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Understanding the Impact of Invalid Traffic: How Online Betting Companies Can Protect Their Ads and Drive ROI
We are honored to publish this byline by Richard Metcalf, Director of Business Development EMEA, TrafficGuard. Make sure to let us know your comments below the article.
The global pandemic has undoubtedly caused a massive increase in the number of active users that gamble regularly. A global statistic from Casino.org suggests that almost 26% of the world’s population gamble, and the global gambling market is expected to grow from $76.79 billion to an impressive $127.45 billion by 2025, according to Research and Markets.
Betting companies are having to distinguish themselves in such a highly competitive and evolving market by investing in digital campaigns and using premium ad networks. However, many of these channels may not be properly equipped to deal with invalid traffic and ad fraud, and as a result, could be losing large amounts of money every day to fraudsters.
The level of financial and competitor growth within the industry has created a strong attraction from fraudsters, and gambling companies can fall prey with little to no knowledge this is even occurring. And, with the betting industry only saturating further, companies cannot afford to suffer from low ROI and poor campaign performance.
Understanding the Risk of Ad Fraud
The risks associated with virtual gambling are unfortunately heightened with such lucrative rewards on offer and many betting companies deploy protection to help minimise the risk of fraudulent transactions or unethical behaviour. However, there is a real lack of awareness around ad fraud within gambling, and many companies don’t realise the level of impact it’s having on them.
Ad fraud is any traffic that is maliciously created and used to target companies’ advertising budgets, and is a subset of invalid traffic, meaning any advertising engagement that is outside of the target of an advertising campaign.
Here are just some of the ways ad fraud is threatening your ad campaign:
- Bots – Bots are programmed to emulate human behaviour and vary in levels of sophistication and can do anything from clicking and viewing ads to watching videos. Promo abuse bots that click on paid search ads and then run scripts to claim free bets or free spins are highly prevalent in online gaming. As these bots ‘convert’, delivering misleading marketing metrics, it means you are likely optimising campaigns using the wrong data and towards winning more bot traffic.
- Browser-Related Fraud – For example, location fraud, which involves manipulating users’ location information to match the advertiser’s targeting criterion, and domain spoofing, when bad actors monetise the traffic from low-quality sites by manipulating the domains and making it appear to come from high-quality sources.
- Misattribution Fraud – A large volume of clicks on both affiliate and mobile campaigns are faked from a mobile device, even though the user never clicked the ad. If a user with a similar fingerprint then visits the target website and installs the app, the spammer receives credit for the conversion/install and is paid commission.
In reality, the result of ad fraud is inaccurate advertising results and wasted budget. One globally-renowned online betting company that was running a Google Ads campaign found that 23% of its clicks were invalidated, which equated to 28% of its advertising spend.
Without any prior visibility or protection, 71% of the gambling company’s wasted spend was attributed to just one of its campaigns. If the company had the visibility and awareness it truly needed to be able to address the problem, there was an opportunity to save $115,000, a mixture of media spend and potential losses in bonus deposits.
All gambling companies that run Google Ads campaigns are equally as vulnerable as this online betting company, which makes it crucial for marketers operating within this industry to proactively put themselves ahead of fraudsters with increased visibility, accurate analytics, and real-time protection.
Protecting and Saving Your Budget
With confidence in your data and analytics, the saving potential for gambling companies is around 10%, 7% higher than that of other verticals. The solution to invalid traffic starts with knowing exactly how it is impacting your business, and how you can combat it. With trustworthy data that analyses every bit of traffic quality, you can easily make a business case to combat bots, browser fraud and misattribution.
With visibility into the scale of the problem, betting companies can then properly evaluate the right solutions and the partner needed to help solve it. Once you’ve identified a partner with the right skills, technology and expertise for you, they can make an immediate impact.
