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2011-12-27T19:25:00.001-08:00

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2011-12-16T22:38:00.001-08:00

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Facebook To Enter Into Real Money Online Poker? - 1st December 2011

2011-12-02T23:16:00.001-08:00

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Rumors were abuzz yesterday about the possibility of the social networking behemoth Facebook entering into the online poker arena, but it may be that was the extent of the issue…simply rumors.

According to the popular blog “Friending Facebook” written by Emil Protalinski on ZDNet.com, Facebook has been rumored to be in discussions with several outlets regarding the future of online poker on the site. Currently, Facebook only offers “credits” that players can purchase to use to play a multitude of games that the site promotes, but it hasn’t stepped into the realm of a “real money” offering. Protalinski details out how some of the buzz regarding the possibility of Facebook stepping into online poker has gotten started.

Apparently, clandestine meetings were held over the summer between Facebook and “approximately twenty online gaming experts, consultants and social gaming entrepreneurs,” according to Protalinski. If this were to become a reality, it would happen at some point within the first three months of 2012, with the potential for up to eight licenses to be offered to potential online gaming operations through Facebook.

Protalinski notes, via eGaming Review Magazine, that two of those potential outlets have already been named as potential licensees. One of the top game developers, Gamesys, is potentially in the running for one of those licenses. Gamesys, which has been in the online gaming industry since 2001, offers bingo software as well as games based on television shows such as The Price Is Right and Deal or No Deal. The company also has a contract with Caesars Entertainment for CaesarsBingo.com.

The other operation named specifically as a potential suitor for Facebook also has connections with Caesars Entertainment, the owners of the World Series of Poker. 888 Holdings PLC, founded in 1997 and the ownership behind such offerings as 888Poker.com and the Caesars Entertainment owned WSOP.com online poker site, is rumored to be one of the companies at the front of the line for a potential Facebook partnership. 888Poker is currently the fourth ranked online poker network in the industry, having a seven day average of 2150 cash game players, according to PokerScout.com.

Protalinski points out several issues that will have to be overcome before any such partnerships can reach fruition. Age verification issues, something that anti-online gaming zealots have said would be problematic, are something that Facebook would have to deal with, as people do not always put their year of birth on their Facebook record for privacy reasons. Finding an outlet that could process real money transactions at a bulk rate would also be problematic as well as how Facebook and any partners would divvy up the proceeds.

In looking at how Facebook handles its “credits” transactions, Protalinski points out some significant numbers. Protalinski states that Facebook takes a 30% cut of revenues earned through the purchases of Facebook Credits, with the remaining 70% going to the developers of the games. To possibly see how much money is potentially involved in this partnership, PartyGaming – before it joined forces with Bwin early this year – pulled in $497.9 million in revenue in 2010. If that type of activity was seen with a Facebook gaming site – and using the same percentages as Facebook currently operates under – it would mean Facebook would make approximately $149.3 million and their partner company would pull in $348.5 million.

For American citizens, however, there is no glimmer of hope. Real money online poker through Facebook isn’t an option per the current status of online gaming in the United States. The offerings would first be done in the United Kingdom and potentially branch out to the rest of the world, Protalinski reports.

Then again, this could all just be conjecture. Protalinski contacted Facebook officials regarding this issue and quoted a representative of Facebook as saying, “We’re always in discussions with companies about lots of different ideas, but we don’t comment on future plans or speculation.” After the ringing in of the New Year, however, we may learn if these plans are true or false. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Facebook Gamblers Taking Bigger Risks Than They Know, by Greg Tingle - 1st December 2011

2011-12-01T04:27:00.003-08:00

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A massive loophole in Australian - federal gambling legislation is allowing an online casino to receive funds from Facebook punters but not pay out winnings in cold hard cash, leaving punters in the lurch, out of moolah, and angry - and there's not much they can do about it at present.

Only recently have media companies such as Media Man and Fairfax Media been able to warn punters of the dangers of betting - especially on some Facebook affiliated websites.

Media and gaming commentators are advising gamblers to only bet with websites they can trust, and to avoid Facebook gambling websites until loopholes have been fixed up. Big name gambling brands which are considered ethical and trustworthy by most media and igaming experts include Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Virgin Games (not available in Australia), Betfair, Centrebet and PKR.

The DoubleDown casino on Facebook is one brand in question. They "give" players "free" chips - but once they are used up, punters are required to purchase credits to continue to play online casino games such as poker, blackjack, slots and roulette (not Russian Roulette) - even more dangerous then the website in question.

As they say - always read the fine print! The terms and conditions explicitly say "regardless of the terminology used, Virtual Currency and Virtual Goods may never be redeemed for "real world" money, goods or other items of monetary value from the Site or any other party."

A wave of complaints has hit independent senator Nick "Mr X" (satire) Xenophon. A Facebook page condemning the site and warning others has also been established by anger players. A constituent contacted Senator Xenophon after he attempted to withdraw the chips, made a complaint, but was subsequently blocked from the site by administrators. So much for ethics and consumer confidence.

Senator Xenophon wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority complaining that the US-based website was misleading and was in breach of online gaming laws.

ACMA told Senator Xenophon the website's content is not prohibited because it was not possible to win 'money or anything else of value' from playing the games provided, so it does not in fact constitute a gambling website.

The Senator yesterday wrote to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy requesting an urgent meeting to discuss "a loophole in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 which has allowed hundreds of Australians to lose money".

"People are paying real money to gamble on these sites," Senator Xenophon advised. "But because these gamblers are forbidden by the sites from converting that virtual money back into real money, the sites aren't technically breaking any laws. This needs to change."

A review of igaming - online gambling laws commenced earlier this year and Senator Conroy's spokesman advised online casino games were prohibited and could not be provided to Australians.

"Consumers participating in games purporting to be such things should think carefully as they are not regulated by Australian law," he said.

A spokesman for DoubleDown Casino said it took great pride in having established the world's largest virtual casino game on Facebook.

"We couldn't have done that without the millions of customers who return every day to enjoy free chips and our entertaining game. Casual gamers can play every day for free and it is entirely up to the user to decide if they wish to purchase virtual chips to play longer," he said.

"There are hundreds if not thousands of games on Facebook which accept virtual currency in the form of Facebook credits and we're proud to be one of Facebook's top 12 game partners."

Established gaming companies such as Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, PKR, Virgin Games, Betfair and Centrebet offer both play for free and play for money options, and have not received complaints like the ones directed towards DoubleDown.

Those who enjoy a punt are advised to bet with their head, not over it, and to have fun. If gambling stops being fun, its a strong sign to stop playing and seek help.

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Virgin Casino New Circus Internet Slots; Virgin Casino Releases Siberian Storm Slot Game

2011-11-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

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Virgin Casino is licensed in the gambling jurisdiction of Alderney in accordance with British Law. New players are offered a 100% match bonus up to £$€100.

Virgin Casino has only reload bonuses reserved for the first week of November. The good news it has just added a new internet slots titled Captain Cannon’s Circus of Cash. Captain Cannon’s is a product of Ash Gaming which could be played at Virgin Casino through its GTS platform. One of the standout features of this circus based slot game is its 9 thematic bonus rounds. Captain Cannon’s offers players a return of 95%.

The slot game has three in-reel bonus rounds. In the Fire Breather bonus round a fire breather blowing flames appears on the reels. This amounts to three reels that have wild symbols. The line wins are then calculated anew and paid. A female lion tamer features in the Lion Tamer bonus features. In total five symbols are transformed into wild symbols. Yet again additional payouts are awarded to the player. Players will like the Rampaging Elephant. An elephant goes out of control on the reels knocking out some of the symbols. The remaining symbols and new symbols drop down to fill the gaps left. Chances are very good to obtain wilds in the new symbols. Every line win is calculated again and paid to the player.

The Caravan Side Shows is the next set of bonuses. These bonuses feature on the second screen and are played inside the caravan. To win bonus credits in the Bearded Lady bonus, the player has to choose one of two bearded ladies to win. In actual fact one of these women is a real beauty hiding behind the beard and offers larger payouts. In the Strongman Contest the player must pick one of the strongmen. The strongman lifts weights and holds it above his head. The longer the weights could be held, the larger the payout the player will receive. The Knife Throwers award five throws. The must choose a number of balloons, each balloon that is popped awards bonus credits or additional throws.

Last but not least is the Main Event bonus rounds; these offer the highest payouts as well as the possibility of hitting the progressive jackpot should the gold clown make its appearance on the screen during the bonus. Virgin Casino guarantees that one lucky player will win this progressive jackpot. Free spins are awarded by the Clown Car bonus. The amount of free spins is determined by the clowns with pink balloons and the multiplier is determined by the clowns with green spins. The Tightrope Motor Bear must ride across the rope and return a clown. Depending on how far the bar travels bonus points are awarded. The captain is fired from the cannon In the Captain Cannon Bonus. A prize is awarded with each object he collides with. The bonus ends the moment he collides with a water barrel.

Virgin Casino can not currently be accessed by Australian, New Zealand or American players, but a range of other online casinos can be located via the Global Gaming Directory.

Virgin Casino Releases Siberian Storm Slot Game...

Virgin Casino released a new slot game entitled Siberian Storm and it is set to cause just that at Richard Branson's very popular online casino.

The new slo game has a Siberian wild life theme to it and includes the mesmerizing MultiWay Extra™ format of wagering where players can win in up to 720 different ways.

The scatter pays and the stacked wilds make sure for an exciting slot game experience. The free spin bonus round gives the player the opportunity to win up to 240 free spins to win a huge reward. During the free spin bonus round, the player begins with 8 free spins. However, these can be re-triggered to attain the potential 240 free spins.

The stand-out features for Siberian Storm include superb graphics, a high quality soundtrack and the chance for players to win very big with a variety of ways to win a cash prize.

In Siberian Storm, players can win by hitting symbols diagonally as well as just from left to right. There is a single lines jackpot of 1,000 coins. This can be won when the player hits five Siberian Storm logos and there is a total jackpot of £250,000.

Siberian Storm is available to play at Virgin Casino right now.

Virgin Casino can not currently be accessed by Australian, New Zealand or American players, but a range of other online casinos can be located via the Global Gaming Directory.

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2011-08-29T01:42:00.001-07:00

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Google Chrome becomes UK's second most popular web browser

2011-08-01T03:17:00.000-07:00

Google's Chrome is Britain's second most popular browser, a sign of the internet giant's increasing grip on the UK search market.

Three years after launch, Chrome last month captured 22% of UK users and marginally overtook Mozilla's Firefox browser, according to the web metrics firm Statcounter. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is losing market share to Chrome but remains the most popular browser for UK users with 45% – although it has a head start by being pre-installed on almost all computers sold in Britain. Apple's Safari is UK number four, with a 9% share.

Google's rise in the browser market is in part down to nationwide advertising – Chrome is the first Google product advertised on British TV – but is largely attributed to its speed.

Lars Bak, the Google engineer responsible for Chrome, said the goal had never been to attract a huge user base, but to energise a dormant browser market: "Speed is a fundamental part of it, but it's also about the minimal design and the way it handles security. If you as a user try [to load] a webpage and it feels snappy, it's really hard to go back [to another browser]. It has shown that people spend more time interacting with the web."

Unlike most of Google's talent based at its Mountain View headquarters in California, Bak works from a converted farmhouse in the Danish countryside two hours from Copenhagen. He has become obsessed with speed, and despite numerous tests that show Chrome outstrips all rivals, he thinks it could be much faster. "You should never be happy with [existing] speed," he said. "Of course it gets harder to make substantial gains, but it's all healthy competition. From the beginning we wanted everybody to be fast, and now all browsers are fast. I'm absolutely flabbergasted [by the improvements made by rival browsers]."

Chrome is the number three worldwide, with a 20.65% market share according to Statcounter. But analysts expect it to edge ahead of Firefox, which has dipped steadily since January. Microsoft's Internet Explorer has also fallen heavily, to 43%, with warnings about security vulnerabilities.

Google last month announced its Chromebook laptop, based on its browser and seen as another ambitious attack on Microsoft; it will be made by Samsung and Acer, companies that previously made computers running Microsoft's software.

Unlike most computers, the Chromebook has almost no capacity to store and hosts most data online in a "cloud". Bak said: "The Chromebook is really important because it tries to simplify the machine – it is basically no maintenance, which means you can cut the price. If all you are doing is using a browser it's a fantastic tool."

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Virgin Media: Website blocking plan faces major issues

2011-07-24T17:42:00.001-07:00

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Website blocking could be a part of the solution to internet piracy, according to Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett, but he has also warned of the issues facing such a proposal.

Speaking at Intellect's consumer electronics conference in London, Berkett said that Virgin Media still has reservations over website blocking proposals.

He said, "I think site blocking is a possible part of the overall solution, but it's not the solution. How do we go about ensuring it's the right sites [being blocked]? What is the process we go through so we don't unnaturally block supply? There's a lot to consider over the legalities of it all."

Regime change

"You must have a regime that a) [sees] the right site is blocked and b) it is blocked by everybody; there can't be any Robin Hoods of the internet [ISPs] saying, 'No, I'm with the other side'," he continued.

"And I think that we still have a way to go to be able to create an environment where the two sides of the table see eye to eye.

"I think we [Virgin Media] are probably more progressive than our peers and competitors; we do see [the proposals] as important for ourselves, but it's a greater part of our vision as the facilitator for change in the digital world; and I think you'll start to see others follow that."

The comments come after Ed Vaizey, the UK's minister for culture, communications and creative industries, denied that secret meetings had taken place to rush a website blocking proposal through government.

Although the proposals remain real, he maintains that the copyrights holders put forward the plans and that consumer groups were invited to discuss them.

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Australian Gambling: Rock And Pop Culture Connection, by Greg Tingle - 18th June 2011

2011-06-17T20:51:00.001-07:00

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Australian gambling is on fire. We've got political fun and games, sin tax, a Sin City game, the rock and pop culture gambling connection, casino developments, revamps, new games and more. Media Man and Gambling911 with the latest and greatest from down under...

Gold Coast: Jupiter's Hotel And Casino; Storeman To Stand Trial On Food Scam...

A former Jupiters Casino storeman will stand trial over allegations he defrauded his employer of millions in a food ordering scam. William Partridge, 51, is charged with two counts of fraud between 1993 and 2001. During the 30-day committal in the Southport Magistrates Court police alleged he had deceived the casino by signing faked supplier invoices for phantom food products. They alleged false food purchase orders were signed off by Partridge but the phantom pallets of meat, seafood, condiments and fruit were never delivered to the casino. Partridge yesterday conceded there was a prima facie case against him and magistrate Michael O'Driscoll committed him for trial in the Gold Coast District Court at a date to be set. Another former casino employee will face committal proceedings on Monday. It's unknown if the former storeman also gambled on games at the casino, but its fair to say that his game is up.

Gold Coast: Jupiter's Hotel And Casino; More Generous Than Dangerous?...

Some folks voted for them as "World's Most Dangerous Casino", but are they also the most generous? We've learned that a couple of weeks back the Jetstar Gold Coast Titans helped raise $170,000 for some great causes at the 6th annual Charity Ball at Jupiters Hotel and Casino. Making the most of the bye weekend, the club turned its attention from football to raising money for charity - with the Grantham Flood Support group, Project Preston and the Titans Community Foundation all beneficiaries of the money raised. Headline acts, the two Audi A1s which were generously donated by club sponsors Gold Coast Audi Centre, lived up to their name after being snapped up for $36,500 (Reeve Kruck) and $36,000 (Wayne and Clare Kirby) respectively. Another highlight of the night was a performance by crowd favourite Preston Campbell on a didgeridoo he had personally hand painted in the lead-up to the event. It later auction for a cool $6000.

Australian Rock Legends Tour US: Win Tickets To INXS At Casino New Brunswick - Moncton - 7th July...

Aussie rock band INXS decided to take a risk with its newest album. For Original Sin, the band took some of its most beloved tracks and turned them completely on their ear - revamping the melodies, inviting guest vocalists to jam on different tracks, and replacing 1980s-style arrangements with a more modern approach. The collection, which features guest appearances by blues-rocker Ben Harper, Train singer Pat Monahan, pop-rock superstar John Mayer, and singer-songwriter Rob Thomas, is helping to introduce the band to a new generation of fans, rejuvenating such monster hits as New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart, Kick and the title track. It was a huge gamble for a band that's still played prominently on rock radio stations around the world. But INXS has always been confident in the group's musical abilities, as evidenced by their survival following the premature death of charismatic frontman Michael Hutchence and by their participation in the reality television show, Rock Star: INXS, which helped them select the group's next vocalist: Nova Scotia-born singer-songwriter JD Fortune. Kirk Pengilly, who plays guitar and sax with the group, said Fortune will serve as the band's singer on this tour, even though the group and Fortune experienced an awkward misunderstanding in the past. For a time Fortune thought he his services were no longer needed, but Pengilly said Fortune is a part of the band, the group has resolved all of its issues, and is now focusing on making the upcoming world tour a massive success, noting that Fortune sang on two tracks from Original Sin. They'll perform at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton on July 7 and Pengilly said the group is looking forward to returning to Canada. "Canada was the first country, really, outside of Australia that really took to the band," he said. "We have a long history and Canadians are a lot like Australians, what with the commonwealth background and the love of beer and their sense of humour. I think there's also that frontier kind of vibe - a large land-mass with a relatively small population. We've always felt really comfortable during our time in Canada." He said he's hoping New Brunswick music fans enjoy the new material, explaining that it was a special project for the band. "It was a hugely different album and approach, really," he said. "We were pulling apart some of our favourite songs from the past, putting them back together in different ways and then looking at singers we could use. "Once the ball got rolling, we had singers lining up, coming to us, looking to do it. So it was a really amazing process and kind of a cathartic process in a way." Want to win tickets to the show? Send an email to cityliveconcerttix@gmail.com with the following information: your name, your daytime phone number, your email address, and your favourite INXS song. The draw will be made on June 29 and announce the winner in the June 30th edition of City Live. Two tickets will be set aside in the winner's name at the Casino New Brunswick's will-call booth on the night of the show.

