Affiliate income: who pays GamblersChoice
Last updated: · checked by the GamblersChoice editorial team
Readers pay nothing for GamblersChoice, but writing, research and hosting are not free. The money comes from casino operators under affiliate agreements. Below is how those agreements are structured, which parts of our pages they may shape and which parts they leave alone.
Types of agreement
| Model | What triggers payment | Possible effect on the site |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue share | Our slice of whatever stakes are left once winnings and bonus costs come off, counted on players we referred, for the period written into the contract | Whether a casino appears and how prominently |
| Cost per acquisition (CPA) | A single fee once a referred player registers and makes a qualifying first deposit | Whether a casino appears and how prominently |
| Hybrid | A reduced single fee combined with a reduced revenue share | As for the two models above |
| Paid placement | A fee for a featured position | Displayed only with a visible label |
Which operators pay us, and on what terms, is set out in confidential contracts. The cost sits with the operator: your deposit, the odds and the bonus are identical whether you arrived through us or typed the address yourself.
Networks and direct deals
Some agreements are signed with an operator directly; others run through affiliate networks that represent several brands at once and pass commission on to us. In both cases the operator is the ultimate source of the money, and in both cases the arrangement can colour our choices in the same way.
Inside a /go/ link
Buttons labelled "Visit casino", "Get bonus" and the like lead to an address starting with /go/. Our server records the click with a referral reference and then forwards your browser to the casino, which reads that reference to credit the new account to us. The cookies involved are described in our cookie policy.
Skipping the referral
Clicking our buttons is optional. Typing the casino's address into your browser, or finding it through a search engine, reaches the same site with the same offer, and in that case no commission is recorded for us. Some welcome packages are tied to a particular landing page, so compare what is shown before you sign up.
Commission does affect rankings
There is no point pretending otherwise. When two casinos come out close on our checklist, the brand under contract with us is likelier to be shown, and stronger commercial terms make a higher spot more likely. A brand may be missing from our tables only because no agreement exists with it, not because it performs worse.
Use our rankings as one source among several. Set them against the operator's published terms, the information from your provincial regulator and other independent reviews before you deposit.
What stays the same regardless of payment
- Reviews quote the wagering requirements, withdrawal limits and fees that the operator publishes, unfavourable ones included.
- Age limits, provincial rules and help-line details appear for paying and non-paying brands alike.
- A partner whose terms get worse is reviewed again, and the page reflects the change.
A built-in conflict of interest
Under a revenue-share deal, our income grows as the losses of the players we sent grow. That tension cannot be engineered away; what we can do is name it plainly and leave a path to support on each page: the ConnexOntario line and our responsible gambling page are linked from the footer whatever casino you are reading about. We do not write copy urging readers to chase losses, raise deposits or play longer.
Reading us with this in mind
A /go/ button next to a brand is the simplest signal that a commercial link may exist. Treat any page carrying one as written by a party with a stake in your sign-up. Look up the licence yourself, read the withdrawal section of the operator's terms before the bonus section, and decide on a spending ceiling before you open an account rather than after. Spot something missing from a page? Email us about it.
Reader-only offers
From time to time an operator reserves a promo code or welcome package for visitors referred by us. Such deals are part of the commercial relationship and are marked as exclusive. As with any promotion, what you actually receive is decided by the casino's published bonus terms.
Labelled content
Any article or placement that has been paid for is labelled as such at the point where it starts. Paid material is held to the same rules on age limits and safer gambling as the rest of our content.
Why we publish this
Advertising standards expect commercial ties to be disclosed, and readers deserve to know who funds what they are reading. The line on commission at the bottom of every page points here for that reason.
Contact about partnerships
Questions about a particular operator, a label you believe is missing, or a commercial proposal can be sent to [email protected]. GamblersChoice.net is published by Zephyrsand Interactive FZ-LLC, Building 4, Dubai Internet City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the way casinos are scored, read our review method; for what our pages cannot guarantee, read the disclaimer.