The importance of responsible aggregation

When it comes to Europe’s patchwork regulatory environment, it goes without saying that we’re a million miles away from the wild west of the early 2000s. Regulatory bodies such as the UKGC, Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), to name just a few, have developed gold standards and examples for other global emerging markets to follow.

It is clear there is still room for improvement, however what we’ve seen in the last 10 years in terms of regulatory developments in Europe has been transformational, with an increasingly secure regulatory environment boding well for the future.

Within both this developed and developing environment, the challenge for today’s operators is to identify the markets that are still profitable while finding ways to negotiate the complex web of rules and specifications required of them. As aggregators, it’s our job to support operators in that endeavour and our role is often underestimated.

Traditionally, you would expect an aggregator to solve the ‘one size fits all’ conundrum faced by brands and little else. Ten years ago tailoring content to suit player behaviour differing from region-to-region would be an aggregator’s bread and butter.

For instance, having insight into the fact that UK audiences have a rich appetite for slot games filled with add-on features and bonuses, while those in Scandinavia traditionally prefer to see frequent wins in the base game, would be enough to pay the bills.

Taking the lead

This has changed. In today’s mature and more socially responsible environment, an aggregator should act as a bridge between multiple content providers – with our role now increased to the point where we are playing gatekeeper between operator and regulator.

Whether it’s an operator looking to expand into new markets or react to regulatory changes – it’s our job as the content arbiter to ensure we provide a ‘sanitised’ pipeline of content that meets the regulatory demands of whichever market it is required to operate in.

As early adopters of new regulatory frameworks springing up across Europe and the rest of the world, we’ve worked hard to keep pace with the rate of change we’re currently seeing; and developing our aggregation platform in conjunction with the latest raft of regulation.

Our role has evolved to the point where we are responsible for localised content specific to our partners’ markets and player base – we provide an off-the-shelf compliance solution that covers multiple gaming providers – while ensuring they are all compliant. In effect, we’re removing the headache for our customers and rapidly speeding up time to market.

In my view, this will only increase. As we evolve, and regulatory markets become even more stringent in their requirements, the next generation aggregator is going to be required to be that first step of compliance; and should be doing the operator’s job for them when it comes to preparing and distributing aggregated content responsibility.

Responsible aggregation

The evolving role of aggregators is one of ‘responsible aggregation’; in other words, the need to provide for a catalogue of thousands of games and seamless bonusing that is automatically compliant in whichever regulatory market is required.

The importance of this cannot be underestimated. Get it wrong and you’ll end up the way of many who have fallen foul of the Swedish regulator this year. Regulators have teeth and they’re not afraid to use them. In less than a year, we’ve seen millions doled out in fines to gaming operators because their catalogues of games, along with bonusing platforms, simply haven’t met their requirements.

In my view, the future for our industry is and should be all about responsibility. The world of B2B gaming has evolved at an exponential rate over the past few years and it is this speed of regulatory change that is often leaving operators out of pocket when they fail to keep up.

As we move forward, the compliance-based element of the industry is set to become far more competitive. Aggregators are going to continue to be the source for localised content specific to each partner’s market and player base. Without having a partner to aggregate the thousands of games required, operators will find it increasingly hard to differentiate themselves while remaining fully compliant, which makes us a necessity.

Sweden’s regulatory fallout is an omen for things to come if operators cannot tailor their offering to a market’s regulators – and it’s increasingly going to be the job of the aggregator who needs to provide, at source, a responsible foundation for the industry to build on.

Phil Parry has been involved in the egaming industry since 2002 where he joined MGM Mirage Online Casino before moving in 2003 to the online sportsbook and casino operator betinternet.com as their head of marketing. Following instrumental roles at Enetpulse, he joined Iforium in 2013 as CEO and has led the company since.