Rose Tattoo Slot At Pokie Palace; Angry Anderson Still Can't Be Beaten...

Angry Anderson loves to scream out We Can’t Be Beaten, but his own branded Rose Tatto pokie keeps screaming the same sentiments. It was a $50,000 deal between Rose Tattoo and Aristocrat. Mr Anderson is understood to be very happy with the way that things are progressing and its believed he think the news did a bit of a media "beat up" on him for doing the pokie business deal. "Mr X" (satire), the anti gambling campaigner said "Putting his name on a poker machine is quite different to endorsing a T-shirt or a soft drink". "Angry should have stuck to helping disadvantaged people. "Now he is helping people to become disadvantaged." Anderson didn't comment yesterday. He also raises money for charity through the Variety Club Bash. The Rose Tattoo manager at the time of the deal, Stephen White, said having their image on a poker machine "has nothing to do with a personal opinion on the gambling industry". "This is just a business thing," he said. "There's no way he Mr Anderson can be perceived as condoning gambling." Mr White confirmed that the band received "less than $50,000" for the licensing deal and said there were no plans for it to go to charity. The marketing blurb reads...Rose Tattoo is Reel Rock ‘n’ Roll. The Rose Tattoo Double Standalone progressive is Aristocrat’s first fully themed licensed multi-game; complete with 2 exclusive base games, 4 denoms, 3 bonus features and explosive sound. The unmistakable Aussie rock sound of Rose Tattoo has been combined with 2 themed games to create a product that unites 3 licensed iconic rock songs, custom-made footage of Angry Anderson and personalized symbols to deliver a Reel rock ‘n’ Roll experience for players. Rose Tattoo multi-game is guaranteed to rock your venue!

Frank Miller's Sin City Comes To The World's Largest Online Casino; Cult Classic Comic Turned Into Slot Game...

Gibraltar - 17th June 2011 - Following up on last week’s release of Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye at Digital DarkHorse comes more exciting news around this legendary title. Sin City has now entered the online gaming world, with a new game at PartyCasino.com This new five-reel, fifty-line slot features art and story from the widely acclaimed series by comics legend Frank Miller. When Sin City originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents: Fifth Anniversary Special in April 1991, it was clear that the face of the comics medium had changed forever. Since that time, Miller’s groundbreaking comics noir has found its way into the public consciousness with toys, games, and even a feature-length motion picture. Frank Miller’s Sin City remains one of the most stylized works in the history of the medium, drawing heavily from film noir, including its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. The black-and-white comic was perfectly suited to the original format of Dark Horse’s flagship anthology, with occasional spot usage of primary colors added to later volumes and editions. "Frank Miller’s Sin City is a very different slot to any other we have launched in recent times. The striking artwork and mature content mean this isn’t a game for the faint hearted," said a spokesman for PartyCasino.com There are five featured games, which win the player free spins and multipliers: “Straight to Hell,” “The Hard Goodbye,” “He Never Screams,” “Deadly Little Miho,” and “Just Get Warmed Up.” The games feature the series’ main characters: Hartigan, Nancy, Miho, Marv, Kevin, the Yellow B*stard, and Dwight. The game includes mature content and scenes of violence, nudity, and deprivation.

James Packer Friends At Aspinall's Star May Do b2b With Media Man...

The rumour will is running hot that the good folks at Aspinall's and Star Partners may be looking to soon ink an online b2b deal with Media Man International. An email leak read to the effect "We've heard nothing but good things about Media Man and are looking to do business". All we can see is "Show me the money" and "Too Sweet". Maybe it pays to have shares in Crown Limited after all hey. Other online brands are expected to follow their lead, not to be left behind in the PR or online space in the Asia Pacific and European regions maties. Oh, whispers about a "Mate Casino" too.

Sin Tax To Be Raised In Australia...

Here we go again. More sin tax! Brace yourself for more ads sternly pointing out government failings on everything from plain packaging for cigarettes to poker machines and carbon tax, with advertising figures predicting more lobby groups will turn to ads to push their causes. Following this week's spate of ads on TV and in newspapers attacking plans for plain cigarette packets on the grounds that no one wants to live in a nanny state, many have predicted that there will soon be more such efforts to sway public opinion against planned government policy. The Australian chairman of Grey Group, Paul Gardner, said lobby groups had been encouraged to turn to advertising, rather than more traditional lobbying based on access to politicians, by the success of the anti-mining tax campaign. It's going to be either a taxing or entertaining campaign. Time will tell. Are you a sinner or not? Tell us in the forum, or try your luck on the Sin City online slot game, as found on Media Man International.

Aussie James Packer To Build 3rd Casino In Macau...

JP's Macau casino joint venture plans to build a massive $US2.5 billion ($2.3bn) casino resort...the group's lucky third in the Chinese territory. This will see them look capitalise on surging gaming revenues in the red hot part of the world. Melco Crown Entertainment yesterday signed off on a $US360 million deal to gain control of the Macau Studio City project, an "integrated resort project" on hold since the global financial crisis and in planning for more than 10 years. The firms chief executive, Lawrence Ho, advised the property's theme and demographic target focus would be differentiated from the company's existing Macau property assets, the City of Dreams and the Altira Macau. Construction is due to start early next year and it is believed the partners have no plans for an equity issue to fund the project. "We believe Macau Studio City's existing land grant and previously completed site work will allow us to significantly expedite its construction timetable," Ho told the press yesterday. It will be Melco Crown's second project on Macau's Cotai strip, a vast stretch of reclaimed land situated between the islands of Taipa and Coloane that land based casino developers in Macau, such as Ho and Packer, are promoting as the orient's answer to the Las Vegas strip aka "Sin City". City of Dreams is in Cotai. Last year, Ho said Melco Crown was prepared to build more casino resort developments in Macau and elsewhere in Asia. Packer's Crown holds a 33.4% stake in Melco Crown. The Studio City site is one of the last prime land sites available in Macau for development. It is located at the Lotus Bridge immigration point, making it the virgin resort that tourists encounter via entering Cotai. Before the financial meltdown, Melco Crown had a management arrangement with Studio City's owners to run the casino at the site, but elected to take control of the project after it became troublesome for the owners to properly fund it within the prior structure. Melco Crown is understood to have codenamed the deal Project Eagle. The deal ends 3 long years of delays caused by legal matters and a range of dramas between the Hong Kong and US investors. Studio City was previously owned by a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed entertainment company eSun Holdings and New Cotai Holdings, an entity controlled by funds managed by US firms Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital Management. New Cotai Holdings will hold a 40% stake. Melco Crown will pay New Cotai $US100m in 3 instalments over two years. Before the financial crunch, the casino development was to have included a specially designed 4000-seat arena, a 2300-seat theatre, Asia's first "Playboy Mansion" and 4 new classy hotels - a Ritz-Carlton, a W Hotel, a Marriott and the world's first Tang Hotel. Last month, Macau gaming revenues rose 42.4% to a record $US3.03bn, what Vegas casino operators dream of. They were rocketed by the opening of Galaxy Entertainment Group's $US2bn resort development at Cotai, which is nearby to the City of Dreams. "We remain bullish on Macau's prospects and believe high-quality new supply, such as Macau Studio City, will continue to drive incremental demand," Ho said. Media Man has been speaking to property and gaming experts about the Packer - Macau developments, with 95% believing that the latest Packer Macau project with be a "good to great business and investment". Friends, good punting, know your limits and bet with your head, not over it.

Western Australian Man Faces Charges: Adult And My Casino Connection...

Prominent Perth businessman John Kizon and his investment partner Nigel Mansfield face a retrial on insider trading charges after Commonwealth prosecutors won an appeal against their acquittals. In a majority Court of Appeal decision announced in Perth on Thursday, Justices Michael Buss and Michael Murray upheld the appeal, set aside the pair's acquittals and ordered they face a District Court retrial. The retrial will be on 34 criminal conspiracy and insider trading charges in relation to the Perth-based online sex shop AdultShop.com in 2002. Prosecutors did not seek a retrial on insider trading charges in relation to the gambling website My Casino. Kizon and Mansfield were acquitted in the District Court in Perth in March last year, Judge John Wisbey concluding there was not enough evidence to support 48 charges against the men. But on Thursday, Justices Buss and Murray found Judge Wisbey had erred in ruling it was necessary for the alleged insider information acted on to be "truthful or a factual reality". In a dissenting judgment, Court of Appeal president Justice Carmel McLure said she would have dismissed the appeal after finding the evidence could not support a finding that the men had "inside" information. The original charges were brought by the Australian Crime Commission in 2004. The prosecution argued the pair possessed market-sensitive information about Adultshop and My Casino and bought and sold shares in those companies to make money. The court was told the pair became aware Adultshop was expected to post a profit of $11 million in the 2002 financial year, up from $3 million the previous year, after its turnover lifted from about $50 million to $111 million. After Thursday's ruling, Kizon told reporters he would challenge the ruling in the High Court. He and Mansfield are due back in court on July 15.

Aristocrat Leisure And Clubs Australia Fire Up Gambling Debate...

The Australian gambling debate continues to roll on, with Aristocrat Leisure being the latest gambling company to weigh in with proposals as to how they think that the problem could be more easily regulated. Many see their proposal as one that is stuffed with self-interest though – including the man heading up the inquiry, MP Andrew Wilkie. The proposals put forward by Aristocrat Leisure encompassed many different points, but the one that was the most talked about was their idea for a “machine based” solution to end the problem of gambling addiction in the country. This was due to their belief that a monitoring system – an idea muted by the government recently – wouldn’t be achievable by the government’s target of 2012, mainly due to the complexity of the task. In fact, their submission stated that this wouldn’t even be possible by 2014, therefore putting the whole overhaul of the system back by 2 years. The main reason why pro-reform figures see this announcement in a suspicious light is due to the fact that Aristocrat Leisure say they would roll out this system as part of their normal replacement cycle, which means that they would not have to interrupt operations in order to comply with any future regulations. This would obviously save the company huge amounts of money and would therefore ensure that their business remains a viable one through the period of change. In response to this scepticism, Aristocrat Leisure stated that a new pokie games machine retails at about $25,000, whereas implementing a software upgrade would cost them just $3000 per machine. This, they said, means that their suggestion in fact would cost them more to implement – therefore meaning that they have taken a cut in profits in order to assist those with gambling problems. In addition to Aristocrat Leisure weighing in with their argument yesterday, Club Australia also joined the chorus of businesses opposing the methods that the Australian government want to introduce to curb gambling problems. In a long statement they essentially said that the Australian government have underestimated the amount of work and logistics that will need to go in to setting up the system that they have proposed. They also stated that the system will have a hugely detrimental affect on the smaller clubs in Australia, who current only see about $25 worth of profit a day from each machine that they own. This, they say, means that the disputed figure for the amount of money the government thinks a machine will lose per day under new regulations - $1.50 – will actually represent a large percentage of income for these clubs. The final results of these inquiries are still very much in the balance, with both sides seeing significant numbers of support being gained in recent weeks. Stay tuned as the weekly saga continues. "Mr X" (satire) is not ready to give up, not quite yet anyway.

Punters, er readers, stay glued to Media Man and Gambling911 reports for more "can't miss" information on Australian pokies, gaming and casino wars.

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming. Media Man also publishes Media Man News

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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2011-05-02T19:39:00.001-07:00

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2011-04-03T23:29:00.001-07:00

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Social Trend: Businesses moving in

2011-03-09T03:10:00.001-08:00

According to one new report you can look for more businesses in the social space. Researchers with Gartner forecast that by 2015 at least 40% of 'large enterprises' will be on Facebook. This probably doesn't surprise many of you; but one more facet might: these businesses will use the social network for business as well as pleasure.

According to the report businesses will utilize Facebook to circulate business information, but will also use it for personal information. Customer service, especially, will be the focus as businesses look for more engaging ways to interact with their customer base. Customers, of course, are already looking for businesses in the social space.

"We expect the high-profile nature of social networks and social [Customer Relationship Management] CRM for customer service to rapidly advance adoption from early adopter to mainstream deployments despite the volatile and rapid evolution of social networks in general," said Drew Kraus, Research Vice President with Gartner.

But, before going social, brands need to have a plan of action - because simply throwing up a social networking shingle is not enough. Marketers need to monitor the social space, there should be an employee base whose task it is to watch the socnets and respond to issues quickly.
Facebook and YouTube continue to be the biggest social networks according to Experian Hitwise data. Facebook accounts for more than 60% of social visits, while YouTube accounts for nearly 20%. MySpace has fallen to only about 1% of the social share while Twitter remains under 1%.

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2011-02-17T18:00:00.001-08:00

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2011-02-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

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Joe Francis - Indicted Over Alleged $2M Gambling Debt, by Greg Tingle - 3rd February 2011

2011-02-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

American (and now also Asia Pacific) gambling and real estate mogul, Steve Wynn, looks to now have soft porn king Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild) by the balls. Media Man an affiliate of Girls Gone Wild, goes in hard and deep!

Francis has had big professional and personal issues with Wynn since his loss at the casino back in 2009.

Since the very public bitchfight Wynn had made numerous outlandish claims against Wynn including that Wynn has contracted Las Vegas Nevada bad guys to make him disappear - a contract on his life.

As Gambling911 (forum) readers would have noticed, numerous times over the past 6 months references were made to the spot apparently awaiting Francis's body in the Nevada Desert. Folks were frequently quizzing the progress on the hole earmarked for Francis circa March 2010 - October 2010. Do the readers know something we don't know?!

The Media Man Int team, also getting pissed with Francis' Girls Gone Wild affiliate program not paying up, modified their Media Man profile page "so it still works for us" a Media Man rep disclosed. That page in question can be found @ http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/girls_gone.html The Media Man also built a Steve Wynn "tribute", with disclaimers, but added a new twist to the promos and you can see to believe it at http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/wynn.html No, no horns of the devil on anyone - not yet anyway (but who knows what the future may hold)!

Back to business, Francis allegedly owes Wynn $2 million bucks, and made one payment of $500,000 towards the debt. If Francis is convicted he could face up to 4 years jail! Our friends over at entertainment and celeb website TMZ have a history of the Wynn - Francis sage in their archives, as does Gambling911 of course.

As we say at Media Man, crime does not pay. And, know the odds, plus Bet With Your Head, Not Over It, and that's speaking to you Francis.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen sectors covered

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award

2011-01-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

PartyCasino.com Wins Media Man Online Casino Award

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month".

PartyGaming's igaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both WPTCasino.com, Captain Cooks Casino, Virgin Casino, Betfair, PKR and Noble Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of PartyGaming brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $2 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with PartyGaming, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

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2011-01-10T02:53:00.000-08:00

Australian Media Man Head Talks Domain Names, by Greg Tingle - 6th January 2011

2011-01-07T03:47:00.001-08:00

G'day punters, entrepreneurs, gambling and casino tycoons, journalists... one and all. Today we explore the world of internet domain names. We look at both generic and general domain names as well as those in the news media, entertainment, adult and gambling sector. Media Man and Gambling911 give you the heads up on domain names so you can try to make heads or tails of all the domain name news and gossip currently doing on down under in Australia and everywhere else in the internet universe.

All of this fuss about internet domain names. Well, your reading about it on either Gambling911 or Media Man Int, two very strong domain names and companies, if there ever was.

The week or so everyone's been buzzing about domain names Gambling.com and now Poker.com.au So, just how good are the names, how much is hype, speculative, and how much is of substance and lets call it "real big business", and will deliver profits and return on investment.

MediaManInt.com Says Gambling.com Is High Risk; Name Already Lost Money In Past!...

The internet domain name www.gambling.com, owned by a Pommie casino group, is up for auction and it don't come cheap.

Introducing Media Corporation, which would you believe paid a massive $US20 million ($19.8 million) for the domain in May of 2005 and earned a cool $US5.5 million from advertising on the website a year later, hopes to fetch more than $US10 million for the name.

The domain name's depreciation in value is largely due to a ban on internet gambling in the United States in October 2006. In some other counties such as Australia and New Zealand, some legal eagles talk of "grey areas" (which are legally untested).

It's worth pointing out that for the record our Media Man Int is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. We cover over a dozen different vertical markets including news, political, travel, lifestyle, technology, community, property, entertainment, a wee tad of adult (and games... both land based, video games and online).

As well informed readers might have picked up on, many industries are intertwined. Many brands such as Marvel Entertainment, Sony, News Corporation and yes, Media Man, have a number of business arms. Marvel has books, comics, lunch boxes and super hero costumes. They are pump out DVDs and even new release blockbuster movies. And, who has not heard of Marvel slot games, which can be found across the Media Man website network. Companies such as PartyGaming, Virgin, Playtech and Centrebet feature the branded Marvel games. The games from Marvel are often featured on website portals. See how it gets complicated. Back to matters at hand, no, Marvel.com is not for sale, not is Marvel - they are owned by Disney. Yes, the company famous for Mickey Mouse and friends.

Gambling, sex and the internet go head in hand, pardon the pun.

The porn friendly nation of Germany is home of tech giant and domain name firm, Sedo. It was Sedo in fact that arranged for the sale of www.sex.com for a record $US13 million last November and its now having a crack and flogging gambling.com, pushed along with a big of media buzz by Media Man and Gambling911 we might add! An ambitious reserve price of $US9 million has been set, but how many genuine takers are out there in a financial climate which is pretty depressed, or as they say in Australia, up the shit.

