News Archives

Ofcom’s New Regulations for Video Sharing Platforms

Published 08.10.2021 Author: Jake Category: News

Ofcom, also known as The Office of Communications, is a government approved regulatory body which moderates broadcasting in the UK. They body has recently announced a series of upcoming regulation changes which will be implemented across a number of social media platforms, in an attempt to mitigate hateful content.

The regulator has listed a number of measures that video-sharing platforms such as TikTok, Twitch and YouTube must follow in order to protect their users. These online-based giants will be ordered to take “appropriate measures” to protect users on the platform from content that is related to child sexual abuse, terrorism and racism. The action of Ofcom came following results of research showing a third of users have seen hateful content on these sites.

The video sharing platforms will be required to both provide and enforce clear rules for the content that is uploaded to their site. In addition to this, the reporting process must be streamlined and be as easy as possible. The final demand is that adult content must be restricted with robust age verification.

A number of companies, including those mentioned will be watched carefully, with any offenders being fined. Ofcom have promised that next year they will release a report which will determine if and how these regulations have been implemented.

The affiliate marketing industry may benefit from these new regulations, as it will allow for a number of brands to feel confident having affiliates who primarily use video sharing platforms to promote products.

The MGA Amends Rules for Suspicious Betting Reporting

Published 08.10.2021 Author: Stephen Category: News

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has changed its rules for the reporting of suspicious betting. Due to the changes, the regulator’s Sports Integrity Unit will require suppliers to report any suspicious betting activity through its Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism (SBRM), which originally became a requirement for operators at the beginning of the year.

Without revealing its source of information, the MGA’s Sports Integrity Unit will now inform licensees of any suspicious betting activity related to any event or promotion they may be having.

The MGA stated the changes are intended to allow the betting sector to be more informed and to allow better monitoring and evaluation of sports betting risks.

The MGA said: "One of the Malta Gaming Authority’s commitments is to take a proactive approach in managing sports betting integrity with the aim of addressing the threats posed by match-fixing and malicious sports betting. In this regard, the Authority’s Sports Betting Integrity department continuously seeks ways of improving monitoring and reporting capabilities across the wider Maltese sports betting sector."

Kenya Considers Banning Daytime Gambling

Published 07.10.2021 Author: Jake Category: News

The Nairobia Country Assembly in Kenya is currently making a decision on whether they should ban gambling during daytime hours. The bill that was proposed by Waithera Chege at a recent hearing, has plans to completely ban all forms of gambling between the hours of 6am and 8pm. In addition to this, the bill will look to further regulate mobile betting and introduce a strict ban on advertising gambling near betting venues.

A survey by Geopoll was carried out in 2017, which found that Kenya has the highest number of youths engaging in gambling in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 76% of the population being involved.

The survey also revealed that Kenyan youths also placed more bets in comparison to other sub-Saharan countries, spending an average of 5,100 Kenyan shilling or $50. The majority of bets were placed on various football events.

In an interview, Waithera Chege said: “I have observed the operations of betting and gaming establishments in the county for a while now. I believe something must be done to curtail the hours spent in these establishments by our youth if we are to secure our future as a county.”

“I shall be proposing that the county and National Licensing Board limit the operating hours of these establishments so as to help protect productive hours among the citizenry and avoid wastage of time by some of our youth who are sadly now addicted to gambling and spend a lot of time at these establishments.”

Connecticut Delay Sports Betting Launch

Published 07.10.2021 Author: Stephen Category: News

Today (Wednesday, October 7), sports betting was due to launch in Connecticut. However, the Department of Consumer Protection have confirmed that the launch of retail and online sports betting has been delayed. The delay is due to it taking longer than expected for the necessary publication of memorandums of understand on the federal register.

Although Connecticut’s two Native American tribes have already started offering in-person sports bets, all other sources, including online, Lottery, and off-track-betting sites will have to wait before offering bets.

Kaitlyn Krasselt, a spokesperson for the Department of Consumer Protection, said: "We are still working to finalize the details of the state-wide online and retail launch of sports betting, and we are working with the licensees to ensure their platforms are certified and in compliance with the regulations prior to launch. As such, no date has been set but we do not anticipate it to be a lengthy delay."

Louisiana Sports Betting has Launched

Published 06.10.2021 Author: Jake Category: News

The act of sports betting has finally been legally launched in Louisiana, however many gamblers were frustrated that they missed the start of the new NFL season. Paragon Casino in Marksville will begin accepting wagers later today, Wednesday October 6th. The original plan was for the market to go live prior to the new season, however a handful of issues caused delays including some last minute changes to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board as well as hurricane Ida.

In addition to in-person sports betting going live, the Louisiana Lottery is expect ed to launch both online and mobile sports wagering, however this will only be available in the 55 parishes that voted in favour of this.

The chairman of the Tunica-Biloxi tribe, Marshall Pierite said: “As a native Louisianan and Chairman of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, I am thrilled to help usher in sports betting to our state.”

A number of sports events will be eligible for betting, including sports on the professional, Olympic and collegiate levels. However, the bill made it clear that high school sports and competitive video game matches are completely off-limits. Although the high school matches being off limits, it is surprising that the state are against eSports considering the nature of this growing market.

