The game of Bingo has always been a favourite among many in the United Kingdom, mainly in land based bingo halls, and amusement arcades. However, in July of 2007, a full ban on smoking in public places came into effect in the UK, leading to most bingo players opting not to visit bingo halls as often, and as a result the online bingo market rapidly filled the gap left behind.
Bingo has often been viewed by most as a feminine game, however to most peoples surprise; recent statistics show that the appeal is widening to males as well now, and that almost 85% of bingo in the United Kingdom is now played via the internet. The market on the whole is particularly saturated, with a large amount of bingo sites appearing almost overnight, and the ones at the top compete fiercely for their player's trade.
Up until about three or four months ago the majority of promotions were either based on a first deposit amount, or as a no deposit bonus. However, two sites recently opted for something extremely different, which the UK hasn't seen until now. A promotion whereby the players are expected to play as normal, and if they are successful at the game, and win, then they are able to keep all of their winnings. However, if they lose, they don't really lose, they get their losses back as cash back. Now, this is obviously not a sustainable model that could be continued in the long term, however it is definitely a good welcome to any new players. So is this something we should expect more operators to do? Or is it simply a short term publicity stunt to entice people in?
Ryan Sheader, owner of BingoBonusesOnline.com, had this to say "I think it's fair to say that the online bingo bubble has definitely popped, and the bingo sites know now that they need to be a bit more creative with their bingo bonuses if they are going to really pull in the traffic. At the end of the day, the players have a heck of a lot of choice, and we are seeing that the sites were promoting are thinking outside the box a lot more, and really separating the wheat from the chaff so far as sites and their offers go. It's good for us, because we only promote what we consider "the best" anyway. Though now, they best are going head to head to be the very best of the best, it's good for everybody really, and it mixes things up a bit".
I suspect only time will tell if we will see this catch on elsewhere, perhaps it is something that doesn't appeal to all operators. However, if sites are going to use online bingo bonuses to pull in the players, the market certainly needs some unique value and differentiators.
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Source:
http://computernewsarticles.com/computer_articles/2012/09/online-bingo-market-in-the-uk-sees-increase-in-low-risk-promotions-303857.htm