo room where players can win £1 or £60 Jackpot on every game.  They also provide a free game in the 90 ball room with a £5 prize and £60 Jackpot every hour.

Gina Bingo offers some amazing sign up bonuses too.  They offer a £10 free no deposit bonus and a 200% match bonus on first deposit up to £500.  This is one of the highest deposit bonus in the industry.

So if you love bingo and want to try something new then its well worth taking a look.

Tombola Bingo has another TV advert banned

Tombola Online BingoThe ASA has had another of  Tombola’s TV bingo adverts banned on the grounds that it presents a negative racial stereotype.

This follows a previous banning for the online bingo operator of a commercial which featured a fairground as it was deemed to appeal to youngsters and that it could create problems with underage gambling.

The latest commercial to be banned shows a white man dressed in a tuxedo and a black man dressed in casual clothing sitting on a beach.  The black man plays the ukulele and repeating everything the white man is saying.

The ASA stated: ”We considered that the ad could be interpreted as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining the standing of the black character and was therefore likely to cause serious offence.” It added that the online bingo commercial portrayed the black man as “less intelligent”.

Tombola Bingo has stated that it will not be using the commercial again.

Bingo Affiliates Cashing in on the Online Bingo Boom

Bingo Affiliates Cashing in on the Online Bingo BoomThe success of online bingo has made a lot of money for many companies.  Recent figures show the industry generated $1.2 Billion in gross gaming yield in 2008 and could even grow to $2 Billion by 2012. However, it is not only the online bingo operators and software companies that are cashing in on the money.

Bingo Affiliates are also taking a large piece of the cake.  Many online bingo sites rely heavily on affiliates to generate traffic for them.  In exchange they offer their affiliates either a fixed sum per depositing player or a commission based on the players spend at the particular site.  Sometimes this can be up to 50% or even £150 per sign up!

In the past few years we have seen a huge increase in the number of bingo portals and review sites all trying to get a piece of the action.  Searching for “online bingo” on Google for example will not only bring up online bingo game sites but hundreds of review sites and portals all promoting various other bingo gaming sites. The information is more or less the same on all these sites as usually the bingo operators supply their affiliates with reviews, logos, banners and other marketing material.

The competition is no longer limited to the bingo operators but is also bigger than ever for the bingo portals.  We have even seen portal sites launching with budgets similar to those of the big online bingo operators.  Oh My Bingo is a recent example of a bingo portal going all out in trying to beat the competition with its new television campaign.  Some portals have been so successful that they have gone from promoting other bingo sites to operators themselves.  Costa Bingo and Tea & Bingo are both good examples of promoter turning operator.  Recently, Bingo Port also announced it will be launching its own bingo site powered by Swedish gaming software provider NYX Interactive.

Having talked to a number of top performing affiliates, it seems that the key to success for any bingo affiliate is SEO and choosing which sites to promote wisely.  SEO plays a vital role in that affiliates want potential players searching for an online bingo site to visit their site first.  Obviously the higher the search engine ranking for important keywords such as “bingo”, “online bingo” and “bingo bonuses” the better.

Choosing which sites to promote is also of major importance.  A site must be capable of converting a visitor to a depositing player.  The affiliates we talked to recommend that an affiliate should choose respectable but less well known brands if they hope to make any serious conversions.  They say there is no point in promoting sites that 90% of the online bingo players are already signed up to, especially if those sites have a much higher search engine ranking.  Sites with big marketing budgets and which can be seen all over the place such as TV, magazines and newspapers don’t always have the highest conversion rates as in most circumstances the potential visitors are already signed up.  As such, newly launched sites do always seem to have the best conversion rates and with the number of new bingo sites going online, affiliates have a vast array of choice when it comes to choosing which sites to promote.

It must be noted however, that apart from the large number of UK based bingo sites we also have sites aimed at other markets such as the US, Spain and Latin America.  However, many affiliates are missing out on this International based income as they choose not to promote bingo sites targeting non UK players.  Let’s not forget that the US bingo market is as large if not larger than the UK online bingo market.  Another important factor to note is that UK based sites mostly list their promotions in GBP.  Unlike the US$ not everyone outside the UK is familiar with GBP and its value, so potentially affiliates are losing out on a wider international market by only promoting UK based sites.

