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Understanding the Impact of Invalid Traffic: How Online Betting Companies Can Protect Their Ads and Drive ROI

Published

3 years ago

August 25, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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.

Casino Guru

Casino Guru Academy hits 5,000-user milestone

Published

52 minutes ago

November 27, 2025

George Miller

casino-guru-academy-hits-5,000-user-milestone

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Casino Guru Academy has officially crossed the 5,000-user mark, which clearly demonstrates a growing interest in accessible and meaningful education for iGaming professionals.

As an extension of Casino Guru, the world’s biggest source of information about online casinos and player advocacy, the Academy offers free practical courses that help raise as well as improve iGaming industry standards.

Five thousand users who joined Casino Guru Academy demonstrate how useful education can be, particularly when produced in partnership with industry experts. Courses that the Academy provides focus on real-world tools and skills required in customer support, anti-money laundering, affiliate management, safer gambling, and more.

“The fact that we now have over 5,000 users is a huge success for us, as it shows how many people value this kind of learning. Having companies use our courses for onboarding is one of the key reasons we have reached this milestone. It proves there’s genuine demand for our work and supports the impact we aim to create,” said Šimon Vincze, Sustainable & Safer Gambling Lead and the person behind the Casino Guru Academy.

This accomplishment follows the Academy’s first-ever appearance at SiGMA Malta in September 2025, when the team behind the Academy introduced its mission to a larger audience. The event exceeded all expectations and was a key step toward developing direct connections with its audience.

Additionally, Casino Guru Academy has introduced an upgraded version of its website to make course navigation easier, increase accessibility, and provide a more engaging experience. The new layout also creates a path for future development as the Academy broadens its course library.

With that said, a new course on responses to self-harm and suicide threats is in the works and should be released by the end of the year. It’s intended for customer support agents and responsible gambling representatives to recognize players in distress, respond to potential self-harm threats, and take action.

With the 5,000-user milestone achieved and new design improvements completed, the Casino Guru Academy continues to grow, making a positive impact on the iGaming community.

The post Casino Guru Academy hits 5,000-user milestone appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

ArenaPlus

DigiPlus Partners with Pay&Go

Published

52 minutes ago

November 27, 2025

Niji Narayan

Reading Time: 2 minutes

DigiPlus Interactive Corp. (DigiPlus), the pioneer and leading digital entertainment provider behind BingoPlus, ArenaPlus and GameZone, announced a strategic partnership with Pay&Go, one of the leading providers of self-service payment kiosks, to expand secure and convenient wallet-loading options for its players.

Through this new payments partnership, DigiPlus and Pay&Go, the self-service payment kiosks operated by BTI Payment Philippines, a subsidiary of Australia-based Banktech, will enable users to fund their e-wallets with utmost ease by way of its growing network of 3500 self-service kiosks. With a cash-out feature also being eyed early next year, this collaboration kicks off with BingoPlus and will expand soon to ArenaPlus and GameZone.

“Our commitment at DigiPlus has always been to deliver digital entertainment that is engaging, trustworthy, and service-oriented. Achieving that requires strong partnerships with organizations that share our commitment to customer trust and service excellence. This partnership with Pay&Go is grounded in innovation, accessibility, and a shared mission to serve more Filipinos through secure and convenient payment touchpoints. This means more access, more convenience, and more ways for our community to enjoy the DigiPlus experience wherever they are,” said Jasper Vicencio, President of AB Leisure Exponent Inc. and Total Gamezone Xtreme Inc.

Formally signed on November 26, this partnership agreement was led by Vicencio together with Danilo Ibarra, CEO of BTI Payments Philippines and its COO Mariel Medina, pairing the former’s growing digital ecosystem with the latter’s operational expertise.

“We are excited to support DigiPlus with Pay&Go’s nationwide footprint. Together, we’re making trusted payment access available to more BingoPlus players across the country and soon with ArenaPlus and GameZone. DigiPlus sets a high bar on player trust and Pay&Go is determined to meet it,” said Ibarra.

DigiPlus partners only with payment channels certified by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in accordance with the requirements set by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). In partnering with BTI Payments, a certified Operator for Payment System (OPS) and Independent ATM Deployer (IAD) whose breadth of experience spans for over 25 years, DigiPlus taps into decades of expertise in transaction processing and payment device management.

The Pay&Go payment kiosks partnership significantly expands DigiPlus’ comprehensive customer service and player support network. This existing network currently includes dedicated in-house 24/7 customer support, over 130 physical BingoPlus stores nationwide, over-the-counter payment channel options and a surety bond protecting player wallets. The expansion of these service touchpoints is a testament to DigiPlus’ ongoing commitment to providing safe, reliable and accessible digital entertainment to the Filipino market.

The post DigiPlus Partners with Pay&Go appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Compliance Updates

Regulators Call for Stronger Measures Against Illegal Online Gambling

Published

52 minutes ago

November 27, 2025

Niji Narayan

regulators-call-for-stronger-measures-against-illegal-online-gambling

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Regulators of Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal and Spain issued a joint institutional statement.

The fight against illegal online gambling is one of the paramount tasks facing regulated jurisdictions. Its borderless nature and the speed of technological innovation make it easier for illegal operators to evade regulatory oversight. This creates significant risks for consumer and public health protection, endanger public order and harms the activity of legitimate operators. In short, illegal online gambling undermines the entire regulatory framework designed to protect the public interest.

The statement reads: “We express our common concern regarding the increasing proliferation of advertising targeting our jurisdictions by unauthorised operators, particularly through digital channels such as social media, video platforms, and affiliate networks. These activities not only violate our national laws but also expose citizens — including minors and vulnerable individuals — to significant risks associated with illegal gambling.

“We wish to express our strong commitment to consumer protection, market integrity, and compliance with national and international regulations within the respective legal framework by:

• sharing information on illegal operators among us

• calling on digital platforms and social media networks to strengthen their control mechanisms to prevent the dissemination of advertising content from unauthorised operators

• reaffirming our commitment to share knowledge and better practices in identifying, investigating, and sanctioning operators acting outside the law.

This statement marks a renewed and united commitment by our jurisdictions to strengthen the integrity of the regulated gambling sector and to protect citizens from the risks posed by illegal gambling activities.”

The post Regulators Call for Stronger Measures Against Illegal Online Gambling appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.