William Hill and NetRefer are pleased to announce their partnership to enhance William Hill Online’s Affiliates United program through NetRefer’s Performance Marketing suite.

Rated by EGR Magazine as one of the most powerful gaming operators on the planet, William Hill Online is a significant partner and an exciting addition to NetRefer’s growing client base. This partnership continues to assert NetRefer as market leaders in affiliate management and performance marketing.

William Hill Online’s new affiliate programme will offer state of the art functionality including fully managed online hosting, advanced media tracking, dedicated customer support and account management, flexible reward plans, attractive affiliate commissions, on time payments, and extensive reporting along with other industry leading marketing tools. This will empower the business with all the necessary functions to support CMOs, marketing and affiliate managers and affiliates effectively and efficiently.

William Hill Online has always enjoyed a very strong brand image, and through the implementation of their new affiliate platform, this will encourage further growth for their online business, a key objective for all NetRefer’s online gaming partners.

Anat Errell, Head of Marketing Operations for William Hill Online, said: "This is a very important chapter in our business, and we are very excited to be working with the industry leaders in affiliate marketing to ensure all our esteemed affiliates and marketers are provided with the leading edge solution in the business. We are proud to have selected NetRefer as trusted partner for our marketing solutions".

Julian Buhagiar, CEO of NetRefer Malta, said: "It has been a pleasure to work closely with the marketing and technical teams at William Hill Online to ensure they are provided with all the latest marketing tools to fulfil their requirements. Our goal is to ensure all the affiliate team as well as their affiliates are provided with a fully configurable rewards engine, clear and flexible reporting, in-depth analytics as well as user friendly dashboards available in over 99 languages to ensure market reach and localisation for William Hill’s entire online brand."

eCOGRA eGAPs Revised to Meet Common Regulatory Trends

New requirements meet nine key European criteria for operators

The independent player protection and standards body eCOGRA has published a revised version of its widely respected Generally Accepted Practices (eGAPs) at www.ecogra.com/egap in a move that positions the organisation’s accredited operators at the forefront of European regulatory development.

The eGAPs provide a professional framework for safe, fair, efficient and responsible business activity and provide guidance for the 153 tier one online gambling sites accredited by the London-based organisation.

Andrew Beveridge, the chief executive of eCOGRA, says that the revisions have been undertaken mainly to ensure that eCOGRA’s requirements encompass the CEN Responsible Remote Gambling Measures, but that the eGAPs are also a comprehensive and valuable guide that will meet the appropriate requirements of most regulatory authorities.

"The regulatory landscape now evolving in Europe has seen a growing number of nations opting for a competitive but strictly regulated online gambling market, and decisions are likely to be increasingly informed by the required measures of the CEN Workshop Agreement which were framed earlier this year," Beveridge explains.

"By aligning our eGAPs with these recommendations, which cover nine key areas of activity, we not only provide a relevant and current roadmap to our accredited sites, but offer an expert framework useful to other operators committed to meeting requirements that are largely common to most regulatory initiatives," he added.

"Operators who have achieved eCOGRA seal status should comply with the latest developments for CEN Responsible Remote Gambling Measures."

CEN is the European Committee for Standardisation, one of three European Standardisation Organisations officially recognised by the European Union (http://www.cen.eu/). CEN inter alia draws up voluntary technical specifications, such as a CEN workshop agreement, to help facilitate a single market for European industry and consumers across its members in 31 European countries.

The 9 areas covered by the CEN Workshop Measures are:

• 1. The protection of vulnerable customers
• 2. The prevention of underage gambling
• 3. Combating fraud
• 4. Protection of privacy
• 5. Fair gaming
• 6. Accurate customer payments
• 7. Responsible marketing
• 8. Customer satisfaction
• 9. Safe operating environment

Some 134 detailed requirements under these headings are included in the recommendations and have been enshrined in the revised eCOGRA document.

The recommendations were developed through consensus across a wide range of remote gambling stakeholders – from experts on problem gambling and players to industry representatives and addiction and criminology academics – illustrating a real desire to work together to ensure that consumer protection issues are fully addressed as important EU developments unfold.

About eCOGRA

eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA), an independent UK based organisation, is the leading supplier of compliance and advisory services in the areas of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behaviour to stakeholders in the remote gambling industry.

In 2011 alone eCOGRA will conduct almost 100 operator and software supplier compliance reviews against eCOGRA’s eGAP Requirements, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) Standards and various jurisdictional regulations. Monthly payout percentage and randomness reviews will be performed for over 300 remote gambling sites.

These services are provided to many of the industry’s leading operators, including 888, bwin, PartyGaming, The Palace Group, Ladbrokes, Unibet, Fortune Lounge, 32Red, Partouche, Expekt and BetClic.

About CEN

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is a business catalyst in Europe, removing trade barriers for European stakeholders such as industry, public administration, service providers, consumers and other stakeholders. Its mission is to foster the European economy in global trading, the welfare of European citizens, and the environment. Through its services CEN provides a platform for the development of European Standards and other specifications.

CEN’s 31 National Members work together to develop voluntary European Standards (ENs) in various sectors to build a European Internal Market for goods and services and to position Europe in the global economy. By supporting research, and helping disseminate innovation, standards are a powerful tool for economic growth. More than 60,000 technical experts as well as business federations, consumer and other societal interest organizations are involved in the CEN network that reaches over 480 million people.

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In her responsible gambling reportage to eCOGRA’s Independent Directors this month, Fair Gaming Advocate Tex Rees reveals that last year the player protection organisation carried out responsible gambling training at operator bases instead of at its London head office.

Eight international operator and software provider bases were visited by the eCOGRA team for the full day sessions, which trained a total of 268 employees, Rees reported.

Typical training sessions included:

"We used to host the training at a single location with a small number of delegates attending from a number of different operators," Rees notes. "The delegates were then tasked with training their staff when they returned to their companies.

"We now provide this important training at operators’ sites as a far more cost effective way to reach more employees directly and properly train those who are on the front line and are most likely to initially deal with problem gamblers.

"This also allows staff to discuss problems they have experienced in specific circumstances and receive professional feedback. The training is designed particularly for staff who interact with customers, such as call centre representatives and VIP department employees, but is also of value to staff in the marketing, retention, fraud & risk departments," she said.

"Delivering the training at the operator’s premises additionally helps us to customise the training to the operator’s brands and to meet any specific needs that have been noted at that level."

Taking the initiative to the front line has been a popular move, according to a number of complimentary assessments from operators. A typical report from a Betclic employee attending the course assessed the course as being informative and interesting.

"It definitely deepened my understanding of spotting the triggers for problem gambling and confirmed the importance of making available a range of responsible gambling tools for vulnerable players," the delegate wrote.

Andrew Beveridge, chief executive officer of eCOGRA, said that training staff to deal professionally and sensitively with responsible gambling issues was a critical element in any gambling environment, and was regarded as a priority in the eCOGRA standards for best operational practice.

"The percentage of gamblers who develop a problem may be relatively small – around 2 percent – but these are vulnerable members of society and they deserve appropriate and sympathetic but firm treatment by properly trained staff," he said. "These training initiatives have proved increasingly popular, and we expect to extend our coverage in this area further in the future."