Publishers of websites about poker or casino gambling subjects face a significant obstacle when promoting their content, even if their websites do not actually offer gambling. Major advertising companies, especially pay-per-click giants like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft do not allow any advertisements related to gambling because of legal issues in some countries. Sometimes advertisers promoting products and services on this subject sneak into the system, but their advertisements are short-lived because their necessary keywords get them filtered out.
I know this first hand after attempts to advertise one of my publications about how to play craps. Get Dicey is only a book or eBook and does not contain any affiliate links, but I quickly had to give up trying to advertise it through Google AdWords. I am simply not allowed, and my explanations to the company that it is only a trade publication like you would find in a bookstore were ignored. Possibly I could advertise it if I stripped my ads of offending keywords like craps, but then how effective would such an ad be if I can't mention what it is for?
Of course my problem is tiny compared to actual online casinos and online poker rooms that have been broadly stripped of advertising outlets. Online gambling operations have moved to affiliate programs that advertise directly through any publisher willing to post a casino or poker room ad. These publishers include people running poker blogs, casino reviews, strategy guides, and so forth. Then the publisher is paid if the ad produces a money-playing player. This system works nicely, but the publishers are still left with the problem of promoting their websites that simply have content about poker or gambling and not any actual gambling going on. There is always search engine optimization (SEO), which works, but the poker and gambling markets are highly competitive. Winning with SEO takes time and persistent effort, and marketers know that advertising is supports SEO.
Advertising opportunities for poker and casino gambling related websites do exist, but they are limited. However, because of the laws of supply and demand, ad space on the most popular sites is often bought up far into the future.
Therefore, the better poker or gambling websites focus on producing good content so traffic will come through search engines. Also they exchange links and banners with other relevant sites and directories, and advertise through smaller companies and publishers that support the poker and casino market.
I know this first hand after attempts to advertise one of my publications about how to play craps. Get Dicey is only a book or eBook and does not contain any affiliate links, but I quickly had to give up trying to advertise it through Google AdWords. I am simply not allowed, and my explanations to the company that it is only a trade publication like you would find in a bookstore were ignored. Possibly I could advertise it if I stripped my ads of offending keywords like craps, but then how effective would such an ad be if I can't mention what it is for?
Of course my problem is tiny compared to actual online casinos and online poker rooms that have been broadly stripped of advertising outlets. Online gambling operations have moved to affiliate programs that advertise directly through any publisher willing to post a casino or poker room ad. These publishers include people running poker blogs, casino reviews, strategy guides, and so forth. Then the publisher is paid if the ad produces a money-playing player. This system works nicely, but the publishers are still left with the problem of promoting their websites that simply have content about poker or gambling and not any actual gambling going on. There is always search engine optimization (SEO), which works, but the poker and gambling markets are highly competitive. Winning with SEO takes time and persistent effort, and marketers know that advertising is supports SEO.
Advertising opportunities for poker and casino gambling related websites do exist, but they are limited. However, because of the laws of supply and demand, ad space on the most popular sites is often bought up far into the future.
Therefore, the better poker or gambling websites focus on producing good content so traffic will come through search engines. Also they exchange links and banners with other relevant sites and directories, and advertise through smaller companies and publishers that support the poker and casino market.
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