The actual word "gambling" is ranked No. 1 by out friends at Google via searches and the gambling.com site gets more than 300,000 hits each month which is pretty impressive.

Gambling.com yes, a great name, but what's it worth? The market will decide and your can bet your bottom dollar that the Media Man Network and Gambling911 newshounds will be following up in hot pursuit.

Australian Poker Domain Name Sells For $100,000; Good Or Bad Value Compared To CasinoNewsMedia.com and MediaMan.com.au...

The attractive Poker.com.au domain sold for $100,000 less that 24 hours ago, but experts are saying the price tag was reduced thanks to complex online gambling laws down under in Australia.

The Aussie domain name market has continued to heat up with Poker.com.au selling for $US100,000. However some industry experts reckon the names value may have been reduced because of Australia's restrictions on online gambling.

Legislation released a decade or so ago "restricts" the advertising of interactive gambling services in Australia. David Nye, who runs domain name auction house NetFleet, says the laws means Poker.com.au has sold for considerably less than it would have otherwise.

"There is a Canadian equivalent, Poker.ca, that sold for $400,000 last year. Now, Canada has one-and-a-half times the population of Australia and that site commanded a price much, much higher. One of the aspects involved in all of this is the legislation, and the legislation specifically prohibits the advertising of online interactive gambling. In theory, you cannot have an Australian website advertising these interactive gaming services, and the fines are large."

The current laws also state that it is illegal for any online gambling site to offer services to Australians located in the country...but the current law does not make it a criminal act for Australians to engage in these services.

The Australian Government has even restated last year that it would not lift the restrictions, despite a Productivity Commission report recommending the restrictions should cease.

Nye says that if interactive gambling advertising were allowed in Australia, "you might see prices that were worth 10 times the amount... the legislation has obviously deflated the price".

The poker domain name has been purchased by sports gambling company 888, which operates various gambling - (poker, casino and sports betting) websites internationally and sports Shane Warne as an ambassador. So far, the company hasn't used Poker.com.au for any new service but the website states that "a seriously exciting new poker revolution" is "coming soon".

Nye points out that online gambling is one of the most lucrative practices on the internet, and that continued government opposition to liberalised gambling laws will keep prices down.

"There is huge money in online poker. Some of these poker rooms are bringing many thousands of dollars," he said on the record.

But the Government hasn't budged from its position, with communications senator Stephen Conroy saying last year that the online aspects of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 wouldn't be changed, in fact going against the Productivity Commission's recommendations.

"The Australian Government does not agree with the Productivity Commission recommendation that the Australian Government amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to allow for a liberalisation of online gambling, starting with allowing the provision of online poker games to Australians. The existing rules will continue to apply," the senator went on record with last year.

A Media Man Int spokesperson said "The Australian government needs to get up to speed with the rest of the world. It reminds me a bit like the Wikileaks saga of which Prime Minister Julia Gillard said was illegal, which is complete B.S. The Australian punters and business folks alike are sick of all the B.S and spin coming from the government. The internet is a global industry. Most domain names are dot coms. Most companies in this space have a global presence, global marketing, business and media plan. The world is their audience, whether the founder or director of a companies is a Canadian, American, Australian, South African, Indian or New Zealand resident. It shouldn't matter. The internet is global period, as so is online casino, poker and sports betting. We even have a Casino Legal section on our websites which cover off on some of the legal and technical stuff, but its all pretty complex, and the United States seems to head up much of the confusion, followed by Europe. Someone needs to help the Australian government get with the 21st century".

Now, get this...some have even called for even stricter regulations on the industry. Australia's Independent senator Nick Xenophon said in a submission to the Productivity Commission that the recent arrival of sites such as Betfair, which "allows for an expansion of gambling by virtue of the product that is offered", highlights the need for a more "comprehensive regulatory approach".

Senator Xenophon is currently not returning the calls of Media Man.

Our switched on friend Nye advised the issue is timely given the domain name industry is heating up and approaching red hot, if not white hot levels.

Onto other industry sectors, given Media Man covers basically all of them, it was just last month that retain giant Woolworths (also involved in gambling) purchased Hardware.com.au for $33,000, and Nye expects Electricity.com.au...which just came back on the market – to sell for around $50,000!

"The theory of relaxing these laws is that you're allowing access to poker rooms, you're getting tax revenue which could be in the realms of hundreds of millions per year, and you can regulate the industry. This is one of the most lucrative areas on the internet... but the legislation means the price is lower than it would have been overseas."

For the record, Media Man International is not currently looking to sell any of their domain names in a portfolio which spans of 25 names, many of which are gold and listed on very high ranking website portals and measuring sticks like Hitwise. Media Man has done media coverage and b2b for firms such as Messages On Hold, PartyGaming, Virgin, James Packer's Betfair and Crown Casino, and also Centrebet and Betezy, DGM Affiliates, and more! Oh, readers, if you have what you think is a very attractive offer you can let us know, but don't loose any sleep if we don't get back to you overnight. Still, you have to be in it to win it, so let us know what's on your mind.

Media Man International Profile On Australia
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/australia.html

Online Casinos, Online Poker and Sports Betting

Ok readers, we hear you... you also want to know some of the best places to play online (that accept Aussies) if your in or around the Asia Pacific - Australia (including Tassie) and New Zealand, so here it is...

PartyCasino.com

Captain Cooks Casino

Betfair (sports betting only)

PKR.com (mainly poker and some casino and sports betting)

Profiles

Australian Casinos

World Casino Directory

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Casino Travel

Casinos

Australia

Media Man and Gambling911 remind our readers to keep the following in mind:

Take the time to research and learn games before placing down money

Media Man, Casino News Media and Gambling911 are website portals. Not casinos as such, however are recognised as world leading websites that cover the sector and act as central points to games, news, reviews and more. Media Man's Casino News Media covers casino news, reviews, games, multimedia and more.

Know the odds, set limits and have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen sectors covered

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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2010-12-29T21:25:00.001-08:00

Casino News Media: Palladium VIP's - Spoil Yourself With As Many Presents As You Want From PartyPoker - Santa's Party Pack Open To All On PartyCasino!

2010-12-09T15:44:00.001-08:00

Palladium VIP's - Spoil Yourself With As Many Presents As You Want From PartyPoker - Santa's Party Pack Open To All On PartyCasino.com !

** Win your share of $5,000 every day in December. See: PartyPoker.com **

** The first episode of PartyPoker.com World Open VI is now online.

Many of the players involved will remember the jaw dropping quads over quads – Andrew Robl, Toby Lewis, Mike Sexton and Jesse May talk about this in a special post here: PartyPoker.com

** Aussie Millions qualifiers are up and running. Team Party pro Tyron Krost won the event last year and gives his own guide to satellites. PartyPoker.com **

Palladium VIP's - Spoil Yourself With As Many Presents As You Want From PartyPoker - Santa's Party Pack Open To All On PartyCasino!

Gibraltar – 30th November 2010 -- The festive season is drawing closer and PartyPoker.com is making sure they treat their most-valued players to a whole stack of presents. Palladium VIPs have the opportunity to pick up six presents and fill their very own Santa sack by just earning points by playing at PartyPoker.com’s online tables from the 1st to 14th December 2010.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "The premise is very simple – Palladium VIPs earn points that make prizes. At the bottom end there is a $50 cash bonus, while 30,000 points delivers a $5,000 WPT entry. Players are entitled to keep all of the prizes they can win - so with six prize levels there’s six fantastic presents to keep!"

Here’s what’s on offer in the VIP Gift Accumulator:

Prize level Points required Prize Prize Draw tickets
1 1,500 $50 cash bonus 1
2 3,000 $100 cash 2
3 6,000 iPod Touch 4
4 12,000 $700 cash 8
5 20,000 16GB iPad 14
6 30,000 WPT entry 20

The feast of presents doesn’t just end here though. Every time a player hits a prize level PartyPoker.com award tickets for the VIP Gift Accumulator prize draw which offers the chance to win a share of $10,000. The more prizes a Palladium VIP earn the more entries they’ll get into the draw, giving more frequent players a better chance of winning the $5,000 first prize, the $3,000 second prize or the $2,000 third prize. Winners will be announced on the 17th December.

Please note that this is an OPT-IN promotion. For more information see: PartyPoker.com

Santa is also coming to PartyCasino.com. Unlike the poker promotion this is open to non VIPs too and runs from the 1st – 14th December, whether you have been bad or good. Points mean prizes including a luxury Caribbean holiday!

See: PartyCasino.com for more information.

Santa’s Party Pack

Prizes whether you’ve been good or bad!

Starts: 00:00 ET, 1st December
Ends: 23:59 ET, 14th December

Santa is making an early appearance. He’s spreading Christmas cheer, handing out killer Christmas presents to non-VIP and Palladium VIP players.

From 1st to 14th December, you can celebrate Christmas in style with a double whammy of festive winning opportunities. There’s a prize giveaway where you can scoop up to 6 prizes, and a massive cash prize draw!

Winning a share of Santa’s Party Pack is simple, and you don’t even have to sit on Santa’s knee! Simply opt-in between the 1st-14th December and collect points by playing your favourite slots and jackpot slots. The more you play, the more prizes you’ll unwrap.

Prize Giveaway

If you’re not a VIP yet, check out the Christmas List below, Santa could bring you up to 5 fantastic prizes worth $1,000:

Points Cumulative prizes
20 $5 cash bonus
100 300 points
500 $50 cash bonus
1,000 $100 free cash
5,000 iPad 32GB WiFi*

*The iPad 32GB WiFi has a cash alternative of $600, this will automatically be credited to your account. Please see T&C’s for details of how to receive the non monetary alternative.

If you’re a Palladium VIP player, check out the Christmas list below. Santa could bring you up to 6 prizes worth $10,000:

Points Cumulative prizes
2,000 $75 cash bonus
3,000 1500 points
5,000 $150 cash bonus
7,500 $250 free cash
15,000 iPad 64GB WiFi**
50,000 Luxury Caribbean Holiday**
(worth $8,500)

**The iPad 64GB WiFi has a cash alternative of $1,000, **The Luxury Caribbean Holiday has a cash alternative of $5,000 these will automatically be credited to your account. Please see T&C’s for details of how to receive the non monetary alternative.

Santa’s Big Prize Draw

What a cracker! But wait…there’s an extra present under the tree – Santa’s Big Prize Draw. By taking part in Santa’s Party Pack, you will be eligible for the draw. The more points you earn the more entries you will receive. Check below to see how much cash you can win:

Non-VIP Big Prize Draw

Every time you earn 20 points during the promotion, you’ll get one entry to the Big Prize Draw. $10,000 will be shared equally between 10 lucky players.

VIP Big Prize Draw

Every time you earn 500 points during the promotion, you’ll get one entry to the Big Prize Draw. $20,000 will be shared between 3 lucky players in the following amounts: 1st - $10,000, 2nd - $6,000 and 3rd - $4,000.

You can collect points on any of our slots and jackpot slots. To join the festivities you need to Opt-In from the 1st-14th December. Win some exceptional presents this Christmas with Santa’s Party Pack.

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with PartyGaming, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

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Social Media - How do I do it? (Marketing Magazine)

2010-12-03T01:34:00.000-08:00

Recently I was invited to speak at two different conferences about social media in a corporate workplace.

At both conferences I spoke alongside other speakers and in both instances my fellow speakers talked about social media ‘facts’ and hyped the audience about ‘what they are missing out on’ but none of them actually spoke about how to do it or what is involved.

We all know the facts about social media. Let me give some right now, just to annoy you with the same old same old…Australian social media audience is estimated at 9.9 millions users, if Facebook was a country it would be the third largest country in the world after China and India, nearly 40% of Australians are now interacting with companies via social networking sites, 59% of Australians have a Facebook profile, etc, etc, etc...(Credit: Marketing Magazine)

Greg Tingle...

Nice article. I agree with a lot of it. Onya Marketing Magazine for giving it a guernsey.

At my company, Media Man International, we adopted a crawl, walk and run approach.

We've been at the social media thing for over 5 years, half the time we've been established, and Google owned Blogger was our first leap into the water, and it still serves us today.

It was rather like "on the job" training some days, but we didn't get fired or start a negative bushfire, so we did pretty well.

As a media and website portal development company, we are privileged to own and operate dozens of massive websites, and having some unique content and dynamic, interesting campaigns, has never been a problem. We cover of a dozen different business verticals - from entertainment to gaming, property, community and charity, technology, travel and tourism, politics and media analysis.

Our massive website portal network, complimented by social media powerhouses like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogger, also appears to help us expand on our reach, maintaining our Hitwise top ten (entertainment and personality) status.

The global strategy has worked well for us, and Google and its social media services, as well as Facebook, continue to work a charm. Twitter is of course fantastic for getting a snappy message to a large audience in a hurry, often directing them to an interesting page in a hurry. The service I don't like is Digg, so I fired them!

Some of our news media campaigns also get boosted further by being listed on the Facebook and Twitter accounts of media powerhouses like News Limited, Fairfax Media and the ABC.

Oh, I should mention that I find some aspects of social media a bit like "ambush marketing", a technique that I borrowed a few ideas from the likes of MOH's Kym Illman, Virgin's Richard Branson and 888 and Crown Limited's Shane Warne, but I think we do the online "ambush marketing" better than all of them, but Illman remains king for traditional ambushing!

Before you ask, my prime Twitter account is http://www.twitter.com/mediamanint Our globalgamingcom Twitter is also a hit, and yes, we also have a mediamanmarketi Twitter, just to have all based covered.

Am I glad I got on the social media bandwagon? Yes, and good on Marketing Magazine for also catching the fever.

Greg Tingle
Founder and Director
Media Man International
http://www.mediamanint.com

Media Man Website Network Updated

2010-11-26T21:47:00.001-08:00

Asia Pacific Casino News: Fiji To Get First Casino, by Greg Tingle - 30th October 2010

2010-10-29T23:02:00.001-07:00

G'day punters, casino and media millionaires and billionaires, politicians and one and all. This week we take you a bit further afield that Australian waters. We paddle across to Fiji where talk of the counties first ever casino project is all the rage. Media Man and Gambling911 with this Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka body splashing report...

Fiji's notorious military government called for keen expressions of interest in developing and operating the embattled Pacific nation's first casino.

Tourism Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum advised a casino would help Fiji attract more visitors from the emerging markets of China, India and from Europe, in addition to building on the potentially lucrative US market.

The invitation to gaming companies will be a strong test for international investor confidence in the nation, where the economy has faltered since a military coup in 2006 led by current Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

Sayed-Khaiyum said there were very obvious economic benefits from a casino development, which could create jobs of course, and also help raise additional revenue for the government.

He would not give a timeline for the casino at this time, saying Fiji was looking for reputable international gaming operators to develop a casino that would increase leisure activities in the country.

"At the same time we do not want to harm Fiji's tourism brand, which the government and the people of Fiji have invested so much in," Sayed-Khaiyum said in a statement to the press.

He said laws would be put in place to minimise possible negative social impact from the casino, citing Malaysia and Singapore as countries where such protective mechanisms had been very successfully installed. He did not mention the Australian experience and productivity commission findings into the gambling business, which are questionable in nature we have learned in our own probe over the past months.

Tourism is Fiji's major export earner following a decline in its former economic bread and butter, the sugar industry.

More than 540,000 international visitors, 65% of them from "downunder" in Australia and "Kiwi Land" New Zealand, flocked to the the island nation's white sandy beaches last year, according to official data.

The World Bank this month said Fiji's economy was expected to grow 0.5-1.0% in 2010, only partially recovering from a 3.0% contraction last year.

It said Fiji's public debt, including state-owned enterprises, was about 67% of gross domestic product and government revenues this year were were likely to fall below budget forecasts.

The non-profit organisation International Budget Partnership this week ranked Fiji bottom in a survey of budget transparency covering 94 countries, saying publicly-available information on government accounts was inadequate.

Media Man's bodyguards and Fiji cultural experts Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Adam Yarad and John "Vucan" Seru aka "The Fijian Warrior" are not commenting on the proposed casino development at this time, but we will advise if the situation changes. Ni Sa Moce (Goodbye in Fijian).

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Wrap Up...

Readers... er, punters, do you think Fiji should get a land based casino, or are online casinos enough to service our native friends? Tell us in the forum. If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming and offer political commentary and analysis.

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Virgin Casino News: Hang Out With the Osbournes at Virgin Casino

2010-10-20T19:39:00.001-07:00

Press Release

Hang Out With the Osbournes at Virgin Casino

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 14th Oct 2010 - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company – Virgin Games, is pleased to announce the launch of a new slot, The Osbournes, by Microgaming. The branded slot game is based on the TV series and features all the members of the unconventional family of aging rocker, Ozzy Osbourne, and offers additional opportunities to win with an innovative on-screen trail feature that unfolds above the reels.

The Osbournes is a 5 reel 20 pay-line slot with great graphics that captures the outrageous spirit and humour of the famously dysfunctional family and creates an engrossing new slot that is jam-packed with great opportunities to score free spins, multiplier boosts and solid cash prizes.

Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, commented: "Just as the TV show of this dysfunctional family provides hours of entertainment, The Osbournes slot does not fail to deliver in the entertainment stakes whilst also providing fantastic rewards. With free spins, multiplier boosts and great cash prizes, players don't have to be a fan of the show to enjoy playing this great new game".

Players can choose their currency - GBP, $, € - and win up to 75,000.00 in the base game and 150,000.00 in Free Spins. Whilst in the new Door Knocker bonus a further 50,000.00 is available and additional bonuses can bring in another 3,000.00. The betting range is anything from 0.01 to 0.50 and up to ten coins a line, making a maximum bet of 100.00 possible.

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 200 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Microgaming, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming.

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, CryptoLogic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games.

Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

Press Release

Thunderstruck II Arrives at Virgin Casino

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -8th Oct 2010 - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company – Virgin Games, is pleased to announce the launch of Thunderstruck II by top game developer, Microgaming. The game's predecessor, Thunderstruck, which launched in 2003, is one of the most successful and entertaining video slots in online gaming; a feature-rich game which has achieved iconic stature over the years with a wide player demographic.

This latest game promises to be a big hit with fans of Thunderstruck and offers even more features and opportunities to win big rewards. Based on the innovative 5 reel, 243 ways to win concept, this slot offers the player a range of benefits that includes Wilds and Expanding Wilds, four different Bonuses, Scatter action, four different Free Spins rewards, Multipliers ranging from 2x to 6x and absorbing free games.

Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, commented: "Given the success of its predecessor, Thunderstruck II is set to become a firm favourite with our customers. It offers players hours of entertaining gaming with the real possibility of great rewards. Thunderstruck II truly enhances our games portfolio and helps deliver on our promise to provide the best online casino experience available."

All the mystical Nordic gods are present in Thunderstruck II, depicted in high quality graphics along with theme-setting symbols like long ships, kings and Asgard, a rainbow city from the great Nordic sagas.

The gods of Thunderstruck II offers players new features, such as the randomly triggered WildStorm award with its held Wild reels, and the introduction of a Player Achievements structure. The achievements concept is a new feature for online slots, empowering players to achieve gold status by winning the range of payouts of each symbol.

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 200 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Microgaming, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming.

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

Press Release

Virgin Casino Premieres Brand New Online Slot Game - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(TM) Win a Luxury 10-Night Break to New Zealand With Virgin Casino

Virgin Casino Premieres Brand New Online Slot Game - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(TM) Win a Luxury 10-Night Break to New Zealand With Virgin Casino

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 09/03/10 - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company - Virgin Games, is proud to announce that it is one of the first online casinos to introduce Microgaming's eagerly awaited five reel cinematic online slot game, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The game, which promises to be one of the biggest launched this year, offers players a massive 243 ways to win and will be one of the most graphically rich, innovative and exciting online slot games to date.

To celebrate the launch of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Virgin Casino is offering a fantastic prize for one very lucky customer and a partner of their choice - a luxury 10 night break to New Zealand. The winner will be flown to New Zealand where they will stay in the 5(i) Rees Hotel which has amazing views of both Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkable Mountains. This picturesque setting is the perfect place to relax before the exciting Lord of the Rings mini tours begin. For every GBP 50 wagered customers will receive a ticket for the prize draw.

In the online slot game, players follow the Hobbit "Frodo Baggins" as he sets out to ensure the destruction of the Dark Lord Sauron. The five reel online slot will have unrivalled game graphics and include beloved characters from the film, such as Frodo, Aragorn, Saruman and the deadly Black Riders; along with some of the film's iconic footage, featuring Ringwraiths during the attack at Weathertop, Balrog in the Mines of Moria, and Uruk-hai in the woods of Middle-earth.

Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, commented: "This is truly a fantastic game and we are incredibly proud to be one of the first casinos to launch what is sure to become one of the biggest online gaming hits of the year. At the beginning of the year we stated our vision for Virgin Casino was to offer more choice to our customers and expand on the titles we offered. We are now doing this in spades."

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 200 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Microgaming, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming.

© 2010 New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.

Notes to editors:

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

- Virgin Casino: offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over GBP 2,500,000

- Virgin Poker: part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

- Virgin Bingo: part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -(Sept. 2, 2010) - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company – Virgin Games, has today announced that it is launching nine new games in September from four leading games producers – Microgaming, WagerWorks, Virtue Fusion and Ash Gaming. Amongst the new games are some big titles, including, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring™ and Tomb Raider - The Secret of the Sword.

Virgin Casino now has over 130 slot games from 11 games producers on its site. The wide range of leading gaming operators with which Virgin Casino has partnered allows the Company to select the best games available on the market, and as such it has become the natural home for players that want instant play (non download) online slot games.

Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, commented: "We're really thrilled to be offering such great titles from these leading online game developers as they greatly enhance both choice and player experience for Virgin Casino customers, making it one of the most exciting online casinos around.
"We launch at least one new game a week, and with our multiple partnerships allowing us to cherry pick the best of breed games we now offer unrivalled entertainment for players wanting instant play."

Tomb Raider - The Secret of the Sword is the first game to be launched in September. Presented in a glossy 5 reel 30 pay-line multi-faceted package, this game offers hours of interactive entertainment and the chance to hit major rewards through a variety of free spins, bonuses, wild and scatter awards and free games.

Also to be launched in September are The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Loaded and Tally Ho, all by Microgaming, Bitten by WagerWorks, Challenge Roulette, Fruity Burst, Sacred 7's all by Virtue Fusion, and Alice's Wonderland by Ash Gaming.

Notes to editors:

About Virgin Games:
Virgin Games (www.virgingames.com) launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

• Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over £2,500,000
• Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
• Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

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Virgin Casino Introduces Major New Games in September

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -(Sept. 2, 2010) - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company – Virgin Games, has today announced that it is launching nine new games in September from four leading games producers – Microgaming, WagerWorks, Virtue Fusion and Ash Gaming. Amongst the new games are some big titles, including, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring™ and Tomb Raider - The Secret of the Sword.

Virgin Casino now has over 130 slot games from 11 games producers on its site. The wide range of leading gaming operators with which Virgin Casino has partnered allows the Company to select the best games available on the market, and as such it has become the natural home for players that want instant play (non download) online slot games.

Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, commented: "We're really thrilled to be offering such great titles from these leading online game developers as they greatly enhance both choice and player experience for Virgin Casino customers, making it one of the most exciting online casinos around.
"We launch at least one new game a week, and with our multiple partnerships allowing us to cherry pick the best of breed games we now offer unrivalled entertainment for players wanting instant play."

Tomb Raider - The Secret of the Sword is the first game to be launched in September. Presented in a glossy 5 reel 30 pay-line multi-faceted package, this game offers hours of interactive entertainment and the chance to hit major rewards through a variety of free spins, bonuses, wild and scatter awards and free games.

Also to be launched in September are The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Loaded and Tally Ho, all by Microgaming, Bitten by WagerWorks, Challenge Roulette, Fruity Burst, Sacred 7's all by Virtue Fusion, and Alice's Wonderland by Ash Gaming.

Notes to editors:

About Virgin Games:
Virgin Games (www.virgingames.com) launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

• Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over £2,500,000
• Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
• Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

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Search Engine Media: Media Man Website Network Updated

2010-10-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

PartyCasino News: New Instant Play PartyCasino Jackpot Time? The Big One Is Over $2,500,000!

2010-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Search Engine Media - Search Engine News: Casino Search

PartyCasino News: New Instant Play PartyCasino.com Jackpot Time? The Big One Is Over $2,500,000!

Gibraltar – 22nd September 2010 – PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, is pleased to announce that it has launched its new instant casino! In addition, ‘The Big One’ at PartyCasino.com, the largest progressive seeded jackpot in the online gaming industry, is now over $2,500,000, while the Gold Mega Jackpot currently exceeds $1,300,000! In total PartyCasino.com’s jackpots total over $4,000,000!

A PartyCasino.com spokesman said: "The new instant casino is now live. Play direct from the website in 14 languages with the improved user interface. Everything else remains the same - continue to enjoy a huge range of casino games, jackpots and promotions! The Big One was last hit on the 29th May this year and we have seen frantic activity in recent days – it seems customers think someone is going to hit it very soon now the $2,500,000 landmark has been crossed. The Gold Mega Jackpot also looks ripe to payout and hasn’t been hit since the 1st June.”

The Big One is structured as a five tiered pool. The highest tier - Colossal Cash - seeds at $1.5 million, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry and currently stands at over $2.1 million. Customers can play for ‘The Big One’ through traditional slot Melon Madness. PartyCasino.com has also recently introduced another way of hitting ‘The Big One’ in the form of Snow Business. This slot is a five-reel, 30 line jackpot slot game with a Free Spins feature. When three or more scattered iceberg symbols appear anywhere in view, the feature screen is displayed where the player is required to catch a random number of fish, each of which reveals a random number of free spins or a random free spins multiplier.

For more information see: PartyCasino.com

PartyCasino.com has the most frequent game launches and largest jackpots in the industry and offers over 150 games, including over 100 slots. PartyCasino.com pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players.

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PartyCasino Wins Media Man Online Casino Of The Month Award, by Greg Tingle

2010-09-18T13:43:00.001-07:00

PartyCasino.com Wins Media Man Online Casino Award

PartyCasino.com has been awarded the Media Man and Casino News Media "Online Casino Of The Month".

PartyGaming's igaming suite has grown a custom to winning awards since they first opened for business in 1997.

The competition for the coveted award was intense again this month with massive bids from both WPTCasino.com, Captain Cooks Casino, Virgin Casino, Betfair, PKR and Noble Casino however there can only be one winner... ladies and gentlemen, that's PartyCasino.com

The award follows PartyPoker's EGR Poker Operator Of The Year and PartyGaming also made the shortlist for EGR Operator Of The Year. Recently PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com also won the Casino News Media "Online Poker Website Of The Month".

The Media Man - Casino News Media accolade is based on a combination of elements including user experience, innovation, trustworthiness, customer service, gameplay, affiliate program offerings, newsworthiness and company values.

PartyCasino.com is one of a number of PartyGaming brands.

The most popular PartyCasino.com games of late include Heist, Circus, Rambo, Palladium Slot, The Godfather, Sinatra, Slotbox, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mission: Impossible, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Sinatra, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Monopoly, Resident Evil, Melon Madness, Wheel Of Fortune and Mega Fortune Wheel.

The PartyCasino.com jackpot is currently approaching the $2 million mark. Players can also compete for The Big One and Marvel Hero Jackpot, playing the Marvel super hero themed online slot games.

PartyCasino's most recent game releases include Shaaark! SuperBet, Crocodopolis, Alice's Wonderland, Glamour Puss, Super Cubes, Heist, Palladium Slot and Circus Slot.

PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan has gone on record advising PartyCasino will soon feature more Hollywood blockbuster themed slots. A few in the know journalists and media agents have been recently tipped off that an all time classic movie adaption will be showcased in the PartyCasino portfolio within 1 month. PartyCasino has the world's most impressive line up of Hollywood themed games, and more are just around the corner.

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com customers can also benefit from rewards and bonuses via PartyPoints and the Palladium Lounge. Be certain to check out the PartyCasino exclusive "Cash Machine" that is being championed as one of the greatest online casino promos ever.

Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory do have a b2b relationship with PartyGaming, as they do with dozens of other companies in the gaming, igaming, media and entertainment industry.

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Australian Casino Wars: Casino Strike Action!, by Greg Tingle - 9th September 2010

2010-09-09T13:59:00.001-07:00

Australian and international pundits... you want casino and gambling action and news? Here it is maties. The world famous Australian Casino Wars continue to generate heat and excitement around the world. It's not only the main two players in Australia - James Packer owned Crown Casino and Tabcorp owned Star City Casino, but now almost certain strike action from the staff is on the cards. Rampant rumours suggest that another "strike" or two is also possible, but that may be jumping the gun! Media Man and Gambling911 don the bullet proof vests and grab the baton and plastic handcuffs. It's lights, cameras, action, strike!...

Crown Casino Workers To Strike; Rumours - Star City Casino And Others May Follow Trend...

Australian land based casinos can still operate in times of strike action, which is a very good thing for the powers that be at Crown Casino (and potentially a number of others).

Crown Limited is one of the biggest employers of Melbourne - ites - (for the moment). Let us also not forget that Crown are also a major supporter of our friend (and maybe yours) Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest.

Multiple thousands of workers at Crown Casino will likely be on strike during this year's Spring Racing Carnival as part of a significant industrial campaign for better pay, and perhaps conditions.

Crown staff will vote on the possible strike action in the coming weeks after Fair Work Australia approved the ballot. Insiders are hoping they don't get the equivalent of a hung Parliament, which was the state of Australia's senate for roughly 2 weeks, before Julia Gillard was reappointed the Prime Ministership.

Staffers are seeking out a 13.5% pay rise over three years and have flat out rejected Crown's 11% offer.

The LHMU (Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union) state secretary Jess 'Witty' (Media Man tag) Walsh said Crown Limited had posted a sizable $300 million profit and could afford the increase.

She advised any strike action would involve dealers, food and beverage staff and gaming staff.

"Members should be voting over the next few weeks, so the industrial action would occur in early October - it probably lines up with the spring racing carnival. Experienced, properly-trained staff are vital to ensuring gaming and alcohol are served responsibly at Crown. But Crown has sent a clear message it does not value the loyalty, dedication and experience of its staff. It only cares about one thing: making more money, whatever the cost to the community or its own staff. It has told staff it cannot afford a fair wage increase and needs to make changes that could cost experienced dealers almost $5000 a year, despite its $300 million profit."

Crown chief executive David 'Cashed Up' (Media Man tag) Courtney said talk of strike action was not unusual towards the end of long negotiations (the previous enterprise agreement ceased on 30th June).

He tipped Crown's 11% offer was equal to that accepted by staff at Burswood Casino in Perth, Western Australia, and more than the 9% accepted by staff at Sydney's Star City Casino.

He said Crown was hopeful of avoiding strike action.

If there was strike action the casino would continue to operate, Courtney said.

Tabcorp is tight lipped on the speculation and tip offs that another strike may hit their Star City Casino in 'Sin City' Sydney. Reef Casino and Lasseters in Australia's top end region would not disclose or confirm if they were about to suffer "strike action" (one kind or another), and no, we are not talking about aggressive boat people or the Australian or foreign Navy vessels, aircraft carriers or the like.

Insider rumors tip that they may be another kind of "strike", but that may be just heat coming from the readership of the likes of the very loud Media Man, Casino News Media and Gambling911.

A Media Man spokesperson said "Regarding the talk of another kind of strike in the Australian casino sector, don't look too deep into it. Our journalist and correspondent friends are known for talking things up, mind you, stranger things have happened in the past like the casino shaft man, Ferrari thief man, and even a couple of bomb threats a few years back, so I guess anything is possible. We think the hard working staff might just get the pay increase, and hopefully it won't negatively effect the share price. Mr Packer's operation is still pretty much head and shoulders about the competition so it should still be fair winds, and let us not forget the Packer and Warnie X factor, so Crown will keep powering for the foreseeable future in any event."

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Wrap Up...

Readers... er, punters, what's your view on the casino wars and potential strike action? Is other "strike action" on the cards? Keep checking daily for updates. If you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over it, and for God's sake, have fun.

Crown Limited Share Price: $8.320

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming and offer political commentary and analysis.

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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PartyCasino News: Cash Prizes In September; PartyGaming Industry Leading Promotions

2010-09-06T04:22:00.001-07:00

PartyCasino Gets New Games

PartyGaming, the world's leading listed online gaming company, has just released a new promotion, 'The Big Catch', along with a package of new slot games.

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At PartyCasino you can win a share of $100,000 and grab a guaranteed prize.

Starting 7th September and running through to 21st September is the PartyCasino 'The Big Catch' promotion, where you can reel in prizes with The Big Catch, a big-money promo that combines a leader board with a pick-your-prize offer.

'The Big Catch' gives you the opportunity to hook a brace of huge prizes simply by collecting points on jackpot slots like 'Snow Business', the latest addition to The Big One family. It’s a slot game that’s enough to melt the coldest heart.

You could win a jackpot seeded at $1.5 million as you enjoy the ultra-cool expanding wilds and bonus features.

And, every point you earn as you spin will move you closer to the great prizes on offer in the promotion! The leader board is worth a cool $100,000. Reel in your share by picking up points on jackpot slots.

Take a look at what you could win!

Rank Prize
1st place $10,000
2nd place $7,500
3rd place $6,000
4th place $5,000
5th place $4,000
And more!

PartyCasino.com has made dozens of people a millionaire. You could be next!

PartyGaming also offers a great range of other games including poker with its world famous brands; PartyPoker, World Poker Tour and Noble Poker.

For more information see PartyCasino.com

Also check out new slot games Snow Business, Super Cubes, Heist, Chain Reactors and Palladium Slot.

Snow Business

Our newest game offers you a stone-cold killer of a way to pick up your points for The Big Catch. It’s part of The Big One, our massive jackpot that seeds at $1.5 million, giving you the chance to win a life-changing amount every time you spin. It also features massive expanding wilds and a great bonus round. Make it your catch of the day.

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Australian Gambling, Marketing And Media Wars, by Greg Tingle - 29th August 2010

2010-08-28T19:34:00.001-07:00

The Australian casino and gaming wars are taking on a new angle, with marketing and legal eagle X factors playing a bigger role in both the high end of town and at the coal face. Crown Limited and Tabcorp may be 'The Big Two', but Tatts Group is far from standing still, using the iron fist of the law to help protect their turf. Media Man and Gambling911 give you a close up look at the expansion of the Australian casino, gaming, marketing and media wars in the ongoing battle for the entertainment, gambling and internet dollar...

Australia's Tatt's Group would not hesitate to expand its betting operations into every state of Australia if the governments failed to stop a marketing company from offering betting on computer terminals in pubs, the company's chief executive has disclosed. And keep in mind, Australian governments have a long history of failing business, mums and dads and punters.

Recently Liberal leader Tony "The Bruiser" Abbott called the Labor government "incompetent", and street survey results indicate he's hit the nail on the head. As to whether Abbott will snatch the victory, hitting his own jackpot, is yet to be determined.

In the meantime the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation is prosecuting a marketing company, VenueNet, and a hotel owner for providing an "unauthorised instrument of betting", after seizing a computer kiosk with internet access to a betting website from a South Melbourne drinking hole aka pub. Don't get us started on whether drinking and punting mix, but Media Man will point out that its scientifically proven that drinking does effect the brain's capacity to make sound decisions.

