There is more reason for affiliates to be concerned about the recent woes with the Expekt affiliate program. CAP forum member ‘pjotter‘ has pointed out that the site no longer lists “no negative carry over” in its reasons to join the affiliate program.
pjotter observed that Expekt’s “18 Reasons to Join” affiliate marketing page now only lists 17 reasons. Using the ‘Wayback Machine‘ to view an older version of the page reveals that Expekt removed the claim of “no negative carry over” on affiliate accounts.
Negative carry over is when a negative balance on an affiliate account carries over to the following month. Affiliates generally prefer deals involving a “no negative carry over” clause meaning they start with a blank slate at the first of each month and do not have work off any negative balances accrued in the previous month.
The change follows Expekt’s latest trend of creating policy changes that are unfriendly to affiliates. In April, rumors surfaced that Expekt would be closing its affiliate program. Since that time, affiliates have reported that the site closed their account claiming that their players were winning too much money. These affiliates were encouraged to create a new account but informed they would not be able to retain the players previously tracked to them.
Forum member ‘pjotter’ points out additional information from the Casinomeister forums that reveals Expekt’s troubles may run deeper.
Expekt is owned by the Betclic Everest Group. While the company is not publicly traded and therefore not required to release their financials, they are partially owned by a publicly traded company, Societe Des Bains De Mer. Information in that company’s annual report yields some concerning financial details regarding Betclic Everest Group:
Lastly, the equity-accounting consolidation of Betclic Everest Group, an on-line gaming group that is 50% owned by Société des Bains de Mer, required the recognition of a 50% share of its net profit for the period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, for a negative share of €25 million. This loss corresponded to the consideration of acquisition costs and the impairment of intangible assets, in addition to a net operating income heavily impacted by the opening of the French on-line gaming market and high taxation.
Players and affiliates alike would be wise to use caution when doing business with Betclic and Expekt, as they are co-managed.