90 Digital CEO Nick Garner talks about another important part of Trust Optimisation which is making sure that your site is well maintained in this edition of CalvinAyre.com’s SEO Tip of the Week.

Short intro to Trust Optimization. Along with on site optimization and link acquisition, there seems to be a third element to ranking well on Google, it’s called Trust Optimization. Trust Optimization is based on the information we have got from anecdotal evidence on click through rates and rankings along with explicit guidelines from Google stating what they are looking for in a trusted website. Check out the 1st post in this series so you are orientated on Trust Optimisation. Back to the post… If a house looks derelict, the windows have been smashed the roof is caving in,  then it’s likely no one is looking after that property.  It’s the same with a website. If images don’t render, there are too many error 404 pages,  broken css making the page look wrong then it’s a derelict website.  Users don’t like it and neither do google. Google say: Website Maintenance: How can you tell that a website is being maintained and cared for? Poke around: Links should work, images should load, content should be added and updated over time, etc. In webmaster tools there is a report which shows you the number of crawl errors on your site. The crawl error page shows details on URL’s  which google couldn’t crawl or which returned an error code.  Typical site errors they identify are :

DNS errors—the Domain Name System, which translates the name of your site to a numerical address for the server that provides your website files.

Server errors—your host provider’s server functionality, such as connection reliability and speed.

robots.txt failure—the file that Google must first access before it can crawl your site. It tells Google which pages it can and cannot access.

URL errors: These are where google lists specific errors when trying to crawl specific desktop, phone, or Android app pages. Here is an example of a WMT page: Besides google webmaster tools there are 3 other tools which are very helpful for identifying site problems:

BUU:  http://beamusup.com/  Beam us up in a Free executable desktop tool which will crawl a website and organise the information in an excel spreadsheet.  The only downside is that it falls over on big websites. But saying that it is massively useful.

Affiliate programme for UK-facing online bingo and casino operator is now powered by Income Access acquisition platform

Montreal, QC. February 26th, 2015 – BGO Entertainment, the Alderney-licensed operator of the online casino and bingo brand bgo.com, has announced that the company has re-launched its affiliate programme in partnership with Income Access, a turnkey provider of technology and digital marketing services for the iGaming industry. The launch follows the recent migration of BGO Entertainment’s affiliate programme, bgo Buddies, to Income Access’ award-winning acquisition platform.

Founded in 2012, BGO Entertainment operates the online casino and bingo website bgo.com. The brand’s sophisticated selection of games, supported by celebrity brand ambassadors Dan Bilzerian, the internet sensation, and Verne Troyer, the Hollywood actor, has seen it enjoying growing popularity among players.

Powered by BGO Entertainment’s proprietary software, bgo.com’s bingo offering features a wide range of games and super jackpots in excess of £900,000. The brand’s online casino offers players state-of-the-art slots and table games, including blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker, which are powered by IGT, Net Entertainment, Microgaming, Bally, Eyecon, and NextGen Gaming as well as by bgo Studios, the brand’s in-house development team.

The bgo.com brand offers new players an enticing welcome bonus when they register. All new players receive 20 free spins just for registering and a bonus of up to £200 when they make their first deposit as well as 180 free spins on the brand’s online slots.

The re-launch of the bgo.com affiliate programme, bgo Buddies, on the acquisition platform of Income Access, winner of the eGR B2B ‘Best Affiliate Software’ award for the last two years straight, will see affiliates being offered equally generous commission structures.  Affiliates will receive revenue share of between 25% and 35%, depending upon the number of new depositors they refer per month.

“We’re delighted to announce the re-launch of the bgo Buddies affiliate programme after its migration to Income Access’ software,” said Allan Turner, Head of Performance at BGO Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to being able to provide our affiliate partners with improved tracking functionality on both desktop and mobile devices, and also giving them a greater level of reporting, enabling them to optimise their campaigns more comprehensively.”

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has sold its 20% stake in three Ohio casinos to its partner Rock Gaming.

Terms of the deal, announced Thursday by the local subsidiary of Detroit-based Rock Gaming, were not disclosed. Rock Ohio Ventures will now own 100% of the three properties – Horseshoe Cleveland, Horseshoe Cincinnati and the ThistleDown racino – while Caesars will continue to manage the properties. Rock Gaming and Caesars will continue to share ownership of the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore in Maryland.

The sale was possible because the three casinos were held outside Caesars’ main unit, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC), which is currently embroiled in highly contentious Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

CAESARS TO HIRE INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU TO INVESTIGATE ASSET TRANSFERS

Thursday also brought news that CEOC has asked the bankruptcy court to appoint an outside examiner to determine whether Caesars’ controversial asset transfers amounted to, as junior creditors have alleged, a blatant ‘looting’ of CEOC to shield those assets from creditors’ clutches.

