Hmmmmmmm…instinct tells me that “donkeystyle” may very well be Michael Bluejay of Wizard of Odds. Am I right, donkey?
Whoever this person may be, asked about “auctioning” advertising and also seems to know quite a bit of info relating to the Wiz. The Wiz is the only site I know of that has attempted this advertising auction thing. I explained to Michael Bluejay previously that I think this is a rather ridiculous way to sell advertising and I stand by that opinion. A negotiated deal will always be a win-win for both parties. All auctioning will do is take the control of the seller out of his own hands. Bad idea all the way around.
For anyone with a website I’d always suggest going with a rev-share model or hybrid deal. I know…coming from me, this may sound a bit out of character. :p
Truth is there are VERY few sites where paid media makes sense. Casinomeister and Wiz are obvious examples, due to the focus of their sites. Because of the bonuses involved with GoneGambling, it would be completely impractical to get hooked up in aff deals.
From what I’ve seen, those affiliates who work hard to produce quality will always do far better staying within the affiliate arena.
Anyway, don’t spend that $900 all in one place. That would almost make my car payment for the month.
Is there a reason you felt it important to be so rude to mrdh? We all started somewhere. Encouragement instead of the snide attitude would have been a bit nicer.
I agree that general casino branding is pretty saturated. What I’m talking about is a little more specific.
I could not disagree strongly enough on this. Outside of a few casino brands–BoDog, 888 and Golden Palace, branding (particularly in North America) has been nonexistent. The UK has a bit of an edge in branding, due to brands like Will Hill and Ladbrokes, as well as their approval of offline casino advertising. It’s a bit trickier here in North America. Thankfully, casinos are finally beginning to wake up to the fact that they will have to spend some of their resources on building brand recognition.
The wizzard of odds.com site sold advertising to bodog for around $15,000 a month. The alexa rank of the site is not high at all and the traffic is not high either. There absolutely is a value to displaying an ad even if you don’t get clickthroughs. Could he make more than $15k a month through an affiliate deal? Maybe, but now he has a contract locked in.
The smug last line of this paragraph speaks volumes. If this indeed is your approach to advertising, you’ll be burning your advertising bridges in no-time flat. Sure, branding is good, but casinos want acquisitions. If you’re not delivering, you’ve lost an advertiser. And let me remind you, this is a VERY small industry. Buyers talk and once you’ve burned a few, you’re gonna be in for a VERY rough road.