The Great Affiliate Reset: why casinos need smarter traffic
Summary
By Sergiy Schelkov, Epom Sales Executive. The iGaming market hit US$86bn in 2024 and is on track to reach about $120bn by 2029, but acquisition costs have jumped ~60% since 2019. The industry’s long reliance on affiliate marketing is showing cracks: falling share of affiliate-originated customers, rising paid ad spend, and major problems around transparency, optimisation and fraud. Schelkov argues the solution is a shift towards demand-side platforms (DSPs), which give casinos direct access to inventory, advanced targeting, full campaign control, clearer costs and faster scalability. The piece makes a clear case that DSPs can replace much of the unpredictable affiliate model for operators wanting better-quality users and measurable ROI.
Key Points
- iGaming market: US$86bn in 2024, forecast ~US$120bn by 2029.
- Customer acquisition costs (CAC) up ~60% since 2019; typical CAC ranges from $280 to $1,400 per user.
- Affiliate-originated customer share fell from 29.6% (2023) to 22% (2024); paid ads rose from 7.4% to 18%.
- Main problems with affiliates: lack of transparency, limited optimisation, inability to verify traffic quality and heightened fraud risk (incentivised users, bots, cookie stuffing).
- Demand-side platforms (DSPs) offer direct access to publishers/ad networks, advanced geo- and behavioural targeting, A/B testing and budget control, transparent cost metrics and easier scalability.
- DSPs reduce reliance on middlemen, improve data visibility and help operators comply with stricter regulation while optimising spend.
Context and relevance
The article is timely for acquisition and marketing teams in iGaming and adjacent regulated verticals. With stricter regulation and rising CAC, blindly relying on affiliates increases compliance, fraud and ROI risks. The growing shift to programmatic buying and DSPs reflects a broader advertising trend: owners of real brands prefer direct, auditable channels where they control targeting, budgets and creative testing. For operators planning geographic expansion or tighter compliance, this is a practical roadmap for reducing wasted spend and improving user quality.
Why should I read this?
Quick and blunt — if you run acquisition for a casino or gambling brand, this is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed. Affiliates are getting you volume that’s often low-quality or risky; DSPs give you control, clearer costs and better targeting. Read it if you want less guesswork and more customers who actually deposit and stick around.
Source
Source: https://g3newswire.com/the-great-affiliate-reset-why-casinos-need-smarter-traffic/