Many media, marketing and gaming brains are pointing out that it was just a kiosk, and that it can provide access to gambling, just as it provides access to most of the world's websites via the www access... like your home or work computer!

A roll-out of the computers would undermine the state's exclusive retail wagering licence, which is currently held by Tabcorp, but is up for renewal. Tatts Group, which runs UniTAB in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory, is among the bidding hopefuls. It's a bit like ABBA's 'The Winner Takes It All'.

The chief executive, Dick 'Moneybags' (MM tag) McIlwain, advised Tatts had lobbied governments to ensure devices such as that offered by VenueNet would be banned. Did the lobbying work? Gibraltar based PartyGaming, the world's leading listed igaming company has had mixed success with lobbying, but has invested millions over the years. 'Moneybags' understood the Victorian government was "waiting first" to see how the charges against VenueNet played out in a court of law. Yep, that's the important part punters.

"In Queensland they haven't had to resort to extra regulation, they've been able to use what [laws] they have," he said.

In its recent report into gambling, the Productivity Commission recommended states no longer issue exclusive wagering licences, as the monopoly arrangements were a "rare privilege", unfair to punters and no longer justifiable.

McIlwain went on to say he did not expect states to scrap the arrangements but if VenueNet succeeded, Tatts would retaliate. Yep, that means war!

"If VenueNet can come over the border, well, we'll jump the border too into NSW and Victoria and anywhere else that we don't have a licence," he said not mincing worlds. Let the battle begin... we will know soon, and watch out for gunfire and hand grenades, leading up to war head missiles.

Tatts posted a profit of $119 million, less than 50% of 2009's result, after writedowns of $165 million.

It also purchased the NSW Lotteries licence for whopping $850 million during the year.

Tatt's is performing strongly of late. In 3 months of operation, net sales, after prizes, were $156 million. Tatts top brass encouraged analysts, journos and the like not to rely on that figure for a full-year comparison, which would be closer to $625 million.

Quizzed about that figure and the $460 million NSW Lotteries reported for 2009, McIlwain said, "I'm not interested, I'm only interested in what we do."

Tatts purchased the 40-year licence for at least $150 million more than many expected. The deal included the rights to unclaimed prizes. Investors initially reacted negatively and it sparked controversy about whether Tatts had been treated differently to other bidders, as previously covered at Gambling911.

Tatts looks to be rising the stakes and we understand have put the world on notice that they are well and truly part of the Australian gambling wars, despite not actually owing a casino. In other areas they are a powerful player without question.

Media Man Profiles

Australia

Australian Gambling

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Readers, what's your take on the situation? What's your favorite casino games and why? Tell us in the forum.

Tatts Group Shares...

$2.40

Readers, know the odds, bet with your head, not over it, and have fun. Good punting.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming.

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2010-08-14T19:24:00.002-07:00

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PartyCasino News: There's No Business Like Snow Business

2010-08-14T19:24:00.001-07:00

PartyCasino News: There's No Business Like Snow Business

New Slot Offering Industry's Largest Progressive Seeded Jackpot

Gibraltar - 11th August 2010 – PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, is pleased to announce the arrival of new polar themed jackpot slot ‘Snow Business’. At the start of 2010, PartyCasino.com launched the largest progressive seeded jackpot in the online gaming industry in the form of ‘The Big One’ and brought in classic slot Melon Madness as the slot to crack it. Now Snow Business has joined Melon Madness in offering access to ‘The Big One!’

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PartyCasino.com has the most frequent game launches and largest jackpots in the industry and offers over 150 games, including over 100 slots. PartyCasino.com pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. This year marks the 200th Oktoberfest in Germany and what promises to be the biggest, best and most memorable edition of one of the world’s biggest parties ever! Palladium VIP’s on PartyCasino.com can secure their place there very simply: be one of the first 10 players to collect 10,000 PartyPoints by playing slots and jackpot slots between 16th and 31st August and they will win a package. Please note these packages are for the weekend of the 1st – 3rd October. See: PartyCasino.com for more information.

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PartyCasino News: PartyCasino Casino Conquest Tournament

2010-08-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

PartyCasino Casino Conquest Tournament

PartyCasino is giving away thousands in cash to players who rank on their two Casino Conquest leader boards. One board is worth $35,000 for regular players and the other, exclusively for the Palladium Lounge VIPs, that is worth more than $65,000.

Casino Conquest

PartyPoints collected during the Casino Conquest will take you one step closer to the cash. The higher you climb the leader board, the more money you’ll get. Just opt in to the promotion and play the games like the big-money jackpot slots to reach the big prizes.

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2010-07-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

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Google Games Ramps Up, Zynga $US200 Million Deal, Pac-Man Et Al, by Greg Tingle - 15th July 2010

2010-07-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Readers, punters, journalists, internet entrepreneurs, casino and gaming tycoons, and everyone else, major developments in the online gaming world as the battle continues for world domination, with our friends Google in the thick of the action... Media Man and Gambling911 probe the latest at Google, with game consul, toggle stick and computer mouse side by side as we explore the internet gaming super highway.

Readers will recall Richard Branson re entering the video gaming market last month with his Virgin Gaming. Around the same time Google brought the world arcade classic Pac-Man to the world via its home page, and its still a hit. Got to love the "insert coin" feature.

Years ago Google made headlines with 'Google Follows The Money Trail To Gambling', but was only just scratching the surface of things to come...
http://www.mediamanint.com/articles/google_follows.html

Last month Google's Pac-Man took the world by storm. Check out the Gambling911 story...

'Google Games Pac-Man "Wasted" 4.8 Million Hours'
http://www.gambling911.com/entertainment/google-games-pac-man-wasted-48-million-hours-052610.html

Recently Australia's Foxtel did a deal with Microsoft X-Box, and now internet giant Google is investing bags of cash into social gaming via the web.

Google Invests $US200 Million In Zynga Social Gaming Network...

Google has reportedly invested some $US200 million in social gaming network Zynga, the company behind the the hit Farmville game, in another sign the online gaming sector continues to heat up.

The move follows Google bringing the Pac-Man classic arcade game to its Google browser a couple of months ago, which of course generated international headlines and massive participation by kids of all ages! Around the same time Richard Branson not content with his already impressive empire including Virgin Games inc Virgin Casino, launched Virgin Gaming, in a deal with World Gaming. Players compete in skill based games for cash and prizes. What will they think of next. Google's got its thinking cap on judging by insider reports and leaks.

The Google - Zynga deal comes just days after an Aussie entrepreneur got his iPhone game development studio picked up by Disney (parent of Marvel Entertainment these days). Got to love those Marvel slots. The deal is understood to be for hundreds of millions, but the exact amount would only be known to a handful of people like bean counters and legal eagles.

The move comes as Google is moving into the social gaming scene with the development of its Google Games network. Google also is ramping up things on its social network with the intent to compete with and ideally beat Facebook, who recently has yet another legal situation on its hands about ownership and stake holder type matters. Time to pounce Google and seize the day.

Technology news service TechCrunch is understood to have first broke the Google - Zynga story and reports that "multiple sources" advise Google has invested circa $US100-200 million in Zynga. VC raised is about $US500, and Z got $US180 million Russian "mob" Digital Sky Technologies, plus Tiger Global, Institutional Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.

Leaks and insiders state Zynga’s revenue for 2010 will be $US350 million, with 50% of that being operating profit. Revenue forecast for 2011 is estimated to be a massive $US1 billion.

The deal went though Google, not its Google Ventures, which one may mean the the investment is of massive importance to the company, and not just a "pet project" or "Throwing mud and walls and seeing what sticks", to quote a Media Man insider.

The Google Games network is set for launch late this year, plus the Google branded social network, yet to take on an official name.

Zynga was set up only 3 years ago by ultra entrepreneurs Mark Pincus, Michael Luxton, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Andrew Trader, and Steve Schoettler.

They make the bold claim to be the biggest social gaming network on the internet, and stars are apparently 1.3 million "daily active users".

The company earns revenue mainly through "in-game credits", which are bought through a commerce system using PayPal as the default payment option, but expect Google to get in on the action with a switch over in the near future.

Zynga sports dozens of games but Farmville has become the title with the greatest name value of late. Virtual farms, livestock, you name it. Moo! Bah. Woof!

The deal shows that social gaming and online and mobile apps are now big business and punters are lapping it up. Of course for some, online casinos where one can play for money are all the range, and the PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino war is well and truly alive and well, but Virgin Casino is yet to accept Australian players, so Party is king in that department, battling it out with the likes of PKR and Captain Cooks Casino, with Betfair and Centrebet set to offer more options for Aussies, and social networking is also on their radar.

So readers, the internet continues to offer an increasing amount of play for free or play for money options. Facebook, downloads, in browser games... the choice have never been greater.

Media Man research indicates that most gamers and gamblers are checking out numerous brands and gaming options, and that Google, Facebook, PartyGaming, Virgin and movie themed games are likely to keep dominating for the years to come. Established game titles like Cleopatra, Tomb Raider, Mission: Impossible, Thor, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Pac-Man and Rambo are set to become available in more options and to remain in the top 10 lists.

Gaming, Politics And Censorship In Australia...

Sen Conroy remarked "Some sections of the community have expressed concern about whether the range of material included in the RC category ... correctly reflects current community standards. As the government's mandatory ISP filtering policy is underpinned by the strength of our classification system, the legal obligation to commence mandatory ISP filtering will not be imposed until the review is completed."

As of time of publication many Aussie ISPs including Telstra Bigpond, Optus, and iPrimus - have pledged to block child-abuse websites voluntarily. The voluntary approach has long been advocated by internet gurus and experts, bringing Australia into step with other countries such as Britain.

Google, which has seemed to have been at war with Senator Conroy over the policy, advised it was "heartened" to see the government had taken into account "the genuine concerns expressed by many" on the RC category.

"While we're yet to see full details, a voluntary proposal by ISPs, limited to child abuse material, is consistent with the approach taken in many of Australia's peer countries worldwide," Google Australia managing director Karim Temsamani said. In addition, "Our primary concern has always been that the scope of the proposed filter is far too broad. It goes way beyond child sexual abuse material and would block access to important online information for all Australians."

Online Poker, Online Casino Games, Poker Babes?...

It's a wait and see situation as to what poker and gaming websites may get blocked. For the record, and some readers will know this already, both Media Man and Gambling911 are website portals, covering a range of sectors from gaming, gambling, poker, entertainment, technology and politics. Websites such as TMZ, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald also cover gaming, gambling and sports betting, often having pro active advertising campaigns running and sometimes with editorials and Google advertising feeds and "sponsored links". The nature of the web is dynamic, so in theory website content, campaigns, links etc can be changed on almost a second by second basis. That makes for even more complex legal, technical and other aspects. Oh, Media Man has 10,000s of web pages cross dozens of websites and only probably has one set of tits...wrestling babes (and no private parts below), so MM is not an adult company either. Media Man is in fact in the Hitwise top ten (entertainment - personalities category), as has been for the past 7 years. MM also participates in dozens of affiliate programs across about a dozen business sectors, just one being gaming. Readers, get the point of how complex some of the elements are?

Wrap up...

Did you enjoy your internet gaming report? The "war" has just begun. Are you a web freak, a mobile games freak or a consul freak? Are you into slots, arcade games or both? Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Pinball Wizard, Inside The Playboy Mansion, Tomb Raider or Cleopatra? Tell us in the forum. Punters, as always know the odds and keep it legal. Good punting, happy web surfing, play and party hard...have fun.

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http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/asia_pacific.html

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http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/google_games.html

Pac-Man
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/pacman.html

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http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/virgin_gaming.html

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Mobile Casino
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/mobile_casino.html

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http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/virtual_worlds.html

Marvel Entertainment
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/marvel_entertainment.html

Social Networking Websites
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/social_networking.html

Media Man
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/media_man.html

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of sectors they cover. They also offer political commentary and analysis and publish Media Man Games http://www.mediamangames.com

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2010-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

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Google VS Bing VS Yahoo! War Continues

2010-06-29T20:42:00.001-07:00

Google VS Bing VS Yahoo! War Continues

PartyCasino News: No Vuvuzela Horns As Safari Soccer Comes To PartyCasino

2010-06-25T05:55:00.001-07:00

PartyCasino News: No Vuvuzela Horns As Safari Soccer Comes To PartyCasino

Gibraltar – 17th June 2010 - With football fever sweeping the savannah, PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, has introduced a new game - Safari Soccer! Team up with Africa’s most iconic animals as they kick-off a wild and rewarding match where you can win up to $500,000 on a single line. To celebrate the new game, PartyCasino.com has also introduced two leaderboards where over $150,000 is up for grabs.

A PartyCasino.com spokesman said: “Featuring raging rhinos, sleek springboks and ferocious lions across five-reels and 30-paylines, we’re sure you’ll find Safari Soccer a real winner. Over $150,000 is available through two leaderboards – one for regular players and one for Palladium Lounge VIP members. Fight for your lion’s share today!”

“We were going to introduce the sounds of the vuvuzela horn at a late stage but decided the sound would already be way too familiar to customers. You could call it a last minute technical change!”

Safari Soccer is a slot very much in the mold of the classic Melon Madness and features a free-spin bonus game triggered by the zebra referee symbol. A customer has to pick one of the referees in view to discover the number of free spins and a valuable multiplier.

The leaderboard races are underway and run until 23.59ET on the 27th June. Palladium Lounge VIPs compete for more than $95,000. First prize is $15,000 and pays 150 places. The regular race features a top prize of $5,000 and pays 500 places. To encourage top-class performances PartyCasino.com will be rewarding double points to customers who play Safari Soccer. Please note that the extra points awarded will not count towards the Safari Soccer Cup leaderboards.

For more information see: PartyCasino.com

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2010-06-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

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Asia Pacific Casino, Gambling, Gaming, Sports Betting News Update, by Greg Tingle - 20th June 2010

2010-06-20T07:08:00.001-07:00

Gambling, gaming and sports betting news continues to show no signs of slowing down in the Asia Pacific region, including the land "down under" in Australia. Media Man and and Gambling911 continue to circumnavigate the globe in search on what's news, be it casino whale news, innovation, politics or good old fashioned gossip. Australia, New Zealand, Macau, Philippines...no where is safe from the blood hounds on their Asia Pacific voyage of discovery...

Crown Casino VS Star City Casino Wars Continues...

Adam Santarossa aka "Man In The Ball" continues to live in the giant ball located outside Crown Casino. Half way thru his ordeal he shows no sign of quitting. Not to be outdone, Sydney's Star City Casino saw soccer mad sisters Joanne and Alanah Argyrou watch 72 hours of soccer World Cup style non stop. They currently awaiting confirmation by Guinness World Records. Likely the most famous gambling related GWR is PokerStars having the most people playing in an online poker room at any one time.

Crown Casino Will Pursue Gambling Addict Harry Kakavas $50 Million...

As reported earlier in the week, Crown Limited legal eagles are going after the hide and shirt off the back of Harry. Crown, please also remember, you can't get blood out of a stone. We know he owes $50 mil, but getting it out of him will be a challenges, if not impossible, scuttlebutt says. Insiders reckon Harry might already be $50 mil in debt himself... ah, the house always wins... well, almost always.

Aussie Casino King James Packer And Wife Erica Holiday In Greece...

Australian gambling and entertainment royalty, the Packer's, has gone to Greece to spend the summer, escaping the often cold winds of Bondi Beach. They went by air to Mykonos to board the family icebreaker, the Arctic P, located off the coast of the stellar island Santorini. Spy's advised they were spotted strolling the streets of the island capital, Fira (not Fireass from 'Underbelly'). The Packer's have a friendship and positive history with the world famous Paspaley pearling family based in the region. The rumour mill says Tom Cruise could show up soon as his new movie Knight and Day is to premier downtown in about a month.

Gambling Linked To 1 In 5 Suicidal Patients Says Australia Hospital...

Triggered by a nurse's curiosity over what tipped patients into crisis. The 17% which includes patients referred by mental health crisis teams, is roughly 20 times the rate of problem gambling in the community. Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, director of the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, said researchers made the discovery after screening 898 suicidal patients for gambling problems over 6 months last year. Dr Charles Livingstone, of Monash University's health science department, said the figure "appals me, but unfortunately I'm not surprised".

PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino VS Captain Cooks Casino...

PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com continues to be Australia's favorite destination for branded online games. This is partly due to Party getting the jump into Australia a couple of years ago when Mission: Impossible, Rambo and Sinatra came out, followed by Marvel heroes titles. Australia's can't currently play Virgin, but we reckon there's a secret way in, and Captain Cooks Tomb Raider and Mega Moolah remain big hits, but the captain desperately needs more new branded titles in they are to keep swimming, not drowning. Centrebet is now offering Aussie's Marvel titles, and Packers's Betfair is working on providing Australians with a online casino and poker product. PKR's strength remains 3D like poker, with sports betting recently being added to the portfolio. PartyCasino remains #1 and is heavily promoting their soccer world cup themed 'Safari Soccer', while Captain Cooks has a soccer themed streaming media promo running on their website.

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/partycasino.html

PartyGaming’s Corporate Responsibility Credentials Receive Four Endorsements...

PartyGaming, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, is proud to announce that its corporate and social responsibility (CSR) credentials have been endorsed by four leading corporate, charitable and gaming industry bodies:

FTSE4Good Index, GREaT Foundation, eCOGRA and GamCare

GamCare:

For the sixth year in succession, PartyGaming has been certificated as a responsible operator by GamCare, a registered charity which is a leading authority on the provision of counselling, advice and practical help in addressing the social impact of gambling in the UK. Andy McLellan, Chief Executive of GamCare, said: “I am delighted to be able to renew PartyGaming’s GamCare Certification in public recognition of their longstanding commitment to player protection. Players who choose PartyGaming have the assurance from GamCare Certification that there are appropriate measures in place to help them gamble responsibly and that the right advice is there for anyone who wants to know more about staying in control.”

