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Yes, we have no affiliates... but we do get all the money
You might consider it an Emperor's New Clothes moment. Or a replay of the “if you build it, they will come” error made by so many early dotcoms.
Either way, newly-launched online gaming site Trystbingo.com is challenging the accepted wisdom by recruiting no affiliates and handling all its own promotion.
“Starting a business whereby you give away lifetime player revenue is not in the interests of the company. We intend to re-invest our revenue not give it to affiliates,” said Barry Smead of Trystbingo's owner Fat Bronze.
“[Our] mission is to provide online gamers with the best choice of games and player experience and this can only come from continued investment.”
He and his colleagues are hoping that the site – based on software from 888's Dragonfish unit and a Cashcade skin – will attract players through pay-per-click advertising and search-engine optimisation. Those will be complemented by a PR campaign and presence on Facebook and Twitter.
Affiliate programmes have gained favour across the Internet not just in gaming but in fields as diverse as bookselling and adult content. In effect, the affiliate Website acts as a marketing and sales agent for the main site, taking a cut of proceeds: in the case of gaming, player revenue.
The benefit for the online service at the centre of a network of affiliates is that it can show different faces to disparate customer groups, with each affiliate concentrating on a distinct market segment. The downside, of course, is not just the sharing of revenue, but the overshadowing of the main brand by its affiliates. Trystbingo's fortunes will show which outweighs the other.
