Nemanja Lazarevic is the founder of Teamwork, a company specialising in iGaming affiliate and content marketing. In this Expert Insights article, he explores the future of iGaming affiliate marketing, focusing on emerging trends, AI, content quality, regulatory challenges, and new opportunities for sustainable growth.

Q: How do you see the iGaming affiliate marketing landscape changing over the next few years, and which trends do you believe will have the biggest impact on the industry? 

I feel the iGaming marketing landscape has changed a lot over the last few years, and it will keep evolving. From the partnership's perspective, the revenue-share model may slowly disappear, as the market is so volatile that CPA is probably the only way to survive today.   

To illustrate what I mean, in a matter of just a few days, Brazil suddenly decided to ban online gambling completely, and Bulgaria announced a full gambling ad ban, which basically means thousands of revenue-share deals in those markets instantly became worthless.   

Another big trend is that third-party cookies are slowly being phased out, and postback tracking is slowly turning into the primary model of tracking conversions. Programs that have transitioned to server-side tracking are already reporting significantly higher conversions, meaning we can no longer rely on browser cookies and need to make postback the default setting.   

I also feel that generative AI search will have a big impact on our industry, and we are already seeing how the game is changing. As Google prioritises sponsored results and AI overviews over organic results, and new generations lean toward instant, no-click answers, optimising our sites for large language models is essential if we want to remain competitive.   

Google keeps losing market share, which is hardly surprising given how spam sites and parasite SEO projects rank above high-quality websites focused on educational content. If nothing changes, LLMs could eventually become the primary source of information for internet users worldwide.

Q: Affiliate marketing has traditionally relied heavily on SEO, paid traffic, and media buying. How are affiliates and operators changing their approach as competition increases and search and advertising environments evolve?  

The goal of an affiliate company is to make a profit, but doing so has become a lot harder over the last few years. In the almost 20 years I have been in the iGaming industry, this period is likely the most difficult I have faced, as many of the things that worked until recently no longer produce results.  

For starters, Google seems to be doing everything in their power to make affiliates redundant, so relying solely on Google is proving to be a very costly mistake. Affiliates today should focus on building a brand and promoting it across many channels, such as Telegram, Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok, forums, email and so on.   

Gone are the days of anonymous affiliates hiding behind stylish website themes. You must get your name out there not through paid traffic, but through real connections. That, and owning your audience and making sure LLMs can properly read and rank your content is the way forward.   

Why? Because publishing a few main pages and casino/software/banking/game reviews puts you in the mix with thousands of similar sites that Google has already indexed. That is no longer the way to go, and affiliates need to find a way to bring innovation, showcase first-hand experience and create extra value or else their sites won’t even get indexed, let alone be in a position to deliver regular signups and FTD’s.   

Of course, affiliates should still cover the basics of web marketing and make sure their websites are technically sound, load fast, deliver a seamless user experience, and have proper EEAT signals. However, those things alone will not get them very far without the multi-channel approach.   

Q: From your experience at Teamwork, what role does high-quality content play in building successful affiliate businesses today? How is the definition of “good content” changing in iGaming? 

For nearly 15 years, Teamwork has delivered high-quality content to our partners, and the rise of AI tools and large language models has only made us more determined to stay on this path.   

As more companies discard experienced human writers in favour of cheaper AI-assisted models, I believe it is even easier for 100% human content written from experience to stand out and help websites rank.    

Good content is still the basis of any successful project. Still, the very definition is changing daily, and affiliates need their SEO teams, content editors and writers to all be aligned and working in sync in order to produce content of high quality.   

For me, good content first needs to be written by native writers with considerable iGaming experience and ideally strong EEAT profiles. It should answer the user query within the first couple of paragraphs, then expand on the topic in the following sections.   

The final article also needs proper meta structured data in place, such as an SEO title, meta description, alt tags, hierarchical headings, etc. It also needs to have a clear markup and be easy to read. Bullet points, numbered lists, quick facts, custom images, videos and tables are also a must, as nobody wants to read thousands of words of plain text anymore.   

In text formats like reviews, for example, having personal experience on display is crucial. If you can describe the entire review process from opening a casino account, making a deposit, playing the games, submitting KYC documents, requesting a withdrawal, and back it up with real screenshots, there is a good chance that both Google and users will trust such a review a lot more than thousands of casino reviews that all look the same.

Q: Regulation and responsible gambling requirements are becoming increasingly important across different markets. How are these changes affecting affiliate strategies, content, and the relationship between affiliates and operators? 

As more countries push for local licenses and regulated markets grow, affiliates need to adopt responsible gambling and core advertising guidelines from the get-go. These changes create additional workload and increase operational costs for affiliates, so simply being present and compliant in multiple markets is no easy task.   

Regulators worldwide keep changing the playbook without giving affiliates and operators ample time to adapt and incorporate them, so we both need to be present in as many markets as possible and better equipped to handle these sudden changes and protect our bottom line.   

What just happened in Brazil is not an isolated case, albeit it is the most dramatic one. Operators had to close shop despite paying for 5-year licenses, and affiliates operating in the legal market obviously had to do the same.  

Speaking more broadly, responsible gambling must be at the centre of what we do, regardless of market pressure or the level of regulation. Affiliates and operators are first and foremost indebted to their audiences, and no amount of regulation should change that. With both sides facing major challenges right now, I believe we need to understand each other much better to keep the cooperation alive and overcome them together.

Q: What new growth opportunities do you see for iGaming affiliates — whether through emerging markets, new content formats, technology, AI, or alternative acquisition channels?

Even though the margins are getting tighter and the number of potential problems we must deal with keeps increasing, there are still plenty of growth opportunities in iGaming.   

In terms of markets, Latam and Africa with their large local audiences still hold massive, untapped potential. But the key is to treat each country as a specific market rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. India is also very interesting, even though it too comes with many challenges.   

On the content front, formats that are likely to dominate web search in the coming years include user-generated content (UGC) and short-form video (TikTok and Instagram-style reels) – basically any format that can both quickly draw in users and showcase personal experience and expertise at the same time. Email newsletters are coming back as an interesting marketing strategy, while Telegram groups are probably the fastest growing segment right now.   

Smart, sensible use of AI tools can help affiliates improve efficiency, cut costs, and stay ahead of the competition. Still, I can't stress enough how crucial it is to have a proper strategy in place when trying to take advantage of new technological advancements and not just use AI because "everyone else is doing it."  

Q: Looking ahead, what will distinguish successful iGaming affiliates from the rest of the market, and what should companies be focusing on today to build sustainable long-term growth?

There are at least two answers to this question, one evergreen and the other specific to this day and age. On the evergreen front, now more than ever, affiliates should focus on delivering quality content and services. The Internet is flooded with spammy AI-generated slop which, yes, may generate revenue and make life easier at the moment, but can't hold up in the long run. I deeply believe that good, human-written content that showcases real know-how and expertise will prevail.  

The other key factor is building your own brand. Affiliates that get their name out there, use a distinct voice, and generate real buzz around it will survive whatever storm is coming. To make it bulletproof against the likes of what happened in Brazil, affiliates need to make their brand stand on solid ground but also remain as diversified and flexible as possible.

Among other things, that means branching out your business into multiple, even disparate markets, but still maintain the focus that earned the trust of your audiences in the first place. This is easier said than done, but it is also the best way forward.

 

 

Join Our Telegram channel

#iGaming #AffiliateMarketing #iGamingMarketing   #ArtificialIntelligence #ResponsibleGambling #iGamingIndustry #ExpertInsights #GeorgianGamblingAssociation