Elimination with Prevention
Ad fraud currently dominates many betting companies globally, but a change of hands is within reach. Luckily, stopping invalid traffic doesn’t have to be complex or costly. In fact, the money you save will almost always outweigh your investment into stopping it, ensuring you can focus solely on making new savings.
By combining proactivity with visibility, betting companies can make enormous savings and address invalid traffic with confidence and ease. With many betting companies globally only looking to scale their digital marketing further, now is the time to understand your advertising losses and prevent them to achieve maximum growth and success.
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Conferences
ProgressPlay Celebrates Major Success at ICE Barcelona 2026 and Prepares to Expand Worldwide
ProgressPlay, a prominent iGaming platform provider, today looked back on a transformative and highly successful presence at ICE Barcelona 2026, where its recently launched Dual-Engine Strategy struck a strong chord with operators and industry leaders. The occasion acted as an active confirmation of the company’s targeted vision, creating notable partnership momentum and paving the way for rapid international expansion in the coming year.
The company’s strategic focus on its Standalone and dedicated Sweepstakes solutions was central to discussions at its booth, indicating a distinct market need for more sophisticated and bold partner opportunities.
ProgressPlay indicated a remarkable number of high-caliber meetings with well-known brands and driven newcomers, all in search of strategic resources to develop, possess, and grow their gaming enterprises effectively.
“The response at ICE was phenomenal and precisely aligned with our thesis,” said Itai Lowenstein, CEO of ProgressPlay. “The industry is actively seeking more than a one-size-fits-all solution. Operators are strategists, and they came to us looking for the right engine for their specific ambition.”
Lowenstein continued: “Whether it was the profound control of the Standalone model for building a legacy asset or the agile, acquisition-focused power of our Sweepstakes framework, we demonstrated that ProgressPlay is the versatile partner for this new era. The conversations have moved from ‘what can you do’ to ‘how do we build our future together’.”
Operators expressed strong appreciation for the Standalone solution’s potential for genuine commercial autonomy, allowing full ownership of the player relationship from start to finish, while utilizing ProgressPlay’s powerful technology framework. At the same time, the Sweepstakes category was acknowledged as a brilliant way to access high-growth, engagement-driven markets, especially in areas where combining entertainment with gaming elements is essential.
“ICE 2026 was a defining moment for our partner-centric narrative,” stated Marina Nahhas, Head of B2B Sales and Marketing at ProgressPlay. “We engaged with visionary leaders who saw our Sweepstakes solution not as a niche product, but as a strategic funnel for community building and market entry.”
Nahhas explained: “Equally, the Standalone model attracted partners with deep brand equity looking for a technology ally, not just a supplier. The energy confirmed we are providing the essential toolkit for the next wave of iGaming innovation.”
After the achievement in Barcelona, ProgressPlay is now strongly dedicated to transforming this momentum into enduring partnerships. The company reiterates that its robust, adaptable platform is accessible to operators in every market, as long as the operator secures the required local license.
This concept of empowered collaboration allows brands to utilize ProgressPlay’s acclaimed casino and sportsbook offerings, managed services, and unique technology to enter their selected markets effectively and in compliance.
The team is currently getting ready for the upcoming series of significant industry events where they will further promote discussions on growing strategic partnerships.
“The journey continues from here,” concluded Lowenstein. “ICE was the launchpad. Now, we enter a phase of execution and collaboration with the partners who joined our vision in Barcelona. Our platform is ready, our strategy is proven, and our commitment is to be the growth engine for every licensed operator, anywhere in the world, who shares our ambition for excellence.”
The post ProgressPlay Celebrates Major Success at ICE Barcelona 2026 and Prepares to Expand Worldwide appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Ebaka Games
Ebaka Games secures first aggregator partner with Hub88 deal
Ebaka Games has taken a major step in its growth journey by securing its first aggregator partnership with Hub88, officially ending its period of exclusivity with menace.com and opening up to new commercial opportunities.
The new agreement will see Hub88’s network of operators among the first to access Ebaka Games’ distinctive portfolio, known for its original mechanics and bold approach to instant-play gaming.
