Thomas Jones has been in the bingo affiliate industry for the past five years. In that time he has created and managed a number of different sites. These have culminated at his latest venture, Bingosites.uk. A bingo affiliate portal set up for the modern online bingo player.
In your opinion how do you feel the online gaming market has evolved over the last few years and do you think that particular buy-outs and company mergers will ultimately affect the customer?
In reality it all depends on your position within the market itself. Those looking to break into the industry will begin to find it a lot tougher, this is due to the competition becoming more united making it very challenging for up and coming site to gain a foothold in the market.
On the flipside of this though, customers looking to get the very best from their gaming experience will no doubt see vast improvements in quality, choice and offers available thanks to these mergers.
The target market for many of the sectors within the industry has evolved in recent years. How do you think that this demographic in bingo will shift over the coming years?
Bingo has always been stereotyped, especially in the UK, of being a game played by groups of old women.
In reality, while our demographic of Bingo players is predominantly a female heavy one, thanks to the rise in mobile-based technology there are a huge increase in the number of male players from a range of different age groups. We’re already beginning to see younger male players participating in online bingo thanks to some companies taking advantage of recent gaming trends to appeal to this new audience.
The Brexit vote in July has had various levels of impact on industries up and down the country, but how do you think this momentous decision will affect certain gambling-related areas such as Gibraltar and Malta?
It’s still very much unknown what sort of impact Brexit will have globally long term. However, as we have seen over the past two months the stability of currencies is going to be a problem. I think this is going to force both businesses and consumers to review their finances and tighten the purse string. Whether this means that online services will decide to move their operations elsewhere is unknown, but if that does indeed happen it will affect places like Malta and Gibraltar where the local economy is dependent on the I-gaming industry.
In the future do you think affiliates will create stronger relationships with operators?
The online market is changing the way in which bingo operators have to think about their customer base. It’s an untapped market for many operators and with decreasing land-based revenues many will soon realise how important online affiliate programs are to driving traffic and customers to their site.
Will innovative technology help influence the iGaming industry?
Developments in technology will always help influence the industry, just look the effect that mobile phones, tablets and more reliable mobile internet has had over the past few years.
But the future looks amazing for the digital gaming industry as a whole, not just I-gaming. With the introduction of virtual and augmented reality for instance an online player will be able to immerse themselves into a virtual experiences without even having to leave their own living room. I’m a little unsure how the I-gaming and bingo industry can leverage this new tech but it’s something that I am really looking forward to getting my hand on.
Do you believe that the land-based bingo industry can continue?
While many clubs and halls have been forced to close their doors over recent years there is still hope for the industry. Traditional halls are developing new, creative ways in which to draw in new players by adding in non-bingo related elements that could make all the difference in the future.
Has the introduction of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin affected the industry at all?
Any currency-related changes can affect the industry and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is no different. Many vendors are not accepting it as payment and like so many other technology-based developments eventually it’ll simply become a normal process for many major industries including iGaming.
Are there any particular marketing methods that you think may direct the bingo or iGaming industry over the course of the next few years?
Any marketing schemes will focus mainly on the retrieval and retention of customers. The online and mobile gaming industry has evolved so much and it’s important that bingo in all forms can stay relevant; we can do this by attracting customers with generous bonuses and special offers the industry to help us build further on the great successes we have seen recently.
