Opinion: Free bets wrongfully under fire

In what is an extremely competitive online betting and gaming market, free bets have become a great tool for bookmakers to generate a high volume of customer acquisitions. The marketing and advertising of free bets has increased considerably, especially with many new entrants to the market.

So it’s been interesting to see the advertising of free bets recently come under scrutiny by the Gambling Commission who will soon carry out some consultations with a view to introducing guidelines for operators.

We have over 60 affiliate deals with bookmakers, exchanges and spread betting firms. A wide number of these offer free bets to new customers, and I believe in most cases operators display terms and conditions prominently and clearly.

I must say in over four years of running Freebets.com, and having had well over a million hits to our site, I can count the number of complaints we’ve had from punters about misleading or unfair operator offers on one hand.

But I often get asked if free bets really exist. They do. The caveat is normally ‘when’. Free bets when customers open an account and deposit are very commonplace although there has been a recent trend of offering no deposit free bets for sport. Skybet ran a very popular £10 No Deposit Free Bet most of 2013 until this month whilst Betfred also offered a £10 No Deposit Free Bet until very recently.

There are certain things punters have to do in terms of rolling over any winnings before they can withdraw and the free bet returns rarely include the stake, but it’s a close a thing as free as you are going to get.

Sites such as Freebets.com and the affiliate industry in general play an increasingly important role in comparing free bets, other promotional offers and making clear to the consumer the terms and conditions. Obviously for the affiliate industry, any new guidelines for operators using and advertising these particular offers will have some impact on their own business.

It’s hard to find a punter who doesn’t like free bets and most make good use of them and, we should remember, they are typically an expensive acquisition tool for operators so they have a vested interest in avoiding hassle or problems with them and thereby making the terms and conditions clear and accessible.

Clearly it’s within the interests of both bookmakers and affiliates to work together with the Gambling Commission, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Responsible Gambling Trust over any future guidelines.

Personally we would be very happy to participate in any discussions with these bodies. While we believe there’s a fine line between protecting consumers and infringing on personal choice, critics should remember one of the main objectives of the Gambling Commission is to keep gambling fair and safe and overall they, and the other organizations involved in this, are doing a good job.