Interviews
Exclusive Q&A with Tim Grice, CEO of Connective3
We are going through one of the most difficult times in human history. The Corona virus pandemic has affected all spheres of human lives. The gaming industry is no exception.
How do the best minds of the industry analyze this rapidly evolving situation?
That’s what we want to find out with this exclusive interview with Tim Grice, the chief executive officer of Connective3, a top-notch digital marketing agency in the gaming industry based in the UK.
Here he talks about himself, his company, quick impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak in the industry and, best of all, some insightful advice on how to proceed during these tough times.
Here we go!
Q. First up, an introductory question. Tell us about yourself. Our readers love to hear top entrepreneurs talking about themselves.
A. I’ve been working in digital marketing for 13 years. I started out as a consultant in 2007, mainly working across SEO and PPC. In 2010 I joined Branded3 as Head of Search; there were no more than three people in the digital marketing team when I joined, but in 3 years we managed to grow the business to over £4m in revenue and 60 people.
Branded3 was acquired in 2013 and I took over the role of CEO in 2015, generating revenues of £7.2m and nearly 100 people in the business.
In 2019 I decided to collaborate with the founders of Branded3 and introduce a new agency brand to the mix, connective3. We have gathered together the most talented people I have worked with over a decade and have created a £1m / 20 person business in 6 months. We have huge ambitions and want to grow the business in the UK and internationally over the next 5 years.
Q. How is your business going at this time of Corona-induced turmoil?
A. Like everybody else things have slowed down. No businesses are willing to commit at such an uncertain time. However, we are working remotely very well and are even seeing some growth from our igaming and other online-only clients.
Q. What about affiliate marketing industry performance as a whole in these times? Some sectors in the affiliate world of gaming and gambling industry must be hit hard, right?
A. Any affiliates linked to travel, retail and hospitality are going to struggle immensely as no one is buying. However, we have seen an increased amount of traffic and conversions across igaming (casino/poker/bingo) as well as certain financial products and services. So very mixed, but there is no doubt some serious pain across multiple sectors.
Q. What do you think affiliate marketers in the struggling sectors should do at this stage? Any advice based on your experience?
A. It’s very hard to react as this is such a freak even; however, if possible I would recommend reviewing all content on your site, ensuring it caters to those using ‘online’ in their search queries. We have seen huge growth in ‘online + keyword’ searches across the board, and are reacting with our clients.
I think the whole crisis really spells out the need for businesses to invest in content aimed at the awareness stage of the customer journey, aspirational content to cater to customers who are browsing and wanting information before they make a purchase. Everyone is at home, no one is buying, but people are still looking in preparation for the end of this crisis. Investing in this area will put you in a stronger position when conversions dry up.
Q. Was the affiliate industry prepared to face such a crisis? What kind of course correction do the affiliate companies in the gaming and gambling sector require both in operation and strategies for tackling such a potentially long emergency period?
A. As above, I don’t think there is much that can be done to avoid the declines, only ease the pain. Investing in information-rich content, diversifying products and having international websites is probably going to be the best way to minimise the impact of a pandemic like this.
Q. What are your quick insights into the situation as we go through an ongoing crisis caused by the Corona outbreak? What are the lessons that you learned from this episode? This could be important as many warn us about similar outbreaks in the future.
A. The best piece of advice I can give is to keep your business cash rich. Have enough in the bank to see your business through six months of no revenue. It will still hurt when something like this happens, but it will allow you to navigate through it and give you the funds to invest when the world wakes up. We’re anticipating a huge wave of growth when normality returns and as a business, we want to be in position to take full advantage. Our strategy is very simple, give world class service and support to our clients and use this time to invest in our inbound marketing output.
Q. Which of the sectors in the gambling industry gained as a result of the recent crisis? It would be great if you can provide figures and stats to support your answers.
A. I can’t go into specific details about clients or numbers; however, on a whole we’re seeing quite stable numbers across the businesses we work with. Across casino, poker and bingo we’re seeing on an average a 20% increase in traffic in the UK, and even though sports betting has collapsed, we’ve seen a sharp rise in e-sports. People still want to be able to gamble even though certain products are unavailable.
Q. There is of course a reported surge in customer interest on the igaming betting front. Do you think it is sustainable during the post-crisis stage as well, when the traditional sports will be back in action?
