The Clarion Gaming website has an interesting take on the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) recent report in which only seven TV gambling adverts were found to contravene its regulations, including one related to bingo – it shows gambling advertisements in the UK demonstrate an “exceptionally high compliance rate”, according to the ASA.

The one offending ad relating to bingo was by the National Bingo Gaming Association, that champion of land-based bingo. I quote from the Clarion Gaming article detailing why the ASA found their ad to be questionable:

The televised ad featured “a woman buying items … marked with an oversized bingo pen. The advertisement finished with the woman buying a mansion for her relatives before spotting a jogger with surgically enhanced breasts. After looking at the breasts with envy, the woman pushed her chest out and the bingo pen hovered over the jogger’s breasts.” The ASA says the ad suggests that gambling can improve self-image or self-esteem.

The ASA has written to the offending advertisers requesting that the ads be withdrawn so that no fines or penalties will be imposed.

The poor old National Bingo Gaming Association – they must think the whole world is against them, what with smoking bans and double taxes decimating the land-based bingo industry and more and more people opting to play online bingo games. Now their advertising is a mess too (I know of no online bingo halls offering surgically enhanced breasts as a prize).

On the bright side, we can now safely conclude that online bingo carries a clean bill of health with the ASA and is also clear of surgically enhanced breasts with the recent departure of Katie Price from ‘fronting’ (pun intended) Foxy Bingo.

Written by John Witherspoon – Need the best online bingo games? BingoStreet.com collected the best online bingo promotions and free bingo games online.

Taking the UK government to court appears to be the first reaction coming out of Manchester following the disappointing news that plans to build a super-casino in the city have been vetoed.

Manchester authorities will argue that they were led to believe such a project was a ‘done deal’ and that they subsequently spent huge amounts of money preparing for it.  Now they face the loss of that money along with the 265 million pounds of future investment and the 2,700 estimated extra jobs – the government says they have helped stop a potential rise in problem gambling.

But there is always a silver lining to every tragedy and in the case of Manchester it may mean more people going online to play online bingo games instead of running off to a new casino.  Some may say this is a trite observation… Oh well, it’s a pretty trite world is all I can say.

I hope Manchester does take Gordon Brown & Co. to court and takes them to the cleaners in the process.  I think they have a very good case.  But if it had ever come to a choice between a trip to a Manchester casino or a night at my favourite online bingo hall, I think online bingo wins hands down.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

Today I’m engaging in a bit of speculative thinking regards the future of online bingo gameplay. I’m doing this after reading a report on the latest comments by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in which he believes we will see a shift away from using the keyboard to interact with our computers and instead start actually talking to them!

Voice recognition software has been around for a long time but is only now becoming sophisticated enough to really contemplate engaging in actual dialogue with a computer. Combined with touch screen technology, Bill Gates has this to say about his company’s future interest in this area:

“It’s one of the big bets we’re making,” Gates said at a recent talk given at Carnegie Mellon University about Microsoft’s expectations that Internet searches will be handled increasingly via dialogue than through keyboard. Adding comments about researchers’ needs he concluded: “They’re dealing with so much information that … the need for machine learning to figure out what’s going on with that data is absolutely essential.”

So how does this relate to the way we play online bingo games? Simply put, traditional bingo’s excitement was often based on the moment a room full of players heard someone shout “bingo!”. I can see the day that online bingo halls will also reverberate to actual shouts of “BINGO!” by online players and this will bring a whole new and exciting dimension to the online bingo community.

I’m not an expert in the field of voice recognition software or communicative computer programmes, but I do like the sound (no pun intended) of actually shouting bingo the ‘old school’ way. I’m sure such an innovation will see many more current land-based bingo players switch their allegiances to bingo online.

Written by John Witherspoon – Need the best online bingo games? BingoStreet.com collected the best online bingo promotions and free bingo games online.

News from the excellent and informative ATE Online site informs us that one of the six gambling advertisements that have recently been found to violate the UK’s TV advertising code is a bingo outfit.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has not named the six advertisers so I can’t give any names, but what I think we can all assume is that this particular bingo violator is not a major online bingo operator or online bingo hall.

What the six gambling advertisers are supposed to have done is create ads that may have appeal to children. The naughty bingo advertiser supposedly suggested that gambling may lead to improved self image or self esteem and achieve financial security.

My own view: It is a fact that winning, for example the £10,000 guaranteed jackpot at Wink Bingo, would definitely improve my own self esteem and financial security.

I would be interested to see what this particular bingo TV advertisement really did suggest regards gambling, but for the time being I’ll take my gambling cue from Bingo Street as to what’s happening in the online bingo games scene.

Written by John Witherspoon – Become a part of a great online bingo community. Play online bingo chat games at BingoStreet.com

While the news all last week tended to highlight the growing Scandinavian online bingo market, back here in the UK evidence mounted of more troubles in the land-based bingo industry with the announcement that Gala Bingo has put up its Nuneaton bingo hall for sale.

Land-based bingo has been in a bit of a bind recently with its profitability impaired by a new nationwide smoking ban, a controversial double tax system and the growing popularity of online bingo games and online bingo halls.

