ICE/LAC 2018

maxd

Head of Complaints (PABs), Senior Forum Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Location
Saltirelandia
ICE/LAC 2018 is now behind us and per usual I'm sitting down to write a few words on what we saw and learned from our visit. To be honest I'm having a tough time of it this time around. Partly that's because I was fighting the onset of a flu all week and partly because of what I believe is a simple reality of our business: the unreservedly bullish days are behind us (for now) and much of the industry has entered a bearish phase.

For the first time I felt that we were tourists at ICE. The floor was mostly occupied with casino management groups, transaction processors, software providers and the like. In other words there was hardly anyone there interested in the likes of us: ICE has shifted focus and we aren't the target audience, not by any stretch of the imagination. Not that we ever really were but this year our level of engagement with the show's exhibitors was the lowest I can remember it being since I started attending regularly in 2008.

Good news then that the usual day of dead-time between ICE and LAC was eliminated this year so LAC started a day earlier for us. And LAC seemed much more focused this year: relatively modest exhibits, everything relevant and on-topic, and the binary guys were nowhere to be seen (good riddance!).

That said there was definitely that bearish feeling in the air. Whereas previous years were all "Hey affiliate! Let's do business!" this year was just as much "Can we do business given the new regulations?" and "How will the new GDPR affect the way we do business?" And whereas in years past the affiliates on the floor looking for deals were a dime a dozen that simply was no longer true. Economic pressures and a changing marketplace has culled the herd considerably. LAC this year was much more about confirming old relationships and bore little resemblance to the casino-affiliate speed-dating of just a few years ago.

Happily many of the people we've worked with for years are still there, adapting to the new circumstances as we all must, and planning their way forward. We've had to say goodbye to a few old friends this past year but most, like us, are still very much in the game.
 
Oh Max, your post made me nostalgic. This is so true. Even though I'm not around as long as you are, but from 2011th to nowadays, so many things changed.
Actually more like became complicated and I'm afraid that slowly some old values are start being forgotten. There are some annoying trends like CPM, CPC, CPA, CPR, PPC and so on. So much about money and overnight success. Paying for traffic and visitors whom I feel sorry for, because there's only a handful of websites where they can get genuine, experienced and true recommendations and tips about places to play at. It's crazy how many new casinos is getting live - almost every day I hear about a new brand. Same for other, affiliate side of the business. Operators are obsessed with hunting new affiliates, lots of them is neglecting old, proven partners.
I hope that soon some traditional values of this industry will find their way to the top again.
 
Yep, there's all brute-force marketing now. Little relationship with affiliate managers. Take this e-mail I got today. I joined this (I will conceal brand) affiliate programme last month.

(The top row is this month so far, the bottom is January)

So no "Well done, you got us quite a few registrations, now we'll work on retaining these players" or "Can we work out an incentive?" but instead griping that NDP's are lower. As Jelena says, all very cynical now. This explains why as an affiliate I will always insist on hybrid wherever possible, not RS only (like this one) or CPA only. This e-mail really pissed me off. I feel like selling up (if I could) and passing this BS over to somebody else. I am not a person to many of these affiliate managers, but a NDP robot. :(



Hi Daz,
You generated a lot of ftd’s in January for xxx.com and I was wondering if you are happy with the conversion? Player value is quite low still.
The volume stocked in Februari, can you tell me why this is and if it is possible to push it again.
Let me know what you need to push it again.
Thx.

zzz.JPG
 
ICE/LAC 2018 is now behind us and per usual I'm sitting down to write a few words on what we saw and learned from our visit...
Yep - thanks, Max! Some good spot-on observations.

The industry is always changing - and this past London visit was extremely informative - good news for players (except for our cousins down unda'), some very crucial news for affiliates and operators.

Meister report should be out on Monday. :D
 

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