The online gambling marketplace, while certainly not bottomed out, has become pretty saturated from the point of view of the affiliate industry. With the emergence of gambling online as a massive money spinner, quite a number of other sectors benefited off the bottom line. Advertising and affiliate marketing were two of these sectors.

The online gambling industry, especially in the UK and Europe has become mature, and this changes the way things in marketing need to get done. While years ago it took very little money for someone to get set up as an affiliate online, this has changed, and it is not so easy for these small one-man ops to make a decent living off affiliate earnings. This is a performance based industry, and due to complexities in the marketplace, rewards are fast becoming diluted. Cornering this market today we find specialized third party vendors, super affiliates and affiliate management agencies. These days it is far more beneficial to select a specialized niche and concentrate on this, rather than on a generic area. In other words, concentrate on "slots" for example, rather than "gambling online" per se.

However there are certainly ample opportunities popping up where we are seeing exponential growth. For example the mobile gambling industry, and perhaps turning our envious eyes upon an emerging market in the USA.

In the few short weeks that online poker has been test-played in the state of New Jersey – up to 33 000 new players, or more have registered and these are only intrastate players. Who knows what the possibilities could be as more and more states open their doors to poker at first, then perhaps other online gambling games too. But change management for affiliates is certainly a strong recommendation too. Affiliate business owner need to learn how to tap into a new market place.

Just out of interest – including the usual Thanks Giving holiday traditions they had to deal with, punters found the time to create 5,000 new online accounts. Testing commenced in New Jersey on the 21st November, and while it was difficult for assessing how many wagers were actually placed, some gamers had registered with more than one online brand. This indicates the largest expansion of gambling in the state since 1978, when the first Atlantic City casino opened its doors to the public. They are the third stat in the USA to offer legal and regulated gambling online.

When a job is done well it is natural to praise the persons or business that did the job well. This is the natural order of things. When we first played a Net Entertainment game, we were enchanted, thrilled and yes… very well entertained. All those years ago we predicted meteoric success for this company.

This prediction has come true, and no… we are not fortune tellers. The simple fact of the matter is that this dynamic software development firm has continued to challenge its own boundaries, and excel at everything single thing they do.

Net Entertainment has become a powerhouse in the online gambling industry where innovation is king. This innovation shows in the games that they produce, as well as on their bottom line. Third quarter results have seen revenues increase by a massive 25% to SEK 153.1 million. The Swedish firm has therefore seen operating profits climb to SEK 44.5 million, and is also enjoying big profits after tax.

There are now another nine online casinos that have launched with this award winning software, so that is nine more places for us to choose to play these fabulous games. Agreements have also been inked and signed with five more clients, so, if you favourite online gambling brand happens to be William Hill or Ladbrokes, these are two of the new signees.

These two operators are also best of British brands which operate off the Playtech platform, which tells us they are hoping for better performance by adding or switching to Net Entertainment.

We are also not entirely sure of the nature of these agreements. But then the largest gaming operators in the world cannot be wrong by choosing this brand. Ladbrokes has struggled in the past to get their online gaming operations profitable, but with NetEnt gaming on board, perhaps this will change for them.

In the last twelve months Net Entertainment has signed a total of twenty-two new customers, so, no wonder financials are revealing dynamic results. But not only results for NetEnt, for their customers too! This firm has also broken records for giving away the largest progressive jackpot prize money of any other developer globally.

For players to get their hands on the share of the big bucks they give away, check out the MegaFortune PJP networked games, these are the best games to play to win big. New slots games release also include “Secret of the Stones”, set in Stonehenge, and "Magic Portals" in its Touch™ catalogue.

While we normally concentrate on gambling news from the UK, one of the furthest of the old British Colonial outposts happens to be New Zealand, so, we thought we might share this little snippet with you. The "Green Party" has proposed some rather strange measures to combat what they perceive as problem gambling. The Greens want mandatory gambling limits to be proposed for electronic gaming machines, which we would have to assume, would also include gambling online?

John Key – the Prime Minister understandably responded to this proposal as being completely unrealistic. He also said it is a ‘nice’ idea, but people are people, and it might work in a casino, but games can go to one of thousands of online casinos and gamble away as much as they like from the comfort of their own home.

At least Key, like the Government of the UK, can see that it is impossible to restrict online gambling, because players find ways to get what they want. The best thing to do is regulate this industry, thereafter taxes earned may be used to help problem gamblers who want help. Gambling is not the problem, people are the problem.

The report from Radio New Zealand is actually nothing short of being quite mad. They want the "introduction of pre-commitment cards", and player tracking. Why don’t they just have people micro-chipped, and programmed – its farcical, crazy? These so-called pre-commitment cards would require gamers to insert their spending limit, as well as a time limit, and stick to these. Graeme Ramsay of the NX Problem Gambling Foundation seems to agree. He insists this would be a harm-minimisation measure, rather than recourse for treatment.