Martin Weigold, Group Finance Director who has executive responsibility for PartyGaming’s CSR matters, said: “These corporate responsibility endorsements are welcome recognition of our commitment to act responsibly, which remains one of the four pillars of our business strategy. Being recognised in this way is a source of genuine pride for all of PartyGaming’s 1,300 employees whose commitment to undertaking pro bono community projects in 2009 was also recognised as ‘placing the Company well ahead of its peers’ by the GoodCorporation that undertakes CSR reviews for a number of public companies around the world.”

Macau...

Macau SAR is looking at “a missed opportunity” if no direct flights to Australia are launched to replace the Viva Macau operation, the head of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) in Hong Kong, Phil Ingram advised. “Obviously people prefer to fly direct and they can’t do that now but it’s not going to stop them from coming”, Ingram says. In fact, the Austrade Senior Commissioner adds, “our biggest export to Macau is tourists. There is a surprisingly large number of Australians coming to visit.” A lot of them, he says, hear about the territory through “the Crown connection.” Crown, Australian billionaire James Packer’s company, partially owns Melco Crown Entertainment, which operates City of Dreams resort and Altira casino. But many more, Ingram believes, “come not just to gamble, but expecting to see something historical and interesting as well as Macau’s UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] World Heritage.” Nonetheless, the Austrade executive emphasised, “we would prefer if there were a new replacement for the airline [Viva Macau].”

“You have a great international airport, so it’s a pity if it’s not used as much as it could be,” he said. The launch of a direct flight to Australia “would be beneficial for our exports too, food most of all,” Ingram acknowledged.

Last year the Macau market was worth MOP 500 million in trade and was “very important” for the Australian hospitality and tourism industry, the Austrade commissioner said. For example, he underlined, the local gaming sector is the third largest buyer of slot machines “made in Australia,” after USA and Japan.

American Academic Explains Asian Gaming And Casino Culture...

Gambling has strong traditions in the Chinese culture, and that has permeated to the surrounding counties, although to a lesser degree, said Vera Schwarcz, director of the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University.

“It hasn’t been frowned upon like in Christian cultures,” Schwarcz said. “Finding shortcuts in the dream of realizing wealth is something that’s more acceptable.” Chinese men go out to drink and gamble, and Chinese women stay home to gamble with friends, sometimes in large groups, she explained. The Chinese people believe strongly in luck, which coincides with their feelings toward fate and fortune. “It’s not like if you go out and gamble that you are a bad family man,” Schwarcz said. “If you gamble and win, it goes toward your social status of having more money.” Asia, especially China, has become the new hotspot for American casinos to drum up new business. For a long time Las Vegas casinos have sought out high rollers in Asia to fly into Nevada, Patrone said. Now casino companies build properties in the Far East, particularly Macau.

Global Gaming Asia Conference Bold Prediction...

Delegates to the Global Gaming Asia conference in Macau were told that the regions gambling market has a very good chance of overtaking that of the U.States within the next 3 to 5 years. Based on Packer's success with his City of Dreams Macau, and Steve Wynn's progress, we think the prediction will hold true.

Gambling on the island of Macau off the Chinese coast has already surpassed that of Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue, recording record-breaking growth, delegates were told, and Singapore and other Southeast Asian nations are now building up their gambling sectors to cash in on its exploding popularity. "The growth of the market in Asia has been incredible," Frank Fahrenkopf, head of the American Gaming Association told the conference.

NRL Football State Of Origin...

Despite the Queenslanders Thrashing NSW once again, in a 34 to 6, sports betting agencies continue to bring home the bacon. The State Of Origin and various racism related incidents have overshadowed the NRL Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal, for now...

Club Sells $666K Winning Lotto Ticket: Mark Of The Beast...

The Millicent and District Community Club is celebrating after it sold one of two winning tickets in Saturday night's Cross Lotto draw. One of its customers is now set to collect $666,666 after matching all six numbers. The club's Adam Dredge say it is quite likely the winner is a local. "It's usually the same people that come in each week to get their lotteries. We do a reasonable amount each day - not hundreds of people - it might be 20 or 30 people each day at the most - but I'm not even sure what day it was sold," he said. The weekend winners join the ranks of 13 other rural players who have collected a division one prize in SA Lotteries' games this financial year. No, the winner didn't die or anything!

Pyramid Lottery Scheme Shut Down In Nothern Territory...

A pyramid scheme offering shares in lottery wins has been banned from operating in the Northern Territory, the Consumer Affairs Commissioner says. Gary Clements says the scheme, known as OzPower System and run by TSC 2000 Europe Ltd, attracts members by offering a share in wins and bonuses for signing new members. Mr Clements says pyramid selling schemes often cost members more than they bring benefits. He says the company has agreed to withdraw from the Territory to avoid court proceedings. "They will basically refuse to accept any further Northern Territory members," he said. "Any current members can withdraw from the scheme without any costs. "There is normally a cost to stop being a member from a lot of these sorts of schemes and they go into detail on their website that Northern Territory residents cannot go into the scheme."

Japan: Scandal Hits Sumo Wrestlers...

Wrestlers gambling on baseball with gangsters. As Sor Hol! The latest controversy slammed down this week when the top ranked wrestler Kotomitsuki outed himself for gambling on baseball with yakuza gangsters. The 34-year-old ozeki (the second-highest rank, below yokozuna) had little choice: after a run of winning wagers the yakuza told him that not only would he not be paid, but they desired "hush money" to keep his gambling out of the press. Didn't work that well says Media Man and Gambling911, with assist from Murdoch's News Limited and friends...Betting on all but a handful of sports is illegal in Japan, and Kotomitsuki has been suspended for at least the next tournament while a penalty is decided. Kotomitsuki is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, with a Japan Sumo Association investigation revealing that up to 65 wrestlers or coaches had admitted to gambling on baseball, golf, mahjong or cards. The police will also investigate the Kotomitsuki case because of the yakuza extortion element and the Ministry of Education and Culture, which regulates the sport, is demanding heads on a plate from the Japan Sumo Association. The controversy comes as the number of young Japanese willing to commit to the feudal and sequestered sumo lifestyle diminishes and the viewing audience is increasingly confined to the older generation. Media Man expects the PartyGaming 'Sumo' slot game to rise in popularity, with Sumo back in the mainstream news...

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/sumo.html

Ambush Marketing Stunts Gamble Planned By Australian Media And Coms Entrepreneurs...

Inspired by the now world famous Bavaria Beer ambush marketing stunt at the world cup, Perth Based Kym Illman, is interested to see if he can top it for worldwide exposure. As of this writing, ambush marketing is understood to contain elements of "grey area" on a legal front in Australia. Richard Branson's Virgin Games often refers to "grey area" in igaming and gaming regulation. Did we mention Illman once ambushed Branson! For the record Media Man has met and talked biz with both gents, albeit it on different occasions, as you might expect. Ambush marketing in Australia - expected the unexpected - Crown Casino, WWE, UFC, Bondi Beach or a combo whopper? Stay tuned to Media Man and Gambling911 as D Day approaches is the message.

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/ambush_marketing.html

World Cup Refereeing Decisions: History Shows Link Against Aussies!...

3 successive World Cup matches. 3 massive refereeing decisions. Every one against Australia. Conspiracy!!!

a. Fabio Grosso's infamous "dive" over Lucas Neill, which gave 10-man Italy a hotly disputed last-minute penalty to sink Australia's 2006 campaign.

b. The 2010 game opened with Australia's most influential player, Tim Cahill, sent off against Germany for a late but far from malicious challenge, which even the player on the receiving end, Bastian Schweinsteiger, said shouldn't have warranted a red card.

c. Australia's best man on the field, Harry Kewell, is dismissed and suspended for a match after a ball blasted from close range hit him on the upper arm on the goal line in the 1-1 draw against Ghana.

The resultant penalty meant the difference between victory and a draw. The guy has killed my World Cup," said Kewell. "He is the referee, he's the judge, jury and executioner. "Unless I detach my arm and put it somewhere else, there's no other way I can move my arm." Defender Craig Moore said: "I didn't think it was a red card and I didn't think it was a penalty." Captain Lucas Neill said: "When the ball goes 100 miles an hour at you and you're standing on the line, it's got to hit you somewhere, and it happened to hit Harry on the upper arm/shoulder."

Coach Pim Verbeek said: "It was a mistake. What can you do with your arm? You cannot cut it off. As far as I know in the rules it has to be intentional to send a player off." The Aussies are pissed that Kewell received a red card for an unintentional act while Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic got off with a yellow against Germany for a deliberate handball. "Serbia has conceded two hand-to-ball penalties," said Neill, "but this could only be interpreted as ball-to-hand." Kewell asked: "Why's is this one different?" "It's confusing because one minute they (the referees) are saying this and next minute they're saying that."

Neill said refereeing decisions usually evened out like "swings and roundabouts". Word on the streets down under is that Aussie's "smell a rat" (of the FIFA variety). A Media Man insider was heard at a cafe frequented by sports, entertainment and media types "Suspecion is one thing, proof is another. I think we know why human refs still remain and the video umpire meathod is not used. The human element is a way for rorting, rigging and the like to more easily exist in the environment... largely going undedicted". The cafe patrons largely agreed. Punters, what do you think? Tell us in the Gambling911 forums. Can't wait for Tony Clifton's submission.

Wrapt Up...

Punters er readers, there you go. One of the biggest sports betting and gaming news months in recent history.

May you enjoy good fortune with your passion, be it sports betting, slots, casino tables, poker or other. As always, know the odds, bet with your head, not over it, and have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

*The writer has conducted b2b with PartyGaming and Virgin Enterprises Limited

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Virgin boss Richard Branson one Elle of a hero - 14th June 2010

2010-06-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Aussie beauty Elle MacPherson has named wily British entrepreneur Richard Branson as her business role model.

MacPherson, who has created a multi-million-dollar empire out of her name thanks to lingerie, cosmetics and TV deals, said the billionaire Virgin boss was an inspiration.

"I'm reading one of his books at the moment and I admire him," she said.

"It's really interesting to look at the way he has built his brand and how he combines what he loves with his business - he's broadminded and diverse and so definitely passionate."

MacPherson, who has taken over the hosting role on Britain's Next Top Model this year, said despite making her name as a swimwear model she never considered launching a bikini line.

"People did ask me why I wasn't doing bathing suits as they associated me with beachwear, especially after appearing in one in Sports Illustrated," she said in the UK interview.

"But I was wary of the fact it's a seasonal product and not economically viable all year round. Besides, lingerie is my passion."

MacPherson, 47, has also made an odd admission - that she only ever looks in the mirror when she's working. "I honestly don't look in the mirror, except for when I am working and then I see an image that supports my brand," she said. Credit: News Limited

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2010-06-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

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Google Games Pac-Man "Wasted" 4.8 Million Hours, by Greg Tingle - 26th May 2010

2010-05-26T04:06:00.001-07:00

Gamers, gamblers, sports lovers, insiders, outsiders... whatever hat you choose to wear, a trend that is almost impossible to miss is that the world of gaming, igaming, gambling, media and entertainment is becoming one. Need more convincing? Look no further than the number of news reports that both Media Man and Gambling911 have worked on and shared. Gambling911 being more of a gambling - gaming - sports betting and news website portal and Media Man being more of a general news and entertainment website portal, with gaming, gambling and sports betting enjoying considerable prominence.

Following the early signs of Google's gaming aspirations, going under the tag 'Google Follows The Money Trail To Gambling', switch the time machine to today and Google has now 'released' (showcased) arcade classic PAC-MAN.

Insiders and the well informed will be aware that a number of months ago Google teamed up with game powerhouse Hasbro with the online game version of 'Monopoly City Streets' (not gambling... and not to be confused with 'Monopoly Here & Now' or 'Monopoly Multiplier' slot machines). IGT (International Game Technology), just off a legal win against Australia's Aristocrat Technologies, does the offline versions of the 'Monopoly' slots found in land based casinos for those interested.

New Google Online Pac-Man Game

Staff playing Google's animated online Pac-Man doodle game, marking the game’s 30th birthday, has caused about 120 million dollars in lost productivity, according to a range of analysts.

One of the analyists, not wanting to be identified, tipped that the launch of the Animated Google logo designed to mark Pac-Man's 30th birthday on Friday led to almost five million "wasted hours" and cost the economy around 120 million dollars!

Google is understood to have enjoyed 505 million unique users on the day the Pac-Man Google Doodle went live to web.

The online version of the classic PAC-MAN game consumed 4,819,352 hours of employee time, costing the economy an estimated $120,483,800 dollars.

Google user were over the moon to discover the animated Pac-Man on Google's home page last Friday. It was Google’s first crack at an interactive logo, and we doubt the last. In the know journos and tech entrepreneurs say to expect more Google gaming logos and games, with a decent possibility of Google Gambling happening, once more clarity is obtained from a range of countries in regard to internet gambling and gaming. Australia appears to have the biggest question mark over it from Google, with somewhat of a war of words between Google top brass and Australian Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy.

Internet users can play the game by clicking "Insert coin" (perhaps a sign of things to come or a version of gambling conditioning)?

Marissa Mayer, VP of user experience at Google, said the firm had been "overwhelmed, but not surprised" by the response given to the Pac-Man doodle.

"Due to popular demand, we're making it permanently available at www.google.com/pacman," she advised.

Media Man Pac-Man profile
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/pac_man.html

Media Man Google profile
http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/google.html

Gambling911 and Media Man advise punters, hardcore and casual, that they do not currently have to insert a coin in their computer or web enabled "smart phone", nor do you have to send money to Google to enjoy the game. We hope that doesn't sound to Alien to you!

The Media Man website portal is one of millions of websites where punters can examine a showcase of online games, in either 'Play For Free' or 'Play For Money' format.

PartyGaming - PartyCasino.com remains a favorite for Australians and Canadians, and Virgin Games enjoys strong patronage in Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Google and Google Pac-Man is available in almost every country expect China (Censorship Land Of Great Firewall), with whispers saying Pakistan may be next to loose The Big G - Google, following their lose of social websites Twitter and Facebook, facilitated by political and cultural "disrespect" type reasons, that we're still trying to get our head around. Not sure if its about how many Virgin's a man can have or what...

Richard Branson's Virgin Games - AWOMO (A World Of My Own) is set to have its hard launch at a U.S trade show next month and has global domination of the gaming market on their mind. It will be interesting to see if Virgin and Google become official partners or if they become total or partial competitors. It's in most entities interests to stay on the good side of Google, since their search engine remains so popular, and they also have their fingers in so many other pies including Google TV!... also understood to include a gaming component, which may be expanded to gambling, plugging into the ever growing sports betting sector.

As TV show icon Jerry Springer says, 'Can't We All Just Get Along. Be Nice To Each Other'!

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company.

*The Media Man website network has Google as their default search box on their website portals

*Media Man has conducted b2b with a number of business arms of PartyGaming and Virgin Enterprises Limited

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2010-05-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

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PartyCasino delivers world's best in online casino entertainment; Cleopatra, Rambo, Sinatra, Circus, Call Of Duty 4, Classic Slots, Marvel and more

2010-05-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

PartyCasino.com continues to deliver the best that the online gaming world has to offer.

The company is maintaining its top position in Asia Pacific and Europe and has released more world class slot games and "Avatar" type technology is on the way. Just last week Party released Circus Slot, the world's first online igaming role playing slot game.

PartyGaming and in particular, its PartyCasino.com are on a roll.

Under the leadership of CEO Jim Ryan, PartyGaming is maintaining its darling status in the news media and gaming world. Quite an accomplishment since the days when they pulled out of the U.S market.

PartyGaming's leading brands, PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com and World Poker Tour continue to release new features that satisfy their existing clients, in addition to seeing new clients and partners come on board.

They have also built upon the world famous World Poker Tour brand with WPTCasino.com and WPTPoker.com, offering up to $600 bonus for new players.

Some of the key strengths of PartyGaming and its brands include:

Listed on the London Stock Exchange

Branded slot games that can be played for free or played for money. Rambo by StudioCanal, Sinatra by Frank Sinatra Enterprises, Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Cleopatra by IGT, Monopoly and Cluedo by Hasbro, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, The Naked Gun, Saturday Night Fever and High Noon by Paramount Pictures, Resident Evil by Capcom and Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four by Marvel Entertainment, Call Of Duty 4 by Activision, King Kong by Universal Studios, The Terminator and Gone With The Wind by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and so the list goes on. As Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee says, "Excelsior!".

PartyGaming also have their own in house game development team entitled 'The Games Studio', that works in collaboration with their business partners. Circus is the teams most recent release and its been called a world beater.

New technologies have enabled PartyCasino.com to offer "Live Dealer", in collaboration with EvolutionGaming and "Single Wallet" sees players only having to have one account with PartyGaming even if they choose to play a number of games in the portfolio, from slots, to poker, backgammon, sports betting, bingo et al.

The company has ramped up activities and campaigns across the global from Channel Five in Europe, to business deals with Dutch lottery operators and London Capital Group, PMU in France, all the way down to Australia where world class poker player, Stewart Scott is the regions brand ambassador for PartyPoker.com

Government b2b dealings - PartyGaming announced an exclusive, five-year agreement to provide an online gaming platform for poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Spil A/S (‘Danske Spil’). Danske Spil is controlled by the Danish Government. PartyGaming also recently announced a multi year deal with France gaming and racing operator Pari-Mutuel Urbain.

Industry Awards and Commendations: PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com are multi-time award winners of the Media Man - Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory "Online Casino of the Month" and all entities have also won a range of annual awards handed out by the well respected eGaming Review.

