FEATURE
ends up paying the player, most of the
time a discussion convinces the operator
that the right thing to do in this situation is
to pay. It is just a case of having reviewed
terms and conditions and making sure
everything is compliant with those terms
and conditions. Most of the operators at
the top of our tables are very eager to be
seen as player friendly.
How long was it before you could
do affiliation full time?
There was a transition period where I
was still playing but as ThePOGG grew,
which was relatively quickly, it soon got
to the point where I didn’t have time to
play anymore. At the present time I would
estimate I work about 70 hours a week
– it does vary a little week to week but it
would be unusual for it to be less than 60
just to keep on top of things. The player
complaints do keep us very busy.
How is the business structured?
We’ve just got the one portal just now.
The business structure is a complex system
that is going to change shortly. We are
physically based in Scotland but the
business is currently based in Malta.
That is likely to move back to the UK
within the next few months. We’ve had
the same challenges as many affiliates in
the UK, having found it difficult to get
a business bank account from a banking
sector that is resistant to working with the
igaming community. So, unfortunately, for
a time that forced us to move offshore.
How many employees do
you have and what are
their specialisms?
There are currently about seven people
working on ThePOGG in various roles.
I deal with most of the content
management but we do have another full-
time content writer and another part-time
one. We have a couple of programmers
ThePOGG.com
Established: 2011
Key people: Duncan Garvie, manager
Based: Scotland a nd Malta
Employees: Seven
“A kneejerk reaction is happening among operators and I
can see a lot of affiliates getting shut out of the UK market”
working on a paid-per-job basis but they
are pretty much engaged all the time for us.
We have somebody doing design and SEO
pretty much full-time and we’ve got
a systems admin who’s part-time.
Do you use third-party agencies
for any of your digital marketing/
acquisition activity and, if so,
which types?
Not at the present time. Right now we’re
looking to build these things in-house.
The person heading up our SEO is
developing those skills with a mind to
bringing all of that in-house.
Are you worried about the
possibility of operators closing
down their affiliate programmes
in light of Sky Bet’s closure
and the recent clampdown by
operators on affiliates?
I think the changes in the UK market
are far more significant than many
affiliates realise. You’re seeing
programme after programme coming
out with rather restrictive changes with
regard to what affiliates can and can’t do.
I think this has been coming for a long
time and I think broadly speaking it was
needed. There have been a number of
affiliates doing things that they absolutely
never should have been doing, and
operators that have been engaging with
these affiliates that should have been
paying more attention to what they were
doing. But I can see a kneejerk reaction
is already happening among operators
and I can see a lot of affiliates getting
shut out of the UK market. The cost
and implications for meeting compliance
requirements over the next two years
are only going to escalate. It’s going
to be an interesting couple of years in
the market.
So do you think operators
are overreacting?
The operators are responding to what
they are getting told by the regulator
and the Advertising Standards Authority.
And, having spoken to a lot of operators
about this, I do understand their
frustration and we sympathise with
them, especially in relation to advertising
standards. At the present time, I am not
all that convinced that the rules are as
clear as they need to be. I think a lot
of operators are getting caught in the
middle of goalposts that are moving
constantly and as such they are now
becoming far more wary of working
with affiliates. Specifically, they are
looking to take far more control of what
their affiliates are doing but whether
this can work I don’t know. It will
iGB Affiliate Issue 66 DEC 2017/JAN 2018
31