A. I think the current surge is temporary and will stabilise when things settle down and events are allowed to continue. However, this may not be for a while looking at the current situation, so this could be a truly unprecedented summer for online casino/online poker/online bingo products. My advice would be to invest hard now in content marketing and make the most of what looks to be double digit growth in this area. We work with igaming brands getting quality links and coverage which are having a huge impact on rankings. This is where I would invest to take advantage.
Q. What would be your advices and suggestions regarding content marketing strategy for the gaming and gambling industry during this outbreak and after it? Should the old practices hold up or new ones should surface?
A. I have no doubt that buying links, link networks and other manipulative techniques still work to deliver rankings. However, we don’t advocate or practice this; our content marketing and digital PR team are one of the best in the industry and are actively working with multiple igaming businesses delivering hundreds of top tier links every month.
I would invest in informational content on your website, answering all the questions your customers could possibly have about your products and services. However, the main part of my strategy would go into digital PR and delivering high quality trusted links that deliver trust and authority in the long term, as opposed to quick fix strategies that last 3- 6 months. Decent link building can be done at scale now and deliver quantity as well as quality.
Following the recent launch of Winz.nl, powered by The Mill Adventure (TMA), we sat down with Bjørnar Heggernes, Chief Commercial Officer at The Mill Adventure, to discuss how technology, true partnerships and player-centric innovation are the keys to succeeding in the Netherlands and beyond.
Powering a new brand in a regulated market like the Netherlands is often seen as a compliance minefield. How does TMA help a partner like Winz.nl navigate these complexities while maintaining a focus on growth?
Bjørnar Heggernes: It is correct that the Dutch market is one of the most rigorous and demanding in the world. For a new brand, the technical overhead of meeting KSA standards, ranging from CRUKS (the central player exclusion register) integration to complex reporting, can be very difficult to overcome.
Our philosophy is centred around a compliance-first approach. We support complex regulated markets through configurable, jurisdiction-specific workflows. This means the heavy lifting of regulatory logic is handled at the core platform level. For the Netherlands, this includes localised onboarding, responsible gaming automation, CRUKS and CCBR integrations, vault reporting, and intervention controls.
For Winz.nl, this was critical. We provided the technical and compliance infrastructure required for the Dutch market, allowing them to move from licence acquisition to a full launch with total confidence.
With recent warnings from the KSA chair regarding the growth of the black market, there is a clear need for better channelisation. How can regulated brands use innovation to lure players away from illegal sites without resorting to aggressive tactics?
BH: To improve channelisation efforts, the regulated offer must be the superior choice and not just the compliant one. Through our AI-driven SmartLobbies, we automate the casino experience to ensure players see the content they actually enjoy in real-time. Another real game-changer for channelisation is our loyalty framework, exemplified by Winz.nl’s WinClub. It replaces traditional, operator-driven bonus mechanics with a player-initiated model where players earn points and choose their own rewards from a catalogue. It’s transparent, it aligns with responsible gambling principles, and it builds genuine trust. When a player feels in control and is presented with a comprehensive experience that is tailored to them, the unregulated alternative loses its appeal.
We often hear about the hold that legacy operators have on market share. Why is the partnership between an operator and a platform provider the deciding factor for a new brand’s survival?
BH: In today’s B2B landscape, a platform provider must be a strategic growth partner. Large-scale operators can be slowed down by massive, multi-layered infrastructures that make rapid pivoting difficult. Operator groups like Orange Gaming succeed because they are agile. Our partnership works because we provide the technical flexibility and regulatory infrastructure needed to support a differentiated brand while maintaining strong compliance controls. When a platform is modular, the operator can adapt to a sudden regulatory change or a shift in player appetite in days, not months. That speed-to-market is a crucial way to carve out share in a highly competitive regulated market.
How does a technologically advanced platform, one that utilises AI and real-time Business Intelligence (BI), tangibly impact an operator’s bottom line?
BH: It comes down to operational efficiency. Many established brands have massive internal teams manually managing lobbies and CRM campaigns, whereas our platform automates these manual processes. By using real-time BI and AI, a brand can identify and serve niche segments very effectively. For example, our SmartLobbies solution ensures the gaming content is relevant to the individual, which increases retention and Lifetime Value (LTV). We want our partners to make quicker, smarter decisions based on live data. In the Dutch market, where margins are tight and competition is fierce, that level of automation can make all the difference in terms of sustained profitability.
The post Navigating the Dutch frontier appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
apuestas deportivas
¿Son las casas de apuestas las culpables o la arquitectura económica construida por Brasil en los últimos 35 años?
