New York online gambling affiliates breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) agreed to allow cost per acquisition (CPA) marketing deals after a previous draft of rules seemed to rule out the option for affiliate marketing entirely.
“Upon further consideration, staff believe the proposed regulation would effectively prohibit affiliate marketing businesses from being compensated, which was unintended,” explained Commissioner Jerry Skurnik during the meeting.
The revised regulations still include some standards higher than other markets, such as requiring affiliate sites to clearly disclose their business partnerships with operators. The full rule is as follows:
“Each affiliate marketing partner shall disclose in its media, in a reasonably prominent manner (e.g., after a writer’s byline, after editorial content, in an “about” link on a webpage that is accessible from the page on which editorial content appears), whether such affiliate marketing partner has agreed to promote, refer potential customers to, or conduct advertising, marketing or branding on behalf of, or to the benefit of, one or more casino sports wagering licensees or sports pool vendors. Each casino sports wagering licensee or sports pool vendor shall cause each of its affiliate marketing partners to comply with this paragraph.”
While New York is willing to give affiliates a fair shake, there is still a possibility that more limitations on affiliates might arise in the future. The NYSGC Chairman even cautioned this was possible.
“If I find that within the next six months to a year that there has been significant problems with the type of advertising that’s coming down I will come back to the staff and to my fellow Commissioners and ask that we revisit that rule and prohibit third-party advertising,” said NYGC Chairman Brian O’Dwyer.
New York follows the lead of Massachusetts and joins the growing list of regulators giving a closer look at the affiliate marketing ecosystem in the US.