Through seamless integration via the Hub88 API, partner operators can quickly onboard Ebaka’s full suite of instant games. The portfolio is designed to stand out, featuring dynamic gameplay, striking visuals, proprietary Ebaka game modes, high-volatility mechanics, and generous multipliers. The studio’s focus is firmly on delivering instant entertainment and driving strong player engagement.
Commenting on the partnership, Ebaka Games CEO Vitalii Zalievskyi said:
“It is time to bring Ebaka Games’ genuinely thrilling content to players around the world, and partnering with Hub88 is an important step as we scale our operations. We’re excited that operators can now integrate our games so easily, and we look forward to building a strong, long-term partnership with Hub88 as we expand globally.”
The Hub88 deal marks the first phase of Ebaka Games’ wider distribution strategy. The studio has confirmed that additional partnerships are already in the pipeline, with its content set to roll out across major operators and leading aggregators in the near future.
The post Ebaka Games secures first aggregator partner with Hub88 deal appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Latest News
QTech Games Partners with PEA Gaming to Roll Out More Premium Weightless Games
QTech Games, the top game distributor in all emerging markets, has sustained the momentum in its 2026 pipeline, attributed to its recent agreement with the up-and-coming supplier of weightless games, PEA Gaming.
Lighter than light, this weightless category features games that are under 1% the size of conventional light games. Importantly, PEA Gaming provides the sole games that are entirely compatible on various devices, ranging from basic feature phones to advanced smartphones.
Incorporating offerings from the most imaginative and cutting-edge “weightless games” supplier further enhances QTech Games’ expanding platform, which brings the broadest selection of online games to new markets, featuring both renowned brands and the industry’s most thrilling emerging developers.
The games offered to its partners include well-known favorites and new titles, such as Penalty, Roulette, Hilo, Tusks & Tails, and Target, all of which are supported by robust mathematical modeling and easy, recognizable gameplay.
Participants in developing markets frequently face technological obstacles to participation, including limitations in handset quality, limited access to high-speed networks, or elevated data expenses. Consequently, PEA Gaming’s games are tailored for this particular segment, aiming to address these challenges while maintaining a high-quality product. The agreement further expands PEA Gaming’s global presence, opening up previously inaccessible regions from Africa to Latin America for varied development.
Philip Doftvik, QTech Games’ CEO, said: “PEA Gaming is injecting a prized weightless specialism into the sector, particularly in emerging markets where network connectivity can encounter serious challenges. We’re integrating more and more “weightless” games for markets like Africa to overcome those ongoing data/network obstacles without sacrificing the delivery of high-quality product.
“PEA Gaming’s keystone is developing easily intelligible and engaging games for all – prioritizing performance wherever you set your scene on the map. These games are indicative of our strategy to bring more agile entertainment options to the QTech Games platform for our partners worldwide.”
Permi Jhooti, CEO of PEA Gaming, added: “We’ve created a new space of weightless games that finally provide an immersive gaming experience to all users, regardless of device and bandwidth limitations. Partnering with QTech represents a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our product distribution across emerging territories and deliver our great games to a range of top-tier partners.
“That’s why we design every game with emerging market players in mind: those facing real-world challenges like basic handsets, slow networks, and expensive data. Our games are purpose-built for this audience, tackling these limitations head-on while still delivering a high-quality, seamless experience. Our approach is simple: create fun, rewarding games without the excess — and it works. By stripping out all the fluff, our games are a mind-blowing 2,000 times smaller than many so-called “light” games, making costly data usage a thing of the past.
“Above all, this collaboration marks a significant step forward for PEA Gaming’s growth strategy in untapped territories like Africa and Latin America where our games will doubtless prove popular since they work everywhere, even in regions where low-end devices and limited network speed are prevalent.”
The post QTech Games Partners with PEA Gaming to Roll Out More Premium Weightless Games appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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