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Online Gaming - Casino encroaches on Poker and Bingo's share of play
[March 01, 2010]

Online Gaming - Casino encroaches on Poker and Bingo's share of play


(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) London, -- Casino has encroached on Bingo and Poker's popularity in the UK's online gaming sector, reveals the latest independent report by Greenlight, the UK's leading and award winning search marketing agency. The research 'Gaming Sector Report - Issue 4', reveals that UK online search volumes for casino-related terms in December had increased by 24% since September. This was also borne out in the online visibility stakes where the likes of Casino.com saw its share of voice in natural search* increase by 7%, ascending from position 22 to eight in Greenlight's league table charting the top 60 most visible websites in natural search.



Greenlight's report used industry data to classify 430 of the most popular search terms that consumers in the UK use to find gaming websites and totalled the number of times each one was used. This gives an indication of the audience size and a profile of how Google users went about their searches for Gaming websites in December. The data was then collated, and league tables for the most visible website in natural and paid search** created for the gaming sector.

According to the report, search volume for gaming-related keywords increased from 1.7 million in October to 2 million in December.


Poker-related terms were the most searched for in December, accounting for 47%, followed by Casino (27%) then Bingo-related terms (26%). Compared to the previous quarter, volumes for Bingo and Poker remained relatively consistent.

Overall in natural search, 888.com, Wikipedia.org and pokerstars.com were the top three most visible websites in natural search. Respectively they accounted for 39%, 32% and 17% share of visibility.

(Table 1 showing Greenlight's top 5 of the 60 most visible gaming websites in natural search, shows below. If you are unable to view it please contact the press office) Table 1: Top 5 of the 60 most visible games websites in natural search, UK Category No.   Domain          Monthly reached volume    Monthly missed volume      % reached Natural Search  1              888.com         798,829                   1,228,005                  39% 2              wikipedia.org   647,771                   1,379,073                  32% 3              pokerstars.com  343,934                   1,682,910                  17% 4              foxlybingo.com  320,137                   1,706,707                  16% 5              pkr.com         314,447                   1,712,397                  16% Source: Greenlight For poker-related keywords in natural search, Wikipedia was the most visible site for poker keyword searches with 47% share of visibility. By comparison, 888 achieved 38% followed by Pokerstars with 36%.

For bingo keywords, FoxyBingo, WinkBingo and GalaBingo were the three most visible sites in natural search accounting for 61%, 49% and 44% share of voice, respectively. By comparison Bingo.com lost 40% share of voice, which saw it drop from position two to eight.

For casino-related search terms, 888.com achieved 59% share of voice in December in natural search, followed by Casino.com with 52% then SpinPalace with 49%. Whilst SpinPalace increased its share of voice on the previous quarter by 8%, it was replaced by Casino.com at position two.

In paid search overall, 888Ladies was the most visible advertiser with 32% share of visibility, an 18% increase on September. In second place was WilliamHillBingo, having not previously featured in Greenlight's top 60 league table in September. In at third position was WinkBingo with 24%.

According to Greenlight, despite the decrease in search volume for bingo keywords in December, the top four advertisers were all bingo websites. Of the top 10 advertisers, five were bingo-specific sites, 4 were poker sites and one was a multi-product site: 888.com.

(Table 1 showing Greenlight's top 5 of the 60 most visible gaming websites in natural search, shows below. If you are unable to view it please contact the press office) Table 2: Top 5 of the 60 most visible games websites in paid search, UK Category No. Advertiser % share of voicePaid Search 1 888Ladies.com 32%2 bingo.williamhill.com 25%3 winkbingo.com 24%4 poshbingo.co.uk 23%5 fulltiltpoker.com 22%Source: Greenlight Please note: If you plan to run this story online, please link any references to Greenlight via the following: http://www.greenlightsearch.com/sectorreports/gaming.html Notes to Editors: *Natural Search - Listings in search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms **Paid Search- an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market Greenlight's report, 'Gaming Sector Report - Issue 4' (2009), profiles search behaviour in this sector. It assesses which brands, aggregators and websites are the most visible in natural and paid search results, and hence have the greatest share of consideration when UK-based searchers go to Google to find gaming websites. The report is based on search volumes for December 2009.

About Greenlight Greenlight is an independent specialist SEO and PPC consulting and technology firm, the largest of its kind in Europe and the fastest growing. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Vodafone, British Gas, Interflora, Co-operative Financial Services and ghd, and a multitude of awards to its name, Greenlight is a leader in the search marketing space, and is recognised worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future of search.

In addition, Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector, publishing widely read industry reports, original research, speaking at most trade events, and delivering a highly respected search training programme in conjunction with the IDM. Greenlight was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in London, with offices in New York.

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