Esta es la pregunta central planteada por Carlos Akira Sato en su análisis sobre el creciente endeudamiento de los hogares en Brasil.
En lugar de atribuir el sobreendeudamiento a las plataformas de apuestas deportivas, sostiene que el problema tiene sus raíces en décadas de transformación económica marcadas por la expansión del crédito, la financiarización y sistemas cada vez más sofisticados de estimulación del consumo en múltiples sectores.
El debate sobre el endeudamiento de las familias brasileñas ha ganado un nuevo objetivo preferente: las plataformas de apuestas deportivas.
Las llamadas “bets” han pasado a ocupar un lugar central en los medios, el discurso político y las discusiones regulatorias, frecuentemente asociadas al aumento de la morosidad y la compulsividad financiera.
Pero quizá la pregunta correcta sea otra: ¿el sobreendeudamiento de las familias brasileñas realmente nació con las bets?
La respuesta, desde un análisis histórico riguroso, es negativa.
El fenómeno es mucho anterior a la regulación de las apuestas deportivas y está vinculado a una profunda transformación económica, cultural y tecnológica iniciada en los años 90, cuando Brasil abandonó gradualmente una economía cerrada e inflacionaria para entrar en una lógica moderna de consumo, crédito y financiarización de la vida cotidiana.
La apertura económica promovida durante el gobierno de Collor cambió el patrón de consumo del país.
Pocos años después, el Plan Real trajo estabilidad monetaria y transformó la propia psicología económica de la población.
Por primera vez, millones de brasileños comenzaron a financiar bienes, usar tarjetas de crédito, pagar en cuotas e incorporar el endeudamiento como parte normal de la vida económica.
Este proceso representó un avance y una inclusión financiera.
Pero también consolidó un nuevo modelo económico basado en la anticipación del ingreso futuro de los hogares. El crédito dejó de ser una excepción y se convirtió en infraestructura permanente de sostén del consumo nacional.
Bancos, minoristas y entidades financieras comprendieron rápidamente este cambio. Grandes cadenas dejaron de actuar únicamente como distribuidoras de productos para convertirse en plataformas financieras.
Las tarjetas private label, los sistemas de financiación sofisticados y los mecanismos permanentes de crédito pasaron a integrar la vida cotidiana del consumidor. En muchos casos, el margen financiero se volvió tan relevante como la propia venta del producto.
A lo largo de los años 2000, el modelo se profundizó.
La expansión de la bancarización, de los medios electrónicos de pago y de las fintech aceleró la financiarización de la vida cotidiana.
A partir de 2013, con la apertura regulatoria impulsada por la Ley nº 12.865, el celular pasó a funcionar simultáneamente como banco, billetera digital, plataforma de crédito, marketplace y entorno permanente de monetización del comportamiento.
El crédito se volvió instantáneo, invisible e integrado a la experiencia digital.
El consumidor pasó a contratar financiación en pocos clics, muchas veces dentro del propio flujo de compra. Brasil entró definitivamente en la era de la hiperestimulación conductual del consumo.
Y aquí es donde el debate contemporáneo comienza a revelar una contradicción importante.
Mientras el país construyó durante décadas una sofisticada arquitectura económica basada en expansión del crédito, publicidad emocional, gamificación, captura de la atención y monetización del ingreso futuro, la inversión estructural en educación financiera siguió siendo insuficiente.
Brasil enseñó a su población a consumir antes de enseñarle a construir patrimonio.
Hoy, prácticamente todos los sectores relevantes de la economía operan mecanismos avanzados de estímulo conductual: retail digital, aplicaciones, streaming, delivery, marketplaces, bancos, fintechs y redes sociales.
La publicidad dejó de ser meramente informativa y pasó a ser algorítmica, personalizada y emocional.
El consumidor moderno compite por su atención y autocontrol contra sistemas diseñados para maximizar el engagement y el consumo continuo.
Este fenómeno aparece incluso en sectores raramente asociados al debate regulatorio.
El comercio alimentario, por ejemplo, utiliza técnicas sofisticadas de neuromarketing para impulsar el consumo de productos ultraprocesados, bebidas alcohólicas e ítems de compra impulsiva. Sin embargo, pocos segmentos han enfrentado un nivel de monitoreo similar al impuesto a las apuestas deportivas.
El sector regulado de las bets surgió en Brasil bajo uno de los marcos más estrictos de la economía digital.
