Online gambling affiliates are banding together after finding themselves under a combined assault by their gambling operator partners, regulators and the media.

This week, UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair issued a note to its affiliate partners, reminding them of the company’s stance on affiliate activity and marketing compliance, while warning of a “1 strike policy” for affiliates who fail to toe the line.

Among PPB’s affiliate rules is “no advertorial style marketing,” in other words, none of the phenomenally hair-brained copy that prompted this week’s warning from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that gambling operators would be held responsible for their affiliates’ “socially irresponsible” content.

While PPB was not one of the four operators publicly shamed by the ASA this week, at least two of those cited in the disciplinary rulings – Ladbrokes and 888 Holdings – subsequently announced that they would be keeping their affiliate partners on a shorter leash.