Mr Key says it might be a nice idea, but people would find other ways to bet where there are no such limits, like online gambling. While online casinos, bingo room, poker sites, and sports betting facilities have tools for self-exclusion, and or setting time and bankroll limits. The onus is upon the player to activate these. A gambler with a problem, never admits that they are the problem, and will continue to gamble, and blame the gambling facility. It is only when they realise “they” are the problem that help is sought out and given.

Supporters of this proposal, need to take a look at all the other addictions which plague the human and their conditions. Are they going to regulate the amount of beer or booze that can be purchased in a supermarket or bottle store – we doubt it!

We don’t really know what online payment method was the first to come along, but have a suspicion that it might have been Neteller or Paypal. We suppose if we researched this we would know who came along first. But the online gambling industry has seen a great many of these virtual wallets come into being. Some are specific to certain countries, while others such as PayPal are global, now we find a new payment method that has been specifically designed with the mobile gambler in mind.

There is nothing that precludes us from making use of any of the normal payment methods that we have traditionally used to gamble online, when gambling on the go. We are talking about Skrill (which used to be Moneybookers), InstaDebit, EziPay, ECO, Clickand Buy, and so on, there is a very long list, as long as my arm. But this particular method called PugglePay only requires a Mobile number in order to make a deposit.

The design comes from Scandinavia, and we are pretty certain that it is going to be popular as well as reliable. Most software products and solutions that come out of this cold corner of the world, are of an incredibly high quality. Many people from Scandinavian countries are huge fans of gambling online, so, it makes sense that they would also be keen on the mobile form of these games. Must be the snowy cold weather, and dark long winters that keeps players in-doors, and needing to be entertained!

Now mobile entertainment has been made so much more simple to pay – PugglePay is an über secure payment method for funding mobile, and even online gambling accounts. It is an instant cash device – virtually speaking – for phones which allow us to transfer funds at any time, from any place without requiring private data or the use of credit cards, debit cards or other e-wallet. FYI – a “Puggle”, is baby echidna, if this means anything at all to you.

Some forward thinking casinos online have already taken up this product, and rolled it out to their customers, we believe it is only a matter of time until others follow suit. Both Betsson and Mr. Green have partnered with this new payment solution, understandably so, as both of these casinos offer gaming to the UK and Europe, but enjoy an extra high market share in Scandinavian countries.

This socially responsible payment system works with simple information that the user already knows – money is deposited with a few clicks on the keypad of the mobile device, and the payment pops into the mobile gambling account. The user is identified only by their mobile number, with no cost to the phone account. The invoice is confirmed by an SMS code, and the gamer can go on to play and win.

When we see expos, conferences, and summits scheduled for specific industry sectors, we have to assume that there is a great demand for knowledge regarding that industry sector. Mobile gambling is growing exponentially in popularity; keeping in tune with mobile social media, as well as more advanced technology. Taking an iPhone or android phone out of your pocket and making a punt, now sees industry leaders willing to share their experience and knowledge in this field. Recognition awards will also be given away at the end of the day.

The first "Mobile Gaming and Gambling Summit" is going to be held on the 11th September in London – a brand new event from Dot Media. This company is part of Mobile Marketing Magazine, and online publication that has also been available in print, and on iPad since 2010. It is designed to address engagement within this growing industry, which means we as consumers will benefit too.

In the UK in particular, we consumers are a sophisticated audience – in other words – we know what to expect, know what we are entitled to, and expect superior products as well as great value for money. We love gambling online, and we love making a wager by mobile, and are taking part in this form of social gaming entertainment every single day.

The social gaming revolution has seen every online gambling product worth their salt, developing social gambling apps, and platforms for the mobile gaming fan. All the biggest brands have had these applications available for quite some time, and are adding new games, new ways of playing, and upgrades constantly.

William Hill which is one of the biggest betting brands in the UK, also has an online presence and coincidently enough recently launched a Mobile Sports App for Nevada (USA) Residents. This is a newly opened up market, and the app offers a range of new features to attract more punters into this game. The app can only be used intrastate, which means only in the State of Nevada. But this could be perhaps a very small foot in the door of what potentially could be a massive marketplace, should other States follow suit, or Federal Legislation be change to legalise online gambling games.

It is interesting to note that punters who wish to use this real money gambling applications, need to register in person. This is obviously a brilliant idea to counteract any underage shenanigans, and to facilitate the process, there are seventy-five William Hill full service locations in this US state. Will Hill amongst other providers are seriously excited about expanding into this fast growing sector (mobile), they believe theirs is the best product, so, if you want to take a flutter on the Horses at Saratoga, and you live in the State of Nevada – check them out. All UK and European players can get as much mobile gambling as they like, from a whole slew of great online brands.