UK Gambling Affiliate Show

I'll be taking a look at the gaming and gambling show at Villa Park, Birmingham tomorrow - see http://www.a4uevents.com/ for full details - registration is still open.

It's been a long time since I attended any affiliate shows, so I am hoping that things have moved on a bit since the last time I took at the gambling and gaming industry.

The UK doesn't have enough of these events - either for affiliates, domainers or general Internet marketing in my opinion. It seems that all the sponsorship money goes to the USA.

Let's hope that this event is worth going to - it doesn't seem too big, as it's only on from 12:30 to 6pm, so I'm wondering if it's worth the £25 entrance.

One of the main reasons for my attendance is that I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get in touch with a company that offers a white label affiliate or partner program for skill games.

Skill games differ from gambling because they are generally more fun and aren't tainted with the "gambling addiction" brush, so they are less controversial.

With some countries (led by the good old USA) having a a complete downer of Internet gambling, it seems to me at least, that a reputable alternative is required quickly.

Even Gordon Brown slapped a lovely 50% tax on Internet gambling sites in the last budget, just as it was looking like the UK was offering an open door to the industry. How short sighted. It will set us back years! Where is the incentive for companies to come here now?

So back to skill gaming.

One of the best sites I have seen is called King.com -I haven't provided a link to them because I think they are ar**holes.

On their site, they offer a multitude of skill based games. They are very good and some are quite addictive. When I showed my 17 and 14 year-old sons the site (for research purposes), they weren't that impressed at first.

After a week or so though, I noticed that whenever I was away from my PC, they would be on there, playing the free games at King. Interesting, I thought!

So, as I have an absolute KILLER domain name that could work well in the skill games market, I dropped King an email. A whois search on their domain record suggests they are a British outfit. The phone number didn't work.

I asked about a white label of their site to be run on my domain and marketed by me. They didn't reply.

A few days later, I tried again. They sent me off to affiliatewindow (I think it was them).

I had a look at their program and it was simply a banner program and an introduction payment that's made each time you introduce a new paying customer.

That's not what I wanted. Affiliate marketing has moved on.

They said on their site that they have a partner program. I tried again.

Same reply. I tried several more times, but to no avail.

The problem with companies like King, is that they have a successful and popular site, but they aren't willing to share the rewards with affiliates.

These days, hopefully like many affiliates, I won't join crappy programs that simply want me to serve a banner on my site in the hope that someone clicks it, joins and makes a payment.

No, I want to use my domains in a way that I can serve other people's content in my name, on my servers, so that I can build some user loyalty and get paid for my efforts.

Wake up UK affiliate managers - affiliates are hard working people with more brains than you are giving them credit for.

I hope to meet some skill gaming affiliate providers at the http://www.a4uevents.com/ show tomorrow. I'm not too confident of getting the result I want.

Is it just me or do you also think that UK sponsors in particular are a few steps behind the game? Actually, I think they haven't got a clue.