Exclusives - branded slots, Live Dealer, PartyPoints, Palladium Lounge, Single Wallet and more.

For these reasons and more, if you like games, be it playing for free and fun or playing for money, PartyGaming more than likely has a game for you. Numerous multi language and multi currency options are also available, and the customer service is second to none. Don't just play the game, be the game and feel it at PartyCasino.com

PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index with its shares listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY.

*The writer has a b2b relationship with PartyGaming and a number of its brands, as they do with dozens of companies in the gaming and igaming world

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2010-04-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

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Google Government Requests Tool To Highlight Government Tools, by Greg Tingle - 21st April 2010

2010-04-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

Internet, news media and data giant, Google Inc, has launched... get ready for it.... Google Government Requests Tool.

Personally, Media Man and Gambling911 reckon they might be sticking it to Governments of the world in a very public fashion.

The Google blurb accompanying the Google Tool (including map of the world) reads...

Like other technology and communications companies, we regularly receive requests from government agencies around the world to remove content from our services, or provide information about users of our services and products. The map shows the number of requests that we received between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, with certain limitations.

We know these numbers are imperfect and may not provide a complete picture of these government requests. For example, a single request may ask for the removal of more than one URL or for the disclosure of information for multiple users. See the FAQ for more information.

We’re new at this, and we’re still learning the best way to collect and present this information. We’ll continue to improve this tool and fine-tune the types of data we display.

The tool is located at http://www.google.com/governmentrequests (not the other tools located in the tool shed at Australian Parliament House)

We remind our readers of some wise words from folks in the know when it comes to government spooks and the like...

"The Internet is getting super powerful now, and that is what the government has to control next" (Jesse Ventura)

"Infobombs, because there is a war on for your mind!" (Alex Jones)

"The More You Watch the Less You Know" (Danny Schechter)

Folks, enjoy your poker and online casino while you still can. Media Man and Gambling911 are advising folks to sign up for a few casino, poker and sports betting accounts as back up. In addition we will soon be releasing some specifics about ways to beat Internet censorship including special devices to plug into, proxy features and benefits, and more.

The Epic Battle Of The Tools Heats Up... my money's on the Google Tools. No one owns the internet, Google and the Australian Government included! The internet was designed to withstand a nuclear war, something that may not totally surprise Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd or Communications Minister aka "Minister Of Censorship" Stephen Conroy at this point in time.

Reporters Without Boarders, an organisation which concerns itself with matter such as freedom of the press, remains highly critical of governments who attempt to censors its citizens, journalists et al.

Media Man has recently been in liaison with The Elders, Virgin Unite and United Nations, regarding concerns of Australian freedom of the press, online and offline censorship and human rights concerns of Australia under a system which certainly has some similarities of a dictatorship. Media Man has been thanked in writing from a number of organisations for bringing their concerns to attention. Folks, get ready for World War 4! ... and don't forget to check out the political and superhero profiles at the official Media Man website http://www.mediamanint.com We know you want to. As Marvel icon, real life superhero Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!, and Google, "Don't Be Evil"!

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company

*The writer is a pro active member of Virgin Unite and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance

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2010-04-08T03:21:00.001-07:00

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Virgin Casino Adds Thor, Amazon Wild, King Kong, Call of Duty 4 Slot Games and more; Richard Branson planning international expansion - March 2010

2010-03-13T04:40:00.001-08:00

Virgin Casino Adds Thor, Amazon Wild, King Kong, Call of Duty 4 Slot Games and more; Richard Branson planning international expansion

Richard Branson's VirginCasino.com continues to put out a world class product and service and this month is tipped to make the finals of the Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory Online Casino Of The Month Awards.

The Online Slot Games:

Thor

The Mighty Thor of Nordic mythology and & the Marvel universe is presented in this 9 line video slot. Win up to 4,000 times your bet. As Marvel icon Stan Lee says, Excelsior!

King Kong

Experience the fury and excitement as King Kong takes on New York City. Play 1 to 25 lines and go bananas over the wild bonus!

Amazon Wild

Exciting Aztec action awaits you in Amazon Wild – the 100 line slot!

Call of Duty 4

Fill your enemy so full of lead you'll have to use him as a pencil instead in this famous title slot!

Promotion

Win up to £500 in bonus cash at Virgin Casino.

Collect exclusive V*Points which can be used on a wide variety of Virgin Group goods and services.

Sorry no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory.

The late news... AWOMO (A World Of My Own) games portal to offer non gambling games on global scale. Virgin Games have teamed up with GDI (Game Domain International). More details here in the coming days and weeks.

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2010-03-08T22:55:00.001-08:00

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Virgin Casino Gets King Kong, Amazon Wild, Beat the Bank and Call of Duty 4 Online Slot Games

2010-03-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Virgin Casino Gets King Kong, Amazon Wild, Beat the Bank and Call of Duty 4 Online Slot Games.

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Casino Search: Virgin Casino News And Virgin Games News: Virgin Casino To Add 100 New Games In 2010, by Greg Tingle - 26th February 2010

2010-02-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

Virgin Casino News And Virgin Games News; Virtual Worlds Coming Up

Media Man reports from the Battle zone

New Games: King Kong, Call of Duty 4, Play Your Cards Right, Monopoly Multiplier

New Brand: AWOMO (A World Of My Own)

Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company - Virgin Games, has announced that it has developed a road map to introduce all the latest casino games in the next twelve months, making it one of the most content rich gaming sites in the UK market.

To help enhance its already strong portfolio, Virgin Casino has taken on a new partner - Playtech company, Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS) - a leading global supplier of gaming solutions for online gaming operations. Playtech provides cutting-edge software to the top operators in the gaming industry, and through the GTS Enhanced Gaming Engine (EdGE) platform, will provide Virgin Casino with access to the best in casino games on the market. Amongst the many exciting games due to be launched this year are Call of Duty 4, Monopoly Multiplier and Play Your Cards Right.

Warren Eloff, Product Manager at Virgin Casino, commented:

"GTS EdGE platform allows us easy access to the best gaming suppliers in the business and partnering with them to help develop our product offering makes perfect sense. We plan to roll out over 100 games this year and among them will be some top brand names, providing our customers with sophisticated and exciting games that they have come to expect from us. With all these new games we will have one of the best casinos available online."

Founded in 2004, Virgin Casino has over 500,000 players and 50 casino games on its site. Via the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Casino seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. Virgin Casino offers games from a growing selection of games producers, including: WagerWorks, Cryptologic, FremantleMedia, Endemol, Dynamite Idea, VS Gaming and Ash Gaming.

To play at Virgin Casino visit www.virgingames.com

Virgin Games To Become Total Gaming Website Portal; A World Of My Own

Virgin Games is expanding into the non-gambling PC games market in a move to transform its brand as a "total gaming" website destination that will also facilitate the company to market the brand in jurisdictions where Virgin's online gambling product is not currently prohibited (eg: most of the Asia Pacific - Australia and the United States).

See World Casino Directory

A business agreement with tech company Game Domain International (GDI) will give Virgin Games access to 200 plus game titles from approx 70 developers available for easy download with names including Tomb Raider: Legend, Rome: Total War, Fifa Football Manager and Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. These will be offered in addition to Virgin Games' current portfolio of online games.

The new system entitled A World of My Own (AWOMO), aims to deliver online game content quicker than rival download services by allowing users to play the games before they are fully downloaded, in addition to offering pay-per-download or regular subscription payment options. It brings new life into the term, virtual worlds.

Virgin Games chief Simon Burridge has gone on record.

"This will open up a huge long tail of people who are gamers but are not prepared to invest heavily in gaming, and will open up PC games to a rental market that has never been done before. If this takes off it could do for the gaming industry what iTunes did for buying music: no-one buys music from shops anymore, they go online to iTunes."

"This will open up parts of the world where we have previously been excluded, including English-speaking markets such as South Africa or the United States where the Virgin brand is strong. That will also allow the brand greater strength in those markets should they regulate online gambling but that is a benefit rather than a main strategic goal".

AWOMO is currently in beta mode and the companies expect to launch the complete product in the third quarter of this year.

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has established itself as one of the leading online gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Cryptologic, FremantleMedia and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a jackpot value of over Pounds Sterling 1,500,000

- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

Virgin was founded by Sir Richard Branson in 1970 and has grown to become one of the world's most loved, respected and recognizable brands. Virgin has won too many awards and commendations to list, but its fair to say that most parts of the world have been touched by the Branson - Virgin magic, and Virgin Games plans on delivering the fun, quality and value for money that people have grown a custom to with Virgin.

Party hard and play harder at Virgin Games.

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Google baulks at Conroy's call to censor YouTube - 11th February 2010

2010-02-10T21:43:00.000-08:00

Google says it will not "voluntarily" comply with the government's request that it censor YouTube videos in accordance with broad "refused classification" content rules.

*Read the full article

(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

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2010-02-10T02:54:00.001-08:00

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China Plans Online Gambling Crackdown, by Greg Tingle - 10th February 2010

2010-02-09T13:07:00.001-08:00

China plans to crack down on the online gaming and gambling industry, including the banks, financial institutions and websites that support it, the Ministry of Public Security advised in a statement posted on its (official) website.

The campaign will "concentrate on investigating major and important cases of online gambling, knock out domestic and foreign groups that organize online gambling, and severely punish the criminal elements".

The so called "crackdown", to be conducted in the February - August period, was agreed to by eight (lucky in many parts of Asia) government bodies including the Supreme Court, Propaganda bureau, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Gambling in its traditional form was banned in mainland China after the Communist takeover in 1949, the exceptions being two state lotteries... one run by the sports ministry to fund the building of facilities. Experts point out that this could be seen as a monopoly, and even boarding on racism of sorts in the business sector, as gaming and gambling is a world wide industry, these days the internet being the preferred global medium.

Underground casinos, overseas conglomerates and illegal syndicates have sprung up to fill the gap.

The statement said it will severely punish those who run underground banks and third-party payment platforms that provide banking services needed for gambling. As in pornography crackdowns, website operators will also be targeted.

The move is the latest in a series of curbs on the country's relatively free-wheeling online world, one of the few arenas for people from across China to interact in large groups, share information and criticize the government.

A long-running anti-pornography drive has netted many sites with politically sensitive or even simply user-generated content, in what many see as an effort by the Chinese government to reassert control over new media.

Widespread protests in Iran after a contested presidential election alerted Beijing to the potential for protesters and dissidents to use social media to spread their message.

China has banned Google's YouTube since March 2009, when a Tibetan exile film documenting the injuries and death of a Tibetan protester was published on the video sharing site. The government began blocking Twitter, Flickr and Facebook last summer.

Media and gaming analysts advise that this latest news is a "non coincidence" and "strategic" relating to U.S giant Google accusing China of cyber terrorism and of course internet censorship. In addition the internet, gaming and political world ponders what effect these developments may have down under in Australia, as Senator Stephen Conroy still plans to introduce the internet filters (along with "internet blacklist") after the next Australian election. The news also comes as documentary "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" attracts substantial mainstream press. The documentary focuses on the relationship between politics, lobbying, money and strong Native American casino themes.

Macau remains the regions hotspot for legal gambling, where recently Australian casino king James Packer has seen his Melco-Crown Entertainment City Of Dreams, Macau, achieved record profits and visitors, a development that insiders are calling the gambling "comeback of the decade". Asian gambling tsar Stanley Ho will be looking for some of Packer's recent good fortune as Ho is said to be struggling to regain his full health since suffering a stroke and undergoing brain surgery last August. Media and gaming commentators remain divided as to the current health Status of Ho. Macau's casino district has borrowed one page out of Vegas's book... they now have a Cotai Strip (but it is unclear if they are legal or illegal strip clubs in downtown Cotai). What is known however is that when things become "illegal" they go underground and usually become more popular and profitable.

Numerous high profile American, European and Australian media and internet companies have been seen to be pro actively targeting Asia in recent years and insiders suspect that this has raised the ire of the Chinese government. Macau remains the regions casino and gambling hotspot (where gambling is legal).

In a strategic move Australian founded Media Man today launched http://www.MediaMan.Asia to coincide with the Chinese crackdown on media, entertainment, internet and gaming. Media Man did not pursue .hk, .tw, .mo or .ch domain names as they preferred the more global nature of a .asia. Technically Australia is part of the Asia Pacific according to sources such as Wikipedia, Websters and The World Atlas. Internet portals and publishers, World Casino Directory and Global Gaming Directory, competitors of sorts, are monitoring the developments closely.

*The writer is the founder and director of Media Man, primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. http://www.mediamanint.com

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

Media Man Website Updated

2010-02-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

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Latitude revs up for US gaming goldrush

2010-02-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

Search engine optimisation firm Latitude is “revving up” for a potential bonanza if the US government decides to legalise online gambling.

The Warrington-based company claims to be a market leader in the sector, where its clients include Bet365, Virgin Games and Victor Chandler.

Chief executive Alex Hoye told Crain's he attended the International Gaming Expo in London last month, where many exhibitors said they expected the US government to relax its hardline stance.

This would require repeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, under which online gaming executives have been arrested and fines of hundreds of millions of dollars imposed.

“The talk at the trade show was that it's when, not if, it happens so we are revving up our engines for exactly that,” said Hoye, who comes from North Carolina. “We operate campaigns in America and we have lots of experience in the gaming sector so it would be very significant for us.”

In a report last year, Goldman Sachs estimated that legalisation would create a US online poker and casino market worth up to $12bn. The bank's assumption was based on a 45 per cent penetration of offline poker players and $400 annual gross gaming revenue per player. “We also estimate that the casino market could expand to a similar scale, based on various offline penetration assumptions,” Goldman Sachs added.

Paul Yates, managing director of Getupdated Ltd, which owns Adlington, Cheshire-based Just Search, said he believed that legalisation in the US would change attitudes to gaming in the SEO industry.

“We have had some gaming clients but to be honest we have always found that clients in that industry are quite restricted on spend,” he added. “Because it is restricted in other markets, getting a gaming company a good listing organically takes a lot of work. Legalisation would be fantastic for anyone in our industry.”

At Latitude, Hoye is pinning growth hopes on the gaming, retail and SME sectors now that Latitude has emerged from a refinancing in January which saw it briefly go into administration. Barclays Bank was reported to have written off about £5m of the company's debt while existing private equity backers Vitruvian Partners put in more funding.

Hoye said the bank had driven the process, having decided it “wanted out” of the operational business because the structure set up when Latitude was bought from its founders in 2007 “didn't match the reality of the world we now live in”. In other words, the company had too much debt following the buyout, which valued the business at £50m.

Hoye said Vitruvian had beaten off a rival private equity house this time around, adding: “Through a bidding process, our incumbent decided to back us and that shows confidence.”

The chief executive, who was brought in about 18 months ago when Latitude was missing its targets, said trading figures had steadily improved since the first quarter of 2009 and this January was the best month since 2008. The business has not filed full accounts at Companies House since 2007, when it made a £1.5m pre-tax profit on turnover of £40.5m.

As well as more traditional pay-per-click and SEO services, Hoye said investment in technology during 2009 had left the company well placed to satisfy increasing demand for conversion analytics, which involve tracking customer behaviour to see how they respond to online and offline marketing. The refinancing has also given the new company, Latitude Digital Marketing Ltd, more firepower for potential acquisitions.

Latitude employs 75 mainly technical staff in Warrington and about 20 in London who are mostly involved in sales.

Hoye said he was glad he had decided against copying other SEO firms by moving the Warrington operation to India, not least because the savings would since have been eroded by the falling pound.

“Some of our rivals are having big problems with their Indian operations. Offshoring can be the answer for a process that is going to remain the same for at least two years, but this industry changes every six months,” he added.

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2010-02-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

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US will not back away from Internet freedom push - 26th January 2010

2010-01-25T13:27:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON — The United States said Monday it will not back away from an Internet freedom push that has raised hackles in China amid a dispute between Beijing and Web giant Google over cyberattacks.

"We are aware that China has a different position with respect to restricting information," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"We think this is inconsistent with the information environment and prerequisites of the 21st century," Crowley told reporters.

"So we will continue to promote the free flow of information, unfettered access to information, the ability to have virtual freedom of association.

"These are all, we believe, fundamental tenets of the environment that we live in, and we will not back away from advocating that this should be something that all countries should promote," Crowley said.

The spokesman also recalled that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a major policy speech on Internet freedom last week in which she talked about "being able to surf the Internet without restrictions."

Beijing lashed out at Clinton's speech last week, saying it was "harmful" to relations, and a Chinese spokesman on Monday denied any state involvement in the cyberattacks which Google said originated in China.

The Internet giant has said that following the cyberattacks on the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists it is no longer willing to censor Web search results in China even it that means it has to leave the country.

A spokesman for China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Monday that the "accusation that the Chinese government participated in (any) cyberattack, either in an explicit or inexplicit way, is groundless and aims to denigrate China."

"China's policy on Internet safety is transparent and consistent," the spokesman told state news agency Xinhua, saying the country with the world's largest online community was itself the "biggest victim" of hacking.

The White House said last week that President Barack Obama was "troubled" by the Chinese-based cyberattacks on Google and other US companies and was seeking official answers.

The Google row, which erupted almost two weeks ago, has threatened to damage Sino-US ties, which are already dogged by trade and currency issues, US arms sales to Taiwan and climate change.

Google probes for enemies within - 19th January 2010

2010-01-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

Google is investigating whether one or more employees may have helped facilitate a cyber-attack that the US search giant said it was a victim of in mid-December, two sources have told Reuters.

Google, the world's most popular search engine, said last week it may pull out of the world's biggest Internet market by users after reporting it had been hit by a "sophisticated" cyber-attack on its network that resulted in theft of its intellectual property.

