Unlocking The Global Opportunity in Sports Betting by Tackling Ad Fraud

Expansion in the sports betting industry is being driven by the advancement of digital capabilities paired with the change in legislation to favour the industry. The UK and Australia are highly active regions and growth is expected to soar in the next few years, while Latin America is presenting an exciting opportunity in many countries. Since legislation in 2018, the US has also seen a surge of international operators moving in. As a result of this market growth, competition among operators is fierce as they seek to break into new global markets to profit from the rise in bettors.

By 2028, the industry is predicted to grow by 86%, reaching $114.4 billion by 2028, according to Statista. With many sporting events back in action, in-person, quick and accessible in-game betting is being encouraged using push notifications from mobile apps. Businesses can easily avoid the financial risk of opening a store in every city by utilising this digitalisation to expand into new markets.

However, as the digital landscape grows, so does the target for fraudulent activity on apps. To maximise their digital marketing in new territories, operators must get better visibility over the losses they face to invalid traffic which is damaging their ROI.

The Growing Global Opportunity

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According to Casino.org, around 26% of the world’s population gambles. In the last five years, since the U.S. Supreme Court issued the decision to remove the federal ban on sports gambling, legislation supporting the sports betting market has increased globally.

The expansion of the market due to relaxing laws has created opportunities for operators both locally and internationally. The state of New York alone generated $302.3 million in tax revenue from mobile sports betting in just six months from its legislation. However, new opportunities worldwide increase the need for operators to go the extra mile to improve user acquisition, stay visible and maximise their budgets.

To reap the benefits of the growing market, a clear strategy is needed. Without it, many are failing to overcome ad fraud, preventing them from seeing true results.

Sports betting apps are at risk of:

• Misattribution–Clicks and installs are awarded to a fraudulent source as bad actors use malware to steal installs from legitimate sources and organic. A single install attributed to the wrong source creates lasting damage for marketers who then follow this data and underinvest in the channels that deliver the best results, restricting their ROI.

• Hampered User Acquisition –As sports betting apps focus and invest in fraudulent engagement, legitimate user engagement goes unnoticed and genuine users aren’t pushed down the sales funnel. Marketers find themselves reluctant to scale their marketing efforts as they continually invest more money into sources that aren’t delivering genuine results and pumping more money into these fraudulent sources only leads to more losses.

• Damaged User Retention –False installs and engagements make it hard for marketers to retain customers which is a barrier when it comes to ensuring top-of-mind awareness. These fraudulent techniques distort metrics and falsify the number of genuine customers. So, further investment in their efforts uses polluted data, causing the wrong channels to be scaled. Businesses will struggle to offer the most competitive stakes as they try to make up for the losses in budget. As a result, they may fail to retain customers who go elsewhere for better odds.

• Simply put, fraudsters love emerging markets. As sportsbooks are looking to reward new joiners and engage with regular promotions to keep up with the acceleration of the market, they must target their app advertising strategy to fit industry demands. So, to monopolise the opportunity ahead, they must start by tackling ad fraud.

Implementing Real-Time Protection

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TrafficGuard delivers an unprecedented level of transparency into the traffic quality across campaigns to ensure optimal success. With an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard, marketers gain full visibility of impressions and clicks before fraud has a chance to cause damage.

With a reliable solution, sportsbooks can increase user acquisition by investing in the channels that deliver the best results. TrafficGuardhas the full capability to maximise companies' advertising ROI by verifying attribution in real-time, to unlock and expand budgets.

Through our seamless approach, every penny saved from fraud goes straight back into the budgets of marketers to optimise and enhance their offerings. Sports betting operators can feel confident that their mobile ad campaigns will deliver legitimate traffic and genuine engagement. The newfound level of transparency makes it easier to scale with confidence in new territories, as the digital market demands.

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Operating Across Borders withTrafficGuard

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As of January 2023, GrandViewResearch reported that sports betting is legal in 76% of the US alone. The relaxation in legislation has revealed a new growth trajectory, with further opportunities for sports betting operators to meet the demands of the market. The significant expansion in the industry combined with the increase in digitalisation means it’s more important than ever for the betting industry to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

However, the sophistication of invalid traffic is too much for sportsbooks to manage alone. Mobile apps come with complexities and challenges for marketers who need advanced technology to mitigate fraud at the source.

Fraudsters work fast but TrafficGuard works faster. Our full-funnel approach protects sports betting companies from hampered user acquisition, and misattribution, stopping them from paying out for invalid traffic. Ultimately, removing mobile ad fraud will enable sports betting companies to scale with confidence in new territories.

If you’d like to find out more on how you can eradicate fraud to unlock true campaign results, book a meeting with Richard Metcalf, Global VP of Sports Betting and Online Gaming at [email protected]

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Want to learn more? Get connected with our Global VP of sports Betting and Online Gaming and discover potential savings with TrafficGuard's click fraud protection👇

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