Online gambling is an enormous worldwide industry. Tons of people around the globe are taking a chance at trying to win a big one. At the same time, marketing-wise, the online gambling industry is a bit of a remote island.
While online casinos are legal in many areas of the world, actually promoting them tends to come with strict rules and boundaries. In this article, we discuss some of these things as well as the negative effects of influencer marketing in gambling.
Gambling has always maintained a high popularity in the world. There have even been recollections from more historic times showing that people have probably participated in gambling for centuries if not millennia. For example, there has been talk about the Great Wall of China having been financed by proceeds stemming from gambling. The wall itself was built around 200 B.C, which would mean gambling has been around for at least more than 2200 years.
Nowadays, gambling is highly regulated due to its potential harms. In countries such as Finland, online gambling is extremely popular, which has caused an unfortunate ripple effect in terms of a rise in problem gambling. This, in turn, can also be costly for governments that are trying to help and protect those impacted by said harms.
In recent years, gambling has seen a surge in popularity like no other. This is obviously due to the rise of the internet. While online, customers can access their favorite games whenever they want and wherever they want. Unfortunately, this has also made gambling harms much more pronounced and prevalent than ever before.
With fierce competition and all the regulations in place, online casinos are struggling to find ways to market themselves. In most countries, casinos are not allowed anywhere near television, radio, or newspaper ads. Instead, the only way they can get their product out there is by posting stuff online.
In this struggle to promote their services, some casinos have turned to things like social media. On platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook, casinos can market themselves a bit more freely. However, even on these platforms, casino brands need to be discreet and cognizant of the rules.
One popular way for casinos to market themselves is through influencers. For instance, a casino might pay an influencer to become an affiliate, compensating them for every new paying customer that they bring to their service.
Influencer marketing can be problematic in many ways, especially when it comes to online gambling. For instance, influencers are often followed by young people who can be more susceptible to gambling harms. What is more, not all those following social media influencers might even be of legal gambling age. This can present major problems with both underage gambling as well as whitewashing the controversial industry for developing minds early on.
It should come as no surprise that not all countries are onboard with influencers marketing online casino games. In countries such as Finland, casinos found on zimplerkasinot.net are already extremely popular. As a result, when it comes to gambling, the Finnish government has outlawed social media marketing of any kind. On top of this, Finland is strict on all other kinds of gambling marketing as well. Even the Finnish state-run gambling monopoly has been reprimanded several times for overstepping its marketing permissions
The online casino industry keeps becoming more and more popular. At the same time, the governments of the world are having to resort to even stricter regulations to keep the industry in check. While some promotions will probably continue to be allowed, those in charge are working hard to minimize the negative impacts of gambling. An important part of this is trying to keep marketing as low-key and harmless as possible.
Readers should also remember that both social media and online gambling are relatively new phenomena. Thus, it is no wonder that politicians are having to play catch-up with keeping their policies up-to-date and relevant to the current landscape.