The sources, who are familiar with the situation, said that the attack, which targeted people who have access to specific parts of Google networks, may have been facilitated by people working in Google China's office.

"We're not commenting on rumour and speculation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details," a Google spokeswoman said.

Security analysts said the malicious software (malware) used in the Google attack was a modification of a Trojan called Hydraq. A Trojan is malware that, once inside a computer, allows someone unauthorised access. The sophistication in the attack was in knowing whom to attack, not the malware itself, the analysts said.

Local media, citing unnamed sources, reported that some Google China employees were denied access to internal networks after January 13, while some staff were put on leave and others transferred to different offices in Google's Asia Pacific operations. Google said it would not comment on its business operations.

Google, which has denied rumours that it has already decided to shut down its China offices, said on Monday it contacted the Chinese government last week after the announcement.

"We are going to have talks with them in the coming few days," Google said.

Google is also still in the process of scanning its internal networks since the cyber-attack in mid-December.

China has tried to play down Google's threat to leave, saying there are many ways to resolve the issue, but insisting all foreign companies, Google included, must abide by Chinese laws.

Washington said it was issuing a diplomatic note to China formally requesting an explanation for the attacks.

The Google issue risks becoming another irritant in China's relationship with the United States. Ties are already strained by arguments over the yuan currency's exchange rate, which US critics say is unfairly low, trade protectionism and US arms sales to Taiwan.

Washington has long been worried about Beijing's cyber-spying program. A congressional advisory panel said in November the Chinese government appeared increasingly to be penetrating US computers to gather useful data for its military.
(Credit: Reuters Google News Wires)

Google: A New Approach To China - Statement from Google - 12th January 2010

2010-01-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.

We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this U.S. government report (PDF), Nart Villeneuve's blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.

We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China."

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer (Credit: Google)

Media Man guide to getting found on the web, by Greg Tingle

2010-01-12T15:34:00.001-08:00

Having run a media, publicity and internet portal development company for a decade, I'm told I know a thing or two about being found on the internet.

One of our company websites has been ranked in the Hitwise Australia top ten (entertainment category) for 6 years in a row.

Here's a list of elements to take into consideration when it comes to getting your website or websites, found on the internet.

Be it a media company, games portal, casino, property and investment, travel and tourism, celebrity and entertainment, adult, social and community or something else, you can't go past these tips:

Search Engines - you really need to be in Google, Yahoo! and Bing. If you are not in there, fix that. If you have problems get a SEO expert to assist, but ask questions and measure results.

Content - quality, unique and quantity.

Usability - a website layout that is logical and user friendly.

Media portfolio - search engines, the general public and news media like to see a media portfolio. News is one of the most popular topics on the internet.

Videos - use of video on your websites and / or plugging into YouTube.

Social media - Blogger, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn.com et al all can spike website traffic plus they all give you more exposure, thus more chance to be found in the top ten.

Multi language - English is only one of the world's languages! Google offer language translation tools, however if you invest the time the rewards may be there. This option is more relevant and effective for some products, services and markets than others.

Multi currency - if you sell something this is well worth considering. Credit cards, Moneybookers, games and casino, overseas visitors... there's many reasons to adopt this.

Syndication - have your news appear on other websites and ensure the visitor can find the source of the news.

Speed - have a fast loading website, not a slow one.

Celebrity - if possible the mention of a couple of famous celebrities can help boost the popularity of a website.

Links - links a proven way to help build website traffic and link popularity.

Research - look at other websites that are achieving top ten or first page result for example and take a closer look at the companies, they're websites.

This list does not contain every known tactic and "secret" known to mankind, however it's a practical and concise guide. Happy web surfing.

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Google Alerts Study of World's Top 10 Gambling Brands

2010-01-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

LAMBOURN, England, January 5 - Independent Gaming Consultant, Josh Apiafi, was commissioned by a client looking to invest in the gaming industry to test the brand strength of ten of the biggest names within the sector, namely; 888, bet365, Betfair, Bodog, bwin, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Party Poker, Pokerstars and William Hill.

Few would question the dominance of Google in search engine terms and therefore the number of Google Alerts* generated daily by each of the firms was a major indicator towards the results of the project. The data run was complied throughout the month of December 2009. The results highlighted how strongly competitive the PR arena for the major gambling companies was and also how successfully gambling companies have embraced the plethora of new media available.

Josh Apiafi, Partner of Apiafi Associates, commented: "With much talk of digital and social media as well as the investment gambling companies put into PR generally we were keen to see how well the industry was getting its message out there with impressive results."

"The method's simplicity is its trump card. Equally, the results were very consistent on a daily basis - this wasn't a case of one brand having a lot to shout about during this particular period or having one or two very strong days that skewed the data."

Full daily results are available from Apiafi Associates.

Company: Total:

1. Bodog 510
2. PokerStars 493
3. Betfair 467
4. Paddy Power 437
5. Ladbrokes 421
6. Bet365 414
7. William Hill 395
8. BWin 178
9. Party Poker 175
10. 888** 99

**mentions of telephone numbers containing '888' were discounted
*Google Alerts are a service offered by Google which notifies its users by email, or as a feed, about the latest web and news pages of their choice.

About Apiafi Associates
Apiafi Associates is an independent consultancy which concentrates mainly within the gaming and horseracing industry. It also consults to businesses outside of these areas on commercial, marketing and branding matters. It is headed up by Josh Apiafi who prior to founding the business was CEO of the Professional Jockeys Association. Josh was also Director of Horseracing and Head of Marketing for Betfair from 2002 - 2007.

Apiafi Associates client base includes REL (Racing Enterprises Ltd), The Professional Jockeys Association, The PPF (Professional Players Association), Joules Clothing, Integrity In Sport Ltd, Rewards4Golf, Weathercock Racing Ltd and Sportsmasters International.

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Google rumor of the month: Google To Host Gaming Via YouTube

2010-01-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

Google rumor of the month: Google To Host Gaming Via YouTube

Website Of Reference:

United States Patent And Trademark Office

Link

WEB-BASED SYSTEM FOR GENERATION OF INTERACTIVE GAMES BASED ON DIGITAL VIDEOS

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Google search adds Twitter-Facebook-MySpace feeds

2010-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

Google has begun adding real time results to its Internet search engine, channeling feeds from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other fresh content into responses to queries.

"Users will get results on results page as they are being produced out there," Google fellow Amit Singhal said at a press event held near the firm's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

"This is the first time ever that a search engine has integrated the real time Web into the results page."

Twitter messages and other fresh content streamed into a box on Google's main search page in a demonstration of the new feature, which will be rolled out at all English-language search sites in the coming days.

Google is planning to incorporate real time search in other languages beginning early next year, according to Singhal.

Online social-networking rivals MySpace and Facebook will be providing feeds of all public updates.

"MySpace and Facebook users can decide what they want to see offered at Google," said Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer.

Google is working on a standard software interface Facebook and MySpace can use to stream updates to the Internet search titan in real time.

Twitter feeds were in Google real-time results on Monday, but Facebook and MySpace updates will not be integrated until possibly as late as February of next year, according to Mayer.

"I'm super-excited that we are doing this," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said at the event. "I'm so psyched. It's the future, like 'Star Trek.'"

MySpace will let all users permit online comments, pictures, video or other content created in profiles to be displayed in Google's real time results, according to MySpace chief product officer Jason Hirschhorn.

"We look at this as an extension of their self expression," Hirschhorn told AFP. "We want people to hear their comments and opinions and what better way than to have them next to results on a Google search?"

Google will only display updates from Facebook Public pages, "fan pages" used by celebrities, athletes and other high-profile people interested in firing off text messages to large numbers of followers.

"We are delighted to be in partnership with them to present that information," Facebook vice president of global communications Elliot Schrage said of updates heading for Google search pages.

No financial details, if any, were revealed by the Internet firms.

Google is eager to have a platform in place to allow bloggers, social networks and other producers of real time online content to instantly route updates to the search engine.

An aspiration is to one day be able to personalize search so that Google blends public information with private updates individuals have access to in online social networks.

"That is something we are far away from," Mayer said. "But, in the end, you really hope that the search engines can search the Web the way you see it. If you can see it, we should be able to search it. That is our goal."

Friday, Google began offering "Personalized Search" to users worldwide in 40 languages.

"This addition enables us to customize search results for you based upon 180 days of search activity linked to an anonymous cookie in your browser," Google engineer Bryan Horling and product manager Matthew Kulick said in a blog post.

"We will be able to better provide you with the most relevant results possible."

Google is also incorporating location into search, tailoring results to offerings and interests where people are when they access the Internet either on mobile or desktop computing devices.

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2010-01-01T11:45:00.001-08:00

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Media Man website network exceeds 4 million hits for December 2009

2009-12-26T12:43:00.001-08:00

Media Man website network exceeds 4 million hits for December; maintains Hitwise (entertainment) top ten and Google best of the web status

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2009-12-25T02:21:00.000-08:00

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Google and Yahoo! Release Top Searches Of 2009

2009-12-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Search engines Google and Yahoo! have released their list of the top searches of 2009.

The "Top 5" searches were the same on both websites, with "WWE" claiming the number 3 positions.

The Top 5:

1. Michael Jackson
2. Twilight
3. WWE
4. Megan Fox
5. Britney Spears

2009 Year-End Google Zeitgeist

Fastest Rising (Global)

michael jackson
facebook
tuenti
twitter
sanalika
new moon
lady gaga
windows 7
dantri.com.vn
torpedo gratis

Fastest Rising in Entertainment (Global)

michael jackson
transformers
eminem
naruto shippuden
beyonce
peliculas id
paranormal activity
anime online
natasha richardson
poker face lyrics

Fastest Rising in Food & Drink (Global)
acai berry
picnic
クックパッド
tesco direct
senseo
peanut butter recall
nespresso commande
habibs delivery
mocktail
masterchef australia

Fastest Falling (Global)
beijing 2008
euro 2008
heath ledger
barack obama
amy winehouse
kraloyun
dailymotion
bebo
wii
emule

Fastest Rising in Sports (Global)
real madrid
us open
ufc
sahadan
livescore
pacquiao vs cotto
wbc 速報
pga tour leaderboard
confederations cup
l'equipe football

The Top Aussie Searches For The Year

The fastest rising searches of 2009
One HD
twitter.com
Masterchef
Melbourne Cup 2009
Grooveshark
New Moon Movie
Facebook search
Trading Post Auto
Smartkiddies
Currency converter calculator

Most popular searches of 2009
Facebook
YouTube
Hotmail
eBay
MySpace
Google
Yahoo
Gmail
Bebo
Seek

Most searched for news stories of 2009
Swine Flu
Stimulus package
Flu
Bushfires
Bushfire
New Moon
Fires
Robert Pattinson
Michael Jackson
Rihanna

Most searched for celebrities of 2009
Michael Jackson
Lady Gaga
Robert Pattinson
Megan Fox
Taylor Swift
Miley Cyrus
Susan Boyle
Hamish and Andy
Miranda Kerr
Kirsten Stewart

RIP - most searched deaths in 2009 (including rumoured/incorrectly reported deaths)
Michael Jackson
Jeff Goldblum
Patrick Swayze
DJ AM
Kanye West
Miley Cyrus
Farrah Fawcett
Emma Watson
Sookie Stackhouse
Rick Astley

Most searched breakups of 2009 (rumoured and confirmed)
Oasis breakup
Telstra breakup
Beatles breakup
PussyCat Dolls breakup
Wolfmother breakup
John Mayer breakup
Abba breakup
Hugh Hefner breakup
Breakup of Gondwana land
Simon and Garfunkel breakup

Most searched for diets of 2009
Lemon detox diet
Atkins diet
Detox diet
CSIRO diet
Low carb diet
Soup diet
South Beach diet
Cabbage soup diet
Tony Ferguson diet
Liver cleansing diet

Most searched for album of 2009
Eminem new album
Lady Gaga album
Muse new album
Taylor Swift album
White album
U2 new album
Michael Jackson album
The Script album
Lily Allen album
Beyonce new album

Most searched for movies of 2009
New Moon
Twilight
2012
Hannah Montana
Star Trek
Eclipe
Avatar
Halo
District 9
Bruno

Most searched for weddings of 2009
Kendra Wilkinson wedding
Khloe Kardashian wedding
Jade Goody wedding
Kristy Hinze wedding
Kyle Sandilands wedding
Fergie's wedding
Ellen Degeneres wedding
Roger Federer wedding
Rove wedding
Heidi Montag wedding

Most searched for births of 2009
Catriona Rowntree baby
Nicole Richie baby
Kim Clijsters baby
Britney Spears baby
Jennifer Garner baby
Roger Federer baby
Alyson Hannigan baby
Heidi Klum baby
Sarah Michelle Gellar baby
Ashlee Simpson baby

Most searched for Masterchef-related recipes
Croquembouche
Chocolate mousse cake
Chips
Risotto
Open Kofta
Lamb Shanks
Cupcakes
Chocolate fondant
Scone
Lemon tart

Most searched for country/city outside of Australia
New Zealand
Singapore
Vietnam
India
Italy
Antartica
Dubai
Egypt
France
Phuket

The hot tickets of 2009
AFL tickets
Pink tickets
Wicked tickets
ACDC tickets
Parklife tickets
Jersey Boys tickets
Australian Open tickets
Melbourne Cup tickets
Soundwave tickets
John Farnham tickets

Most searched for retail outlets
Harvey Norman
Big W
JB HiFi
Target
Ikea
Bunnings
Officeworks
Woolworths
KMart
Coles

Most searched for retail catalogues of the year
Target catalogue
Harvey Norman catalogue
Big W catalogue
Bunnings catalogue
Myer catalogue
Coles catalogue
IKEA catalogue
Spotlight catalogue
Aldi catalogue

Fastest rising searches in relation to love
Love quotes
Love poems
Love calculator
Love story lyrics
Love songs
Love tester
Love sayings
Love games
Love actually
What is love?

Most popular sports for 2009
AFL
NRL
Cricket
Melbourne Cup
BMX
Greyhounds
Tennis
Golf
Swimming
Soccer

Popularity contest
Rudd vs Turnbull vs Abbott
NRL vs AFL vs Rugby vs Soccer
Chanel vs Prada vs Gucci
Save vs Spend

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2009-11-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

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Google Gets New Mobile Gizmos - 9th November 2009

2009-11-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

The Internet giant picks up two young companies that develop technology for the mobile handset space.

BURLINGAME, Calif. -- Google continues to grow its mobile portfolio with the acquisition of two young companies. The first, AdMob, runs an advertising network for mobile devices. The other, Gizmo5, does VoIP telephony from Internet browsers and mobile phones.

Of the two acquisitions, AdMob is likely to receive the lion's share of attention. Google ( GOOG - news - people ) picked up the San Mateo, Calif.-based company for $750 million in stock. That's compared to an estimated $30 million price tag for San Diego-based Gizmo5, according to TechCrunch's Michael Arrington. (Credit: Google News, Techcrunch, AP, Forbes)

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Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory - Media Man Australia network approaching 3 million hits for the month - 19th October 2009

2009-10-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

The Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory - Media Man Australia website network is approaching 3 million hits for the month of October 2009.

The flagship website of the Media Man Australia group, Media Man Australia, has been in the Hitwise Australia top ten websites (entertainment category) for the past 5 years. Media Man Australia is also in the Google "Best Of The Web".

Media Man Australia is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company.

The company was established in Sydney, Australia in 2001.

Casino News Media is their original igaming and casino brand, however the Global Gaming Directory brand has since taken over in popularity, and is challenging the famed World Casino Directory for dominance of casino news, listings and information on a global scale.

Media Man Australia is involved in approximately a dozen difference business sectors, igaming and gaming just being part of their business activities.

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Media Corp to relaunch Gambling.com with new SEO partner

2009-10-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

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Play on the Biggest Monopoly Board Ever

2009-10-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

Monopoly City Streets will incorporate Google Maps in an online version of the famed board game.

US, September 8, 2009 - EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. - Have you ever wanted to own the entire street where you live? Starting tomorrow (September 9), aspiring MONOPOLY moguls can take over the globe with MONOPOLY CITY STREETS, a limited-time online free version of the world's most popular board game that allows players to "buy" streets based on Google Maps, competing against participants all over the world.

The MONOPOLY CITY STREETS instant-play online platform brings MONOPOLY to life by letting competitors play with the actual streets that are special to them. including their very own neighborhood, town or city. Or, players can choose to set up their property empire in a city where they would like to own property. It's easy to get started -- players create a profile on www.monopolycitystreets.com and begin to acquire properties each day through purchases and trades. Each player starts the game with $3 million MONOPOLY dollars and earns rent based on streets and properties owned at the time competitors log into the game.

Each street in the world is available for purchase by only one player, increasing the opportunity for trading and interaction among players. Players can instantly set up houses, hotels, skyscrapers and other buildings quickly after acquiring streets to increase property values.

The online game is launching in celebration of the release of MONOPOLY CITY, a new board game where players build a 3-D city in the center of the game board. For the first time since MONOPOLY was invented in 1935, game play has changed, removing the need to collect an entire property group before players can build structures on their properties, so a city can be built from the ground up from the first roll of the dice. Additionally, just like in real life, the value of property and players' incomes can rise and fall. Players can build structures to increase property values, such as schools or eco-friendly wind farms, or they can sabotage opponents by building sewage plants or prisons on the competition's property.

"The online experience for MONOPOLY CITY STREETS emphasizes the exciting dealing and negotiating elements of MONOPOLY," said Sarah Hoskin, Senior Marketing Manager for U.S. Marketing at Hasbro Games. "Both MONOPOLY CITY STREETS and MONOPOLY CITY bring new creativity to MONOPOLY that goes beyond the traditional property streets, green houses and red hotels