Las plataformas deben identificar usuarios biométricamente, monitorear el comportamiento, rastrear operaciones, comunicar movimientos sospechosos al COAF, implementar políticas de juego responsable e impedir apuestas financiadas con crédito.
Es decir: el regulador entendió correctamente que la combinación entre compulsividad y crédito podía ser socialmente explosiva.
Pero aquí surge una pregunta inevitable: ¿por qué sectores históricamente asociados al sobreendeudamiento de las familias brasileñas operaron durante décadas bajo niveles significativamente menores de monitoreo conductual?
Datos de la CNC muestran que el porcentaje de familias endeudadas alcanzó el 80,2% en febrero de 2026 — el nivel más alto de la serie histórica.
Este escenario no nació con las bets. Es el resultado de décadas de expansión agresiva del crédito, financiarización de la vida cotidiana, hiperestimulación del consumo y ausencia estructural de educación económica de la población.
Marco comparativo : obligaciones regulatorias y conductuales
| Tema / Obligación | Bets | Bancos | Retail / Alimentos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identificación formal del cliente (KYC) | Obligatoria, robusta, con biometría | Obligatoria | Limitada |
| Validación de titularidad de cuenta | Obligatoria | Generalmente obligatoria | Normalmente inexistente |
| Monitoreo conductual | Alto | Enfocado en fraude y crédito | Bajo |
| Prohibición del uso de crédito | Sí | No | No |
| Publicidad emocional | Con restricciones crecientes | Permitida con límites | Ampliamente utilizada |
| Protección contra compulsividad | Obligatoria | Muy limitada | Prácticamente inexistente |
| Herramientas de autoexclusión | Obligatorias | Inexistentes | Inexistentes |
| Obligación de reporte al COAF | Sí | Sí | Limitada |
| Control del origen de fondos | Obligatorio | Obligatorio | Generalmente inexistente |
| Fiscalización conductual | Intensa | Moderada | Baja |
| Políticas de consumo responsable | Obligatorias | Parciales | Generalmente inexistentes |
El punto más provocador quizá sea justamente la asimetría regulatoria que este debate revela.
Varios sectores históricamente asociados a la compulsividad, el hiperconsumo y la dependencia han operado durante décadas bajo una lógica regulatoria menos intervencionista que la actualmente aplicada a las apuestas deportivas.
Al final, el verdadero debate tal vez no sea solo “cómo regular las apuestas”, sino cómo preparar a la sociedad para vivir en una economía digital, hiperinanciarizada y permanentemente orientada a la captura de la atención, el consumo y la monetización conductual.
Carlos Akira Sato
Co-Founder de Fenynx Digital Assets y especialista en Mercados Regulados, Infraestructura Financiera, Gobernanza e Innovación. Vicepresidente de Relaciones Institucionales de PAGOS (Asociación de Gestión de Medios de Pagos Electrónicos).
The post ¿Son las casas de apuestas las culpables o la arquitectura económica construida por Brasil en los últimos 35 años? appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Betting Companies
Are betting operators to blame, or is it Brazil’s economic framework of the last 35 years?
Are betting companies to blame or is it Brazil’s economic framework of the last 35 years?
This is the central question raised by Carlos Akira Sato in his analysis of Brazil’s rising household debt.
Rather than attributing over-indebtedness to sports betting platforms, he argues that the issue is rooted in decades of economic transformation shaped by credit expansion, financialization, and increasingly sophisticated systems of consumer stimulation across multiple sectors.
The debate surrounding Brazilian household debt has gained a new preferred target: sports betting platforms.
The so-called “bets” have taken center stage in the news, political discourse, and regulatory discussions, often associated with rising default rates and financial compulsiveness.
But perhaps the correct question is another one: did the over-indebtedness of Brazilian families really begin with bets?
The answer, under a serious historical analysis, is no.
The phenomenon predates the regulation of sports betting by decades and is linked to a profound economic, cultural, and technological transformation that began in the 1990s, when Brazil gradually abandoned a closed and inflationary economy to enter a modern logic of consumption, credit, and the financialization of everyday life.
The economic opening promoted during the Collor administration changed the country’s consumption patterns.
A few years later, the Real Plan brought monetary stability and transformed the population’s economic psychology itself.
For the first time, millions of Brazilians began financing goods, using credit cards, paying in installments, and incorporating debt as a normal part of economic life.
This process represented progress and financial inclusion.
