An IP geolocation service can yield many advantages for a business, and in today’s market benefiting from these is more a necessity than a luxury. Globalisation has continuously worn away at the borders that separate different geographical markets, and while this has created innumerable opportunities for organisations, it has also opened the floodgates to a litany of threats as well. Industries have become more and more saturated with competition, making the deceptively simple job of running a business effectively quite the challenge.
The casino and gambling industry is one such industry; considering how abundant online gambling companies are, it pays to stand out from the crowd. Effective use of an IP geolocation service allows just that, keeping you one step ahead of your rivals and enabling not just effective business operations, but the ability to thrive within the industry.
So, what are the kinds of advantages casinos and gambling affiliates can gain from using an IP geolocation service?
An IP geolocation service ensures your visitors only see offers they are eligible for
Perhaps the most obvious, but also the most important advantage that the service provides is ensuring that potential customers only see offers that they are eligible for. Gambling laws can be quite strict in many regions, and many outright do not accept sign-up forms. By displaying your offers in these regions - whether on-site or externally - not only are you wasting your budget, you’re very likely annoying these users and potentially being viewed as spammy and intrusive. An IP geolocation service will ensure that users only see offers that they are eligible for.
In fact you can use IP geolocation services to make sure the visitors are seeing offer they are ‘best suited’ for. As an example, let’s say that you have two offers available. One does not have a geographic restriction and has a payout of $30. The second only applies for Australian citizens, but has a payout of $40. Now, obviously you want all your Australian traffic to click on the Australian-specific offer, but you also don’t want traffic from other regions to see it and risk getting annoyed.
If you are not utilising geotargeting your best bet would be to show everyone the $30 payout offer, despite the lower payout for Austalian traffic. However, by showcasing geo-specific content through the usage of an IP geolocation service you can achieve the optimum result of Australians seeing the second option while international visitors see the first one.
An IP geolocation allows for better localisation and personalisation
IP geolocation services are not just accurate on a country level, they can reliably identify visitors at a state, and even city level. This allows for the same ideas we went over at a global level to be implemented at a local one.
Take for instance sports betting in Australia, Australian-rules rugby is a consistently spectated and bet on throughout the country. However, certain region like Melbourne might be more prone to betting on horse races instead. It stands to reason then that it’s a safe bet to show offers for Australian-rules rugby all around the country, while Melbourne alone sees offers for horse racing.
Businesses can take things a step further from here, with personalised ads that takes into account local preferences, languages, colloquialisms and special occasions. These kinds of ads are more likely to grasp and hold a potential user’s attention, likely resulting in better conversion rates and more effective use of budget.
IP geolocation services take device and connection preferences into account
At face value, it may seem that IP geolocation services solely provide a location-based intelligence. And while that maybe the prime focus of the service, it also provides information on the device and connections types of your visitors, something that can prove particularly useful on mobile.
With how popular mobile has become as a platform, it’s important for gambling websites to ensure proper mobile-optimisation. This is where knowing device and connection types, as well as connection speeds become invaluable. Based on this intelligence, a gambling site can show the best performing content to its visitors.
Think of a mobile user who’s currently browsing the site but is on a slow connection; they’re shown a fast-loading static ad of an offer. A mobile user with a fast connection on the other hand, might be shown the same offer in a visually striking, interactable ad. In both instances the user is given the best possible experience, based on personal circumstances, and better user experience is the key to better conversions.
Keep out unwanted gamblers out of your site with an IP geolocation service
You certainly don’t need us to remind you about how strict countries can get about their gambling rules and regulations. But while your business might try to adhere to all of these, certain users may not. For gambling sites that aim to hold individual licenses for each user’s jurisdiction, it’s important to identify and eliminate illegal gambling on your site.
We mentioned earlier that IP geolocation services are able to identify users right down to their postcode levels. So, businesses can easily set up users to only be able to access offers that are legal for them, blocking off the rest. However, certain users might be a bit more tech savvy and mask their IP addresses by way of a proxy or VPN service. Interestingly a smart IP geolocation service might still be able to combat this, being able to identify users who are using proxies or VPNs. This allows you to block off these users at an individual level and ensure your operation remains within all the required legal regulations.
Within an industry that is as competitive as online casinos and gambling, you want to ensure that all the chips fall in your favour. An IP geolocation service can provide a set of advantages that are crucial for better customer engagement and conversion, while at the same time ensuring that your business is not at risk of being associated with any unwanted, illegal activities. If nothing else, it’s a safe bet.
