Facebook Gambling Licences – What’s the deal?

December 5, 2011
by Neil Fairweather

As soon as I read the eGaming Review’s article about Facebook’s exploratory talks to open real-money gambling in the UK last week, I was sure the buzz surrounding the news was spreading and bookmakers and gambling brands alike were wondering why they hadn’t been invited to the “lunch/dinner” with Facebook to discuss this further.

Due to having a close relationship with Facebook, Latitude are able to put a little more ‘meat on the bones’ to this story to give a clearer understanding of where things are heading for Facebook and the Gambling market.

It is true that Facebook have been holding conversations regarding this topic, however there is still no defined path forward. Facebook are still looking to recruit suitable personnel in this area in order to facilitate any changes or direction they decide to take. More significantly, what has already evolved during the last couple of months is what Gambling companies can already do with Facebook. Companies are already able to run CPC and CPM campaigns to attract new users through the various platforms – marketplace, sponsored stories etc. They can also launch applications on the platform whilst linking these to real money sites. What is important to note is that this can only happen if they have signoff from Facebook Legal, which is something bookmakers and gaming companies need to pay for.

According to Facebook, there isn’t currently a “new deal” being worked on, but just them investing time and effort into work closely with these leading businesses on adding value to their propositions.Although this is the line taken by Facebook and I may merely just be passing on the message that they have been asked to portray, I am sure there are grey areas within this discussion. What I would prompt any agencies or bookmakers to ensure is that they remain close to Facebook and invest in them to ensure they keep up-to-date with Facebook’s developments – and front of mind for Facebook Gambling changes.

On a final note, the Independent wrote an excellent review of Mark Zuckerberg:Inside Facebook programme that premiered on BBC2 on Sunday 4th of December. It pointed out several interesting observations and also mentioned my favourite part of the programme - when Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, says “lets pause” when asked about sponsored story advertising. This has to call into question exactly how true the EGR suggestions are versus the word from Facebook themselves.

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