But it also consolidated a new economic model based on the anticipation of families’ future income. Credit ceased to be an exception and became permanent infrastructure supporting national consumption.
Banks, retailers, and financial institutions quickly understood this change. Large retail chains stopped acting solely as product distributors and became financial platforms.
Private-label cards, sophisticated installment plans, and permanent financing mechanisms became part of consumers’ daily lives. In many cases, financial margins became just as relevant as the sale of the products themselves.
Throughout the 2000s, the model deepened.
The expansion of banking access, electronic payment methods, and fintechs accelerated the financialization of everyday life.
From 2013 onward, with the regulatory opening promoted by Law No. 12,865, mobile phones simultaneously became banks, digital wallets, credit platforms, marketplaces, and permanent environments for behavioral monetization.
Credit became instant, invisible, and integrated into the digital experience. Consumers started obtaining financing in just a few clicks, often within the purchasing flow itself. Brazil definitively entered the era of behavioral hyperstimulation of consumption.
And this is where the contemporary debate begins to reveal an important contradiction.
While the country spent decades building a sophisticated economic architecture based on credit expansion, emotional advertising, gamification, attention capture, and monetization of future income, structural investment in financial education remained insufficient.
Brazil taught its population how to consume before teaching them how to build wealth.
Today, virtually every relevant sector of the economy operates advanced behavioral stimulation mechanisms: digital retail, apps, streaming platforms, delivery services, marketplaces, banks, fintechs, and social networks.
Advertising is no longer merely informative; it has become algorithmic, personalized, and emotional. The modern consumer competes for attention and self-control against systems designed to maximize engagement and continuous consumption.
This phenomenon appears even in sectors rarely associated with regulatory debates.
The food retail industry, for example, uses sophisticated neuromarketing techniques to boost the consumption of ultra-processed foods, alcoholic beverages, and impulse-buy products. Yet few segments have faced a level of monitoring similar to that imposed on sports betting.
Brazil’s regulated betting sector emerged under one of the strictest frameworks in the digital economy.
Platforms are required to biometrically identify users, monitor behavior, track transactions, report suspicious activity to COAF, implement responsible gaming policies, and prevent bets financed through credit.
The Brazilian model requires prior deposits and prohibits “uncovered” betting.
In other words, regulators correctly understood that the combination of compulsiveness and credit could become socially explosive.
But here an inevitable question arises: why have sectors historically associated with the over-indebtedness of Brazilian families operated for decades under significantly lower levels of behavioral monitoring?
Data from CNC show that the percentage of indebted families reached 80.2% in February 2026 — the highest level in the historical series.
This scenario did not begin with bets. It is the result of decades of aggressive credit expansion, financialization of daily life, hyperstimulation of consumption, and the structural absence of economic education for the population.
Comparative framework: regulatory and behavioral obligations
| Topic / Obligation | Betting operators | Banks | Retail / Food |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal customer identification (KYC) | Mandatory, robust, biometric | Mandatory | Limited |
| Account ownership validation | Mandatory | Generally mandatory | Usually nonexistent |
| Behavioral monitoring | High | Focused on fraud and credit | Low |
| Prohibition of credit use | Yes | No | No |
| Emotional advertising | Under increasing restrictions | Permitted with limits | Widely used |
| Protection against compulsiveness | Mandatory | Very limited | Practically nonexistent |
| Self-exclusion tools | Mandatory | Nonexistent | Nonexistent |
| Obligation to report to COAF | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Source-of-funds control | Mandatory | Mandatory | Generally nonexistent |
| Behavioral oversight | Intense | Moderate | Low |
| Formal responsible consumption policies | Mandatory | Partial | Generally nonexistent |
Perhaps the most provocative point is precisely the regulatory asymmetry revealed by this debate.
Several sectors historically associated with compulsiveness, hyperconsumption, and dependency have operated for decades under a less interventionist regulatory logic than the one currently applied to sports betting.
In the end, the real debate may not simply be “how should betting be regulated?”, but rather how to prepare society to live in a digital, hyper-financialized economy permanently driven by attention capture, consumption, and behavioral monetization.
Carlos Akira Sato
Co-Founder of Fenynx Digital Assets and specialist in Regulated Markets, Financial Infrastructure, Governance, and Innovation. Vice President of Institutional Relations at PAGOS (Association for Electronic Payment Management).
The post Are betting operators to blame, or is it Brazil’s economic framework of the last 35 years? appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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