14
15
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MOST VISIBLE ONLINE GAMBLING BRANDS IN SEARCH: KEY HIGHLIGHTS Key findings of the report: •
45% of the value of the gambling market is attributed to sports betting, making it the single most important sub-vertical within the sector.
•
Since 2007 online advertising has increased by 1,386%, reflecting the continuing competitiveness within the gambling sector.
•
During 2012, mobile search impression share grew by 75% with sports betting having the largest number of search impressions conducted by a handheld device.
•
Generic sports betting terms are typically used to develop search exposure and help initiate the search journey, while the more specific event or competition related phrases help drive focused searches and traffic, as well as the conversion process.
•
There is no one clear leader within the generic sports betting sub-vertical. Betfair, William Hill and Ladbrokes all stand to gain from any shift in organic ranking or increase in their share of voice for paid search.
•
Search impression volume for both horse racing and football betting is driven by specific events such as Cheltenham Festival, Epsom Derby, FA Cup and Champions League. Volume for these events is driven by short term surges, followed by equally dramatic drops.
•
Looking at the 2012 Champions League, the most visible brands across both organic and paid search were Betfair with 14.54%, followed by Bet365 (12.95%) and Ladbrokes (11.15%).
•
Online betting odds comparison operators such as Oddschecker, OLBG and GG.com are absorbing critical organic real estate. Many online bookmakers are jostling for premium positions within the SERPs to maximise their exposure. Competition is only set to continue.
•
Even though Oddschecker dominate the organic click share index for football betting, the real powerhouse is William Hill who has developed a solid search strategy across both generic betting keywords, as well as sportsbook, in which they lead the sub-verticals for both horse racing and football betting.
•
Paddy Power is one of the few gambling brands that has successfully integrated their main site with a wide range of social assets including Google+, Facebook and Twitter in order to engage directly with customers. Moreover, they cross-pollinate with great effect a series of quirky TV adverts entitled “We Hear You” across these platforms.
•
All of the major brands within the online gambling sector have developed a product proposition within the casino, poker, bingo and sports betting sub-verticals. This provides operators with lucrative opportunities to cross-sell their products, as well as broaden their customer base and brand appeal.
•
Over 50% of all brand search volume comes from just six operators: William Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet365, Betfair, Paddy Power and Bedfred. Of this group, land-based operators dominate such as William Hill, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes.
•
Search impression volume within casino, poker and bingo are dominated by a small number of high volume generic keyword phrases. For example, over 70% of all bingo search impression volume comes from two keyword phrases - bingo and online bingo.
•
The most lucrative generic keywords are bingo, poker, casino, online casino and roulette which comprise a collective 75.46%. The top sports betting phrases are football odds and horse racing betting, accounting for the 68.62%.
•
888 have always invested heavily in traditional organic and paid search, however, a recent agreement with Facebook to offer real money gambling is an aggressive move as they look to capitalise on the growth of social media.
•
Betting is the only sub-vertical within gambling that has a long-tail, primarily driven by sports bettings keyword phrases such as sports betting, football betting and horse racing betting, as well as event terms such as Cheltenham Festival.
•
Sports news and betting insights plays a crucial role in the content tactics of all the major betting brands. The type of content typically posted onto Facebook includes predictions, betting odds and tips, as well as updates on live games and post match reviews.
•
888 is the only operator that has successfully developed a competitive organic / paid presence within all four generic gambling subverticals – casino, poker, bingo and sports betting.
•
•
The search engine results pages (SERPs) for the term casino is distinctly different from many other types of results for online gambling keywords. This reflects Google’s on-going quality drive to deliver not only more relevant results but listings that are more in tune to the visitors locations.
All brands have a healthy focus on product and price promotion tactics such as free bets every week, up to £50 free bet, no deposit, free bet Friday or money back specials. Virtually all operators take the opportunity to develop their brands via Facebook, Twitter or Google+ by posting regular content showcasing the lastest promotional offers.
•
888 has a 10% lead within the casino sub-vertical. However, volatile organic rankings, coupled with growing competition from Ladbrokes, William Hill and Casino 770, means that this lead is by no means guaranteed.
•
One of the most dramatic drops during 2012 has been InterCasino. It is possible that InterCasino may have incurred a ranking penalty as their backlink anchor text profile is heavily weighted towards non-brand terms. This is indicative of an overly engineered organic linking strategy.
•
Competition within organic click share index for the poker sub-vertical is intense. Although 888 is leading, this is marginal and with less than 4% separating the top four, they face strong competition from PKR, PokerStars and Sky. All of these brands are well positioned to assume leadership of this sub-vertical.
•
The organic click share index for bingo is highly competitive and this is reflected in the fact that there is less than 4% that separates the top seven brands.
•
The top four operators (Tombola, Foxy Bingo, 888 and JackPotJoy) within the aggregated click share index for bingo have developed a holistic presence, leveraging both paid and organic search to drive and maximise market exposure.
•
Gala and Mecca are the only traditional land-based bingo operators within the top 10 of our aggregated click share index. Gala’s postion is attributed to the fact that they have solid organic coverage, whilst Mecca leverages PPC to maximise their exposure.
“THE MOST LUCRATIVE GENERIC KEYWORDS ARE BINGO, POKER, CASINO, ONLINE CASINO AND ROULETTE; WHILE THE TOP SPORTS BETTING KEYWORDS ARE FOOTBALL ODDS AND HORSE RACING BETTING.”