William Hill terminates Dutch affiliate marketing
UK bookmaker warns affiliates that continuing Dutch marketing efforts could potentially "jeopardise" its chances of obtaining a licence
William Hill has written to its Netherlands-facing affiliate partners requesting they terminate all marketing activities in the country, eGaming Review has learned.
Yesterday the UK operator sent an email, seen by eGR, to members of its Affiliates United programme requesting they “remove immediately” all William Hill links and promotions from their websites.
“This decision was taken because we do not want to jeopardise our (future) licence in the Netherlands,” the email said. “I trust that when the market is licensed in the Netherlands, we can continue our cooperation,” it added.
Speaking to eGR this morning, a spokeperson for William Hill said the action was a show of support for the licensing procedure.
“We’re following the market trend by ceasing affiliate activities,” the spokesperson said. “We’re aware that there is an ongoing licence process and we want to be supportive of that process,” the spokesperson added.
The Netherlands Gaming Authority (NGA) has taken a tough stance on operators targeting the market in the run-up to regulation and recently handed down fines totalling 310,000 to two firms found to be advertising in the country.
The regulator has also warned operators it would be willing to reject future licence applications on the basis of continued unlicensed activity in the country.
The warning prompted 888 in August to warn members of its affiliate programme to cease all marketing activities directed at the Dutch market with the firm looking to obtain a licence once the application window opens next year.
Last month the NGA asked operators to register an official interest in applying for a licence before the end of the year.