GamCare Calls for More Gambling Support for University Students

Published 06.10.2021 Author: Stephen Category: News

British gambling harm awareness charity, GamCare have issued a call for more support to be provided to university students in an attempt to help educate them about the risks associated with gambling.

GamCare referred to a study from the British Gambling Commission which found that young people are most vulnerable when it comes to experiencing gambling harm "after achieving independence from parents". Almost one quarter of student gamblers are at some degree of risk from gambling.

GamCare make many efforts in an attempt to raise awareness of gambling harm involving students, including their website, BigDeal, that offers support and information about gambling for young people.

Alexa Roseblade, GamCare senior programme manager said: "During this time of transition many young people are entering environments where gambling can be the norm – but there’s a lack of knowledge on how to recognise gambling harm or know where to turn to for support."

"There are many key drivers that contribute to this issue amongst students – having more time, personal independence and financial freedom with easy access to overdrafts and loans can encourage increased gambling behaviours."

Influencers on Instagram Hide #ad Hashtag against ASA Rules

Published 05.10.2021 Author: Jake Category: News

The affiliate network Awin released the results of their latest study, which found that around 76% of influencers on Instagram are hiding advertising disclosures in their promotional posts. According to the Advertising Standard Association, it is required for influencers to disclose when they have been paid to make a post or publish content, these posts must include one of the following hashtags: #ad, #advertisement, #sponsored, #affiliate or #gifted.

The Awin study analysed over 20 million posts on Instagram, which include these hashtags and decided whether or not the hashtag was visible in the original post, or whether the user would need to expand the amount of text visible before they can see it. Across all of the posts checked, 76% of these posts had hidden one of the key hashtags from view.

It was found that 59% if creators put the disclosing hashtag midway through the post or caption, 24% included it right at the end and 12% entered the hashtag in the comment section. They found that only 5% of these posts, included the hashtag at the beginning of the post.

Interesting, as well as hiding whether a post is sponsored or not, many influencers were found to hide the brand name that they are promoting - whether this is a contractual oversight from the brands’ perspective or confidence that showing the product is enough to generate sales.

In the rules established by the Advertising Standards Association (ASA), it is stated that advertising hashtags “must be prominent enough that consumers will easily notice it” and that “burying a label in list of hashtags or placing it under the fold where consumers would need to click ‘see more’ won’t be sufficient”

We will have to see over the coming months whether or not the ASA will take any action based on the findings in this report and if it will be the brand or the influencer who will be held accountable.

Sports Betting Legislation in Massachusetts is Not a Priority

Published 05.10.2021 Author: Stephen Category: News

Thirty of the US states have already legalised some form of sports wagering, however, Massachusetts looks unlikely to legalise sports betting any time soon. Some senators say that although the house has approved a sports betting bill, it isn’t a priority for the state senate.

Senate President Karen Spilka told the State House News Service that the chamber won’t consider sports betting this year unless it determines that it has the "bandwidth" to do so.

Governor. Charlie Baker said in a Tweet in September: "We filed a bill in 2019 and again this year to legalize sports betting in MA – it’s time to act and get this done. MA is losing out to many of our neighbours on this one."

All those in favour of sports wagering are eager for legalisation, to prevent Massachusetts from losing money across its board. Neighbouring states such as Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York have all legalised sports wagering in some form.

The Netherlands Newly Regulated Gambling Market Launches

Published 04.10.2021 Author: Jake Category: News

The Netherlands have finally seen the launch of the newly regulated online gambling market, following a couple of unfortunate delays. The newly licensed operators were due to be accepting players on the 1st of the month, but due to a technical fault with the self-exclusion system (Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen) they were only able to begin operation on October 2nd.

On Friday, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the local regulator said: “Due to a technical malfunction of Cruks, it is not possible for online providers, such as Holland Casino and Toto, to allow players on their websites. The cause of the malfunction has been identified. We are working hard to fix it.”

The following day, the regulator was pleased to announce the problem had been resolve and operators could begin the process of accepting players.

Regulating a gambling market usually comes with some delays and this is not the first the Netherlands have experienced. When the new Remote Gambling Act was being implemented, there were a number of hold ups where alterations had to be made before it would finally be accepted. Additionally at the start of April, there were some further technical problems which delayed operators from being able to apply for a license.

However, through all these problems – the KSA have finally launched and with them, 10 legal operators in the country who are eager for new players and will be the perfect targeting ground for keen affiliates.

Facebook Launches Short-Form Video Reels

Published 04.10.2021 Author: Stephen Category: News

As of September 29, one of the top social media platforms, Facebook, have launched their short-form video reels after seeing success from the launch of reels via Instagram.

Facebooks competitors, TikTok, have designed their entire platform around the short-video content system, and after seeing such incredible success, Instagram very quickly followed suit. Facebook actually own Instagram and since Instagram has gained more traction due to the reels release, this content creation system has now been released on Facebook.

With Reels, creators are able to access a wide variety of creative video editing tools, such as music from the Facebook music library, your own filmed audio, and add any audio from your device. There are also augmented reality effects to take advantage of, a time and countdown to help your filming, you can alter the speed of your recording and stitch together multiple clips for use.

Regarding payment, they have launched a creator Reels Play “bonus”. The bonus will only pay creators who have been invited to the program based on the performance of their reels, which will be available on both Facebook and Instagram. However, this is only available in the US at the moment.

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