Gala Bingo is already a mainstay on the online bingo scene and it makes sense for them to maximize their land-based operations rather than run at a loss by keeping non-profitable halls afloat.  On the other hand, I doubt they will receive many offers from any industry for the building they have put up for sale due to the need to spend extra money on asbestos removal from the property.

What this move by Gala does tell us is that land-based bingo is an increasingly negative option for bingo operators in a world where changing habits are reflecting a move towards a more online-based lifestyle when it comes to entertainment choices.  I can see the day when outfits like Gala focus almost exclusively on people who play online bingo and exit the land-based scene completely.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

The story of how one Canadian online bingo software developer moved its operations from Canada to Ireland in order to escape the worst of the UIGEA clampdown on online gambling has taken an interesting turn for online bingo games operators this side of the Atlantic.

CryptoLogic recognizes that the US market has become a virtual dud for non-US gaming companies and has subsequently decided to concentrate on the European sector.  This is in keeping with many online gaming outfits stung by UIGEA which effectively disrupts US financial transactions with non-US online gaming companies.

It remains to be seen how successful CryptoLogic will be in the European free online bingo market which has been tagged for growth by a number of companies looking to cash in on the fastest growing niche in online gaming.  What it does indicate to us all is that online bingo is doing well as an industry, which is saying a lot when you look at the rather dreary forecasts for the wider world economy.

Quote of the day goes to Justin Thouin, the Vice President of Product Management and Business Development at CryptoLogic Inc:

“We are going to go after new licensees in a way we have not done for years. We are going to look at acquisions; we already made some acquisitions in the past year with Parbet.”

The consolidation trend in bingo online continues…

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.

Given that the Swedish online bingo market has been in the spotlight this week due to the growth in mergers and profits associated with Scandinavian bingo online, it’s interesting to note that Swedish and Malta-based online sportsbetting company Unibet has bucked the trend and released disappointing fourth quarter and full year results for 2007.

The company is showing a decline in profits.  Why?

Could it be that they are the one major Swedish gambling outfit that seems to have missed the boat on the growing online bingo games market?

Without going into the financial details surrounding the Unibet results, it’s only fair to point out that the unsatisfactory earnings may have been significantly impacted by charges related to the Unibet’s withdrawal from Pro Tour cycle racing events,  thanks to French protectionist laws.

Unibet has invested in online bingo in the form of its acquisition of Maria Holdings and this has contributed to a 15% increase in the company’s active gambler base.  But it seems Unibet may have to focus a bit more on its efforts to get more people to play online bingo if it’s going to compete in an ever more competitive market.

Written by John Witherspoon – Come and play online bingo at its best! The best bingo games online are one click away.

The positive online bingo news continues to come out of Sweden with reports that bingo online heavyweight Net Entertainment has struck a deal with an as yet to be revealed online bingo games operator.

It marks yet another chapter in the growing Swedish online bingo market where the female demographic is clearly the driving force making up those who play online bingo games in the chilly north. Pretty soon Swedish bingo is going to rival UK online bingo at this rate.

It’s also only a matter of time, in my opinion, before the Swedish government caves in to European Commission pressure and starts to allow non-Swedish gaming operators to compete for Swedish customers. Right now, it’s just good to see online bingo gaining such a strong foothold in the Swedish gaming industry.

Written by John Witherspoon – Become a part of a great online bingo community. Play online bingo chat games at BingoStreet.com

Swedish online gaming operators certainly seem to have the online bingo bit between the teeth. News that Entraction has invested in NYX Interactive’s bingo online product for its upcoming European online bingo launch belies what seems to be a burgeoning rush into a growing market. It’s the latest in a string of announcements by Swedish gaming companies targeting people who play online bingo – and it’s all very good news for us all.

The growth of the Scandinavian bingo scene is a sure indication that online bingo is the hot ticket in the online gaming industry. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the Swedish government sees sense and frees this market up to meet EU trade standards. After all, tax profits from a growing industry would be far more profitable than the current monopolistic system run by protected gaming operator Svenska Spel.

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The acquisition party for all things bingo online seems to be shifting up a gear if news from Parlay Entertainment is to be believed.  Adding to an existing offer by Mark Blandford’s PEIC Acquisition group of C$12.3 million, the online bingo software developer has revealed there are two more offers now on the table.

While it will be closer to the end of February before we get an actual sale of Parlay, the news does confirm that interest in the online bingo market is still on a potent upward trend.  This is good news for online bingo operators who might be feeling a bit spooked by what is going on in the larger economy.

Fears of recession in the US are likely to spook most businesses due to the predicted slowdown in consumer spending.  However, the online gaming market, and free online bingo games in particular, may actually benefit from a downturn in the consumer economy as people turn to forms of entertainment closer to home.

The capacity for consumers to seek entertainment despite economic conditions spells a great opportunity for online bingo operators to position themselves in the online gaming market.  I think we’ll see online bingo grow irrespective of what happens in the wider economy.

Written by John Witherspoon – How about playing bingo online? The best free online bingo games are just one click away.