In a recent interview with the CEO of a major international bingo network, we were told that the average affiliate payment has gone up from US$250 per month back in 2001 to US1600 per month in 2009.  He attributed this increase to the fact that affiliates are becoming more and more professional in their marketing practices and managing player retention in their own right either through a community based portal or by the use of all the social media tools currently available such as Twitter and Facebook.

So it seems that along with the growth of the worldwide online bingo market, so is the potential for affiliates to make serious money without the costs and burden of operating an online bingo game.

Online Bingo – The Only Way Up?

Online BingoOnline bingo players have never had it better. With all the new bingo sites popping up nearly every day, the competition is as hot as ever. As a result, online bingo players have a wide diversity of choice when it comes to selecting where to play. However is this good for the bingo industry in general?

New sites without player liquidity try and attract players by offering big bonuses, sometimes even reaching 1000% on initial deposit. Even though this is good for the players it’s not for the site. Just like all the new sites being launched an equal amount seem to be shutting their door. Lately we have seen sites like Bunny Bingo and all the Interactive Playnet sites closing. There are rumors floating around that another big online bingo network is also facing serious financial difficulties. This could affect more than 20 well known bingo sites.

The rush to quickly attract players to a site by offering huge bonuses seems not to pay off in the long term. We have seen sites like Jackpot City Bingo start off by offering £25 free with no deposit required. They soon removed that promotion. Along with many other sites, Wink Bingo also announced it will be stopping its no deposit bonus offer. So it does seem that bingo operators are finally realizing that offering big bonuses and no deposit offers doesn’t really pay off.

So where does this leave the bingo industry? It seems that unless a bingo site is backed by a very big investment or a big operator it stands no chance of survival in the ever increasing competitive bingo market.

The few companies that seem to dominate the industry are Playtech with its recent acquisition of Virtue Fusion, Dragonfish, Gamesys and Bingo Entertainment. Nearly all new bingo sites that are being launched are operating under one of those networks or using software licensed from them. Tasty Bingo and Bingo Hollywood are the latest additions to the Dragonfish family, Titan Bingo on Playtech, Heart FM Bingo and Caesars Bingo on Gamesys. Bingo Entertainment also announced it will soon be launching Gina Bingo targeting the UK bingo market.

However, we have also seen a steady move away from the network based bingo model. More and more sites are going it alone. Moon Bingo was the first major name to go standalone, Titan Bingo and now GameOn Bingo will be going it alone. This offers a much greater freedom for each site to set its games and special promotions. This increases competition between the sites and offers greater diversity for the players in choosing where to play. It must be noted however, that even though the games and promotions offered by independent sites may differ the software is more or less the same as there are much less software providers than there are operators.

The bottom line however is whether or not there is sufficient player liquidity to support all these independent site. Even though more and more internet users are discovering the joys of online bingo and more international markets are opening up, the increase in competition will mean the need for greater investment and funding. In the business world this usually has the effect of a few major brands dominating an industry and as far as the bingo world is concerned it does already seem apparent which these companies will be.

St Patrick's Day at Bingo Gala

If there’s one place to play online bingo on St. Patricks Day, it will have to be at Bingo Gala.   Bingo Gala will be hosting a series of specials for your enjoyment starting from Wednesday March 10th and running till St Patrick’s Day!

Running from March 10th – 17th when you Bingo on I17 you will win 17 BB’s.  Also a free clover pattern will play randomly throughout the day in the Main Hall with $17 Bonus Prize and $170 Jackpot!

On March 17th don’t miss out on their super 100% deposit bonus on all deposits over $20.

If that’s not enough, invite all your friends to play at Bingo Gala on St. Patricks Day.   Six games will play where the prizes of each will be determined by the number of players in the game with a jackpot of $3000.  In addition they will have 4 must go jackpot games each paying out $170 for only 25c per card.

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