19/10/2008 by admin.

The state of Kentucky’s attempt to block resident’s access to 141 online gambling sites has proceeded to the next level, as a Franklin County Circuit Court judge refused Thursday to dismiss the case. Judge Thomas Wingate denied pleas by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association and the Interactive Gaming Council. Arguments will be heard on November 17 before a ruling is made in this case that has been ongoing since September.

The civil action brought by Michael Brown, Secretary of Justice and Public Safety, and endorsed by Democratic Governor Steve Beshear, seeks seizure of 141 domain names of popular online gambling websites. The action claims these sites, including AbsolutePoker.com, CakePoker.com, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com, “promote or provide” illegal gambling in the state of Kentucky. It is within Kentucky’s rights to seize any and all illegal gambling devices.

Defendants have 30 days to block access to Kentucky residents. If they do not comply, the case will proceed with the site’s name on the hit list, and the site could potentially face permanent shut-down.

Kentucky v. 141 Internet Domain Names has the potential to strike a fatal blow to the heart of Internet gambling, a phenomenon that has riled the Congress and Senate and been an ongoing debate for years. If it passes, other concerned states could follow in its footsteps and bar Internet gambling from residential servers on the basis that it damages the state’s own lottery and/or casino industries. Then if it spreads across the United States, it could herald the death of online gambling as we know it.

1. The ruling says that the owners of the domains will have to establish to the court (in person, I am assuming) that they have blocked access to residents of Kentucky. Many of these owners will not step foot within the United States for fear of being arrested, so you could see how this might be a problem.

2. Which state will be next? Are all of the remaining states going to follow suit?

There is no word yet as to what the next step will be for the defendants.

People are also anxiously awaiting the reaction of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission to this ruling. They warned Governor Beshear before the hearing that a seizure of the listed domains would “adversely affect the members of our community and that is not acceptable.” Many of the domains listed in the seizure order are licensed by the Commission, so they will predictably be furious over this ruling.

I would expect that the news of this ruling will spread quickly throughout the mainstream media. This is not just an online gambling issue - it is an issue that could end up influencing many different industries.

It will be interesting to see what happens between now and November 17th. Some of the companies involved (Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker) planned ahead and will simply ignore the ruling. Some of the companies will be forced to set up alternative domain names (with foreign registrars) and redirect traffic to the new domains. It will be interesting to see if anyone will show up in court to prove that they have blocked the residents of Kentucky from accessing their domain.

All in all, a disappointing ruling, but one that will surely be challenged. Online Casino, Bingo and other gaming portals featuring Online Gambling and casino gambling are realing.

I think issue here is taxes. Many Internet gambling sites are based overseas and do not contribute to individual state’s economies. So while politicians such as Gov. Beshear may disguise the issue as damaging the morality of youth, a fine read between the lines tells a tale of money and competition — ironic given the nature of the case.

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16/10/2008 by admin.

Yep, you read it right. Google is going to start allowing gaming ads on their ppc program Adwords. It’s been almost 2 years since Google has allowed gambling ads. I’ve always complained that they are splitting hairs allowing stock brokers to advertise and even though I believe its more a reaction to losing over 50 dollars per share on the 15th on top of the millions that they have lost already this year, including the $200 per share they lost in September according to a techcrunch article.

What does this mean? This means billions will start to pour into Google’s Adwords and the landscape of gaming will dramatically shift as top gaming sites rush to get the top spots.

Thankfully, at Stickyeyes many of our top clients are the top gaming websites and this is the best news we have received in a long time. The question now is whether they are allowing it for affiliates or just licensed gaming portals.

Here is the ammended addition to their policy;

Google UK has updated their policy to read:

Advertising online gambling in Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales)

Google AdWords allows online gambling advertisements to target Great Britain (England, Scotland, or Wales) as long as the advertiser is registered with the Gambling Commission and provides a valid operating license number. Advertisers based outside the UK and within the European Economic Area who wish to target online gambling ads to England, Scotland, or Wales must be licensed to advertise online gambling in their respective country.

If you meet the above requirements and want to get started, review our Great Britain gambling application process below.

Great Britain gambling application process

To apply to advertise online gambling with Google AdWords, you will need to:

- Create a new Google AdWords account solely for your gambling campaigns (this applies to both new and existing advertisers). - Fill in the application form and legal declaration. Please be sure to submit your new AdWords Customer ID, located at the top of any of your account pages. To ensure the quick progress of your application, fill in all of the requested information. We will review your request as quickly as possible and let you know whether we were able to approve your application or not.

Google’s industry head James Cashmore said that Google had been reviewing the policy for almost a year and denied that its hand had been forced by the current economic climate. He added: “This is not a decision that’s been made quickly; it’s been something that’s been under discussion for months”

As Ace Ventura would say,’Re-heeeee-aaaaa-llly???’

Seems awful convenient though doesn’t it James?

Let the betting/bidding begin!

PR: wait…  I: wait…  L: wait…  LD: wait…  I: wait… wait…  C: wait…  SD: wait…

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13/10/2008 by admin.

I’m off this afternoon for the Afilliates 4 U conference later today, which means I get to ride the lovely train from Leeds to London, then the wonderful Tube ride to the Excel.

The last time I was around this neck of the woods Matt, Vanessa and the crew were at SES and I had a great time at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

My session is going to cover SEO and PPC Tools.

Stop by if you get the chance.I’m speaking the second day at 9:30. Kim Gilmour or someone from web retailer is also going to be interviewing me. That should be interesting.

Gary

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