LAC’s “The Google Bet” seminar discusses importance of gambling ads

LAC Google

LAC GoogleOne of the London Affiliate Conference’s most fascinating and busiest seminars was that from Google Israel given Industry Head Nir Korczak and Industry Manager Eli Uzan – whose talk was called “The Google Bet”. With not even any room left in which to stand, the seminar covered three main topics: Google and Gambling Advertising Overtime, The Current State of The Gambling Industry and Where Opportunities Lie.

When talking about Google’s Gambling Advertising Overtime, Nir said the company generally focus on three verticals: binary option, gambling and tech (that’s internet start-up companies to help levitate Google as a platform). Giving reasons for its importance, Nir said: “The online gambling industry has evolved over the years with introduction of more and more territories.” He continued that in October 2008 Google Israel started a test to allow online gambling operators and affiliates to start advertising in the UK due to it being legitimate territory with “a very large gambling market.” Looking at metrix – revenues advertisers, publishers, etc – Google extended the test because of its impressive results, eventually adding territories such as Italy and France. Nir added: “We have recognised the opportunity in Germany, Spain and Denmark and hopefully more countries by the end of this year.”

Going into The Current State of The Gambling Industry, Nir highlighted how important branding was to the gambling industry. Using a chart (shown below) made up of how seven major brands with the highest number of Google searches – that’s William Hill, Ladbrokes Betfair, Bet365, BetFred, SkyBet and Paddy Power – he compared the searches in the UK over the last three years.

Google trends Graph LAC

He affirmed: “There are millions of queries in these brands per week,” which all “show uniformity in how their trends correlate to big sporting events” with their strengths maintaiingn the same position through the three year period.

Although he made it clear there are some exceptions. For example, Paddy Power is usually below Bet365 in the number of searches. However, when looking at each of the major events in the chart, such as the Grand National, Paddy Power managed to put itself up above Bet365, demonstrating that it may be better at advertising events, or could have better odds, PR, for when it comes to major sports games. He wrapped up the topic by stating the graph is an example that the UK gambling market is in fact still growing.

One of the most fascinating points made in the Google Bet talk was on mobile iGaming and advertising. Google’s Industry Manager – eGaming Eli Uzan stated that it’s not “the next big thing – the next big thing is already happening today.” This was proven by comparing the share of general gambling queries on mobile platforms from just two years ago (at 3.5%) to today (at 11.5%). “That’s one out of every nine searches about gambling from a mobile device – an amazing number,” he said – suggesting that mobile iGaming is growing at a substantial rate in the UK.

When talking about Where Opportunities Lie, Nir concluded the seminar by stating that Google Israel’s strategy for the U.S. could be possible by year 2013, but it will “take some time” in order to achieve.