Caesars has offered to provide $10m to fund the investigation, which they believe will take 120 days to conduct. Caesars helpfully suggested that similar probes currently being conducted by creditor groups should be shut down so as not to interfere with this probe.

Wilmington Trust, which represents creditors owed $479m, filed papers with the court accusing Caesars of not being interested in discovering “what they did or what they should do now to remedy their wrongs, but rather to forestall creditor investigations and access to documents.”

A triumvirate of talking tales as the Dusk till Dawn owner, Rob Yong, talks about the British Poker Awards, former Aviation Club de France Tournament Director, Nicolas Fraïoli, talks about the loss of his job, and former Winamax Team Pro, Manuel Bevand, gets the opportunity to talk at a Ted conference.

The 2013 International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISTP), held at Wembley Stadium, remains the greatest poker tournament I have ever experienced.

You had to be there to experience the vastness of the operation. Nobody thought they would pull it off. Perhaps, these were the two reasons that nobody voted for it as Best Live Tournament at the European Poker Awards that year?

I’m not the only one who believes the public got that wrong.

“I made a mental note to boycott poker awards after the ISTP Wembley didn’t even win a bowl of rice, or get as much as a nomination at the European Poker Tour Awards.” Dusk till Dawn (DTD) owner Rob Yong wrote in his latest blog post.

Yong finally got over it. Being nominated for a ton of awards usually clears any blocked sinuses.

Yong and the team came away with three awards. He makes no mention of his personal award for Growth and Contribution and instead concentrates his word count on the hard work done by the World Poker Tour (WPT) team for the award winning WPT500 event.

Lee Davy finds time to talk to the former Winamax sponsored pro, Manuel Bevand, about his forthcoming appearance on the Ted Conference stage.

Anyone that watches Manuel Bevand playing poker can quickly deduce that this is a smart man. So I wasn’t surprised, albeit a little envious, when I learned that he was about to make his Ted Conference debut at the TEDx Ecole Polytechnique in Paris on 23 April 2015.

It’s not easy talking in front of some of the smartest engineering students in the world.

But if anyone can do it, Manub can.

Talking at a Ted Conference is a bucket list goal of mine. How did this become something that you wanted to do?

“Well, I suppose everyone has something to say? When I started watching TED talks I became hooked and started wondering about what I would say on that stage. I put it on my bucket list, and attended my first event (TedXClapham) as a spectator, but I didn’t know I would have to speak three months later. The opportunity just presented itself and I’m super excited.”

How did it present itself?

Chinese online sports lottery service provider 500.com saw its shares tank this week after announcing that its operations in several Chinese provinces would be “temporarily” suspended.

In January, reports circulated that several Chinese government ministries had instructed provincial lottery administrators to shut down all unauthorized online lottery operators by March 1. Officially, 500.com isn’t licensed to conduct online lottery sales but had been allowed to operate (along with China SMG network) as part of an online pilot program.

On Wednesday, 500.com announced that “certain provincial sports lottery administration centers to which the Company provides sport lottery sales services plan to temporarily suspend accepting online purchase orders for lottery products” effective Feb. 25.

500.com says the suspension will affect “four high-frequency lottery products for which the Company currently provides online services.” These four products accounted for 10.6% and 9.6% of 500.com’s overall revenue in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

500.com reiterated that it had “obtained approval from the Ministry of Finance” to offer online sports lottery services. 500.com acknowledged that there was “uncertainty” as the provinces attempted to please their bosses in Beijing, but the company believes the end result will have “long-term beneficial effects” on China’s online lottery market.

On Monday, 500.com shares fell from $15.66 to $13.40 as rumors spread that the company’s license had been revoked and that 500.com CEO Man San Law had been detained by Chinese authorities. The company denied that their CEO was in anyone’s custody and said lottery sales had been suspended by the government for the duration of the Lunar New Year celebrations but would resume on Wednesday.

Following Wednesday’s announcement, the shares plunged to $10 from Tuesday’s closing price of $12.82. The shares underwent a brief rally Thursday morning before ending up back at $10.10. A year ago, the stock was trading at around $46.

Online gambling software outfit Playtech had a stellar 2014 as revenue surged 24% to a record €457m and earnings rose 30% to €207.1m.

Playtech said the good times have continued into 2015, with daily average revenue over the first eight weeks up 22% year-on-year and up 5% from Q4 2014. Playtech shares rose over 5% on Thursday to close at 777p.

Playtech’s flagship casino product rose 29% to €244.2m, while its PTTS services division grew 20% to €132.8m. Sports betting provided the biggest annual gain, rising 54% to €26.3m on the strength of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Land-based operations rose 35% to €16.6m thanks to the acquisition of Aristocrat Lotteries as well as a fledgling retail sport offering. Bingo and poker were the net decliners, falling to €17.5m (-5%) and €13.8m (-6%) respectively.

Mobile revenue was up 64% in 2014. Mobile casino revenue grew 84%, accounting for 10% of casino revenue, up from 7% in 2013. Mobile sports wagering grew 51% to €22.2m, while mobile bingo was up 21%. The poker vertical’s first full year of mobile access generated revenue of just €200k.

Playtech continues to push its omni-channel strategy of fusing web, mobile and retail products into a unified whole, which the company believes will eventually become the industry standard. Playtech debuted this single log-in system at Coral betting shops in 2014.

Playtech continues to hint that it’s preparing for a major acquisition, although details remain as scant as ever. The company’s cash balance came to €692m as of Dec. 31, providing it with serious latitude in considering what assets to snap up.

PHILIPPINE-LICENSED OPERATOR REVENUES MORE THAN DOUBLE

UK betting operator Ladbrokes profit fell hard in 2014 despite significant improvements in its much-maligned online offering.

Full-year revenue (excluding high-rollers and exceptional items) rose 3.8% to £1.16b but earnings fell 9.3% to £125.4m and profits fell 13.4% to £93.1m. The statutory numbers were much harsher, with earnings falling 71% to £66.2m and profit down 61% to £41m. Despite the carnage, Lads’ shares rose nearly 6% on Thursday to 121p.

Ladbrokes’ overall digital revenue rose 22.9% to £215.1m and operating profit rose 70.7% to £14m. That latter figure is nearly double the 2013 figure but still well short of the £31.8m earned in 2012, the year before Ladbrokes undertook its infamously prolonged transition to a Playtech-powered online platform.

UK online operations reported revenue up 7.5% to £178.5m while online profit rose 17.7% to £17.3m. The 2014 FIFA World Cup helped push online sports betting revenue up 21% to £84.8m, but the company experienced its “worst ever football daily loss on record” on Boxing Day, which cost the company £8m.

Mobile sports betting stakes were up 110% from 2013, representing 63% of Lads’ digital sports wagers, while desktop stakes declined. Outgoing CEO Richard Glynn said the numbers support Lads’ decision to switch its desktop front end to a Playtech-powered Mobenga mobile platform, although the back end will continue to be powered by OpenBet technology. The transition is scheduled to take place in H2.

Ladbrokes exchange wagering products also had a good year, with revenue up 36% to £13.2m. The other verticals weren’t as fortunate, with casino falling 1.6% to £66.4m and bingo falling 6.7% to £11.1m although Lads said gaming returned to growth in Q4 following the completion of its transition to a full suite of Playtech casino products.

Online poker revenue fell a whopping 56.5% to £3m as unique active poker player ranks fell 40% while average monthly active player days fell 48.5%.

A new study says mainland Chinese gamblers lack social graces but the problem may also lie with Macau casino dealers’ prejudicial outlook.

The School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University interviewed 300 veteran Macau casino staffers to determine if there were discernible differences in the behavior of different Chinese subcultures.

The study involved casino staff’s perceptions of mainland Chinese gamblers versus those from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Study author Dr. Samuel Seongseop Kim said the intent was to see whether Chinese subcultures that had “lived through different pasts” displayed common behavior while at the baccarat tables.

Participating staff all had at least three years experience on Macau casino floors, while nearly one-quarter had at least six to eight years service. The staff were asked to rate gamblers in seven areas, including how passively they participated, how disruptive they got, how much they complained, their chip/money holding and how cautious they were.

Chinese gamblers were found to be the least tidy and the most disruptive. Most of the time, they want what they want. They’re not completely against the introduction of any novelty into their game, but only if its preceded by detailed explanation.

The study’s authors believe the staff shared “negative perceptions” of mainland Chinese and – given that mainland China is Macau’s biggest traffic source – suggested sensitivity training. The casino staff interviewed for the study were 81.3% ethnically Chinese, with the rest comprised mainly of Portuguese (11.7%) and Malaysians (6%).

Hong Kong gamblers were deemed most likely to complain and ask for favors or comps, but they were also most likely to respond to a dealer’s guidance. They exhibit a “peak and valley” betting pattern and enjoy trying new games, provided the service is good. If not, staff will hear about it. If you want to attract more of them, good promotions are key.