How do you Pick the Casino Operator of the Year?
On the 30th of November a panel of specially selected judges will choose the casino which they believe deserves the coveted title of “eGaming Review’s (EGR) Casino Operator of the Year”. With the news that (of our featured casinos) 32Red Casino, Ladbrokes, William Hill and PartyCasino are all up for the gong, we’ve decided to take a closer look at what really makes a company the best casino operator of ‘09.
On the eGaming Review website, the category criteria suggests that when choosing who should win, judges “will be looking for (casino) operators that have the global reach and scale to set them apart in the crowded market”. The category description also notes that judges will be examining a casino’s “originality, brand identity, marketing, payment processing, usability and scale” when deciding who receives the award. While we at Jackpot.co.uk agree that a casino should be judged on the aforementioned factors, the amount of people actually searching for a casino should be part of the decision. Using Google’s Insight for Search tool, we examined just how popular the following casinos have been when it comes to web search interest, from November 2008 until November 2009:
• 32Red Casino
• Ladbrokes Casino
• William Hill Casino
• Intercasino
• PartyCasino
While Intercasino isn’t included in this year’s EGR nominations for “Casino Operator of the Year”, we’ve added them to our search interest list, as they are currently our most highly rated casino. Below you can find the data Google provided us with and our analysis of it:
Overwhelmingly, Ladbrokes Casino has consistently dominated search interest from Nov 08 – Nov 09, but once you begin to analyse the peaks, it’s possible to note what news stories and promotions have grabbed the public’s attention. One of Ladbrokes’ largest peaks begins on the 12th of April 2009 and ends on the 18th. The increase in search interest surrounding this period can be attributed to Ladbrokes’ new “Lemur” television advert, which began airing around the aforementioned dates.
The Google data also shows how William Hill have upped their “media game” in an effort to attract more users to their new brand. Surprisingly, the largest peak has very little to do with the William Hill Casino; between the middle of July, William Hill made the headlines for suspending bets on a tennis game and backing Amir Khan. PartyCasino’s gradual peak between the 14th and 27th of June 2009 is even easier to explain, as it correlates with the launch of their new television advertisement campaign, perhaps suggesting at the success, or “buzz” the adverts created amongst the public.
While the reasons behind one of Intercasino’s largest peaks, from the 21st of June until the 27th, is somewhat difficult to explain, the search interest may in part be down to the casino’s “Big Break” promotion, which offered prize pools worth $1,000+, coming to an end. However, one of Intercasino’s smaller peaks, between the 4th and 10th of October, is no doubt down to the release of their two DC themed slot machines, Batman and Wonder Woman.
If you just initially glance at the chart, it might take you a while to notice 32Red Casino. Seeing as they’re one of the most popular casino brands and constant player favourites, it’s surprising that they rank so low when it comes to search interest. One of the main peaks for the casino is between the 19th and 25th of April, is perhaps due to a jackpot worth £6 million available at the casino, and the announcement that 32Red had launched a spread betting service.
So, does the above information help us find the casino operator of the year? Well, it does go some way towards showing which casinos players are most interested in. As our figures utilised worldwide web search, if the EGR judges really wish to examine “the global reach” of a casino brand, all they have to do is glance at the casino brand which consistently dominates search interest.
Based on the Google data, if we had to pick who we would crown as Casino Operator of the Year, it would have to be PartyCasino. While both Ladbrokes and PartyCasino have shown how TV advertising campaigns which involve “originality, brand identity” and “marketing” can all work together to catch the eye and interest of the general public, PartyCasino’s search interest effectively doubled (when compared with Google’s averaged total for the casino) after they launched their summer advertising campaign. While EGR’s judges couldn’t purely rely on Google’s Insight data to pick the Casino Operator of the Year, the data while not 100% accurate, does hint towards which casinos players are interested in and searching for; a factor which should be at the forefront of every operator’s and awards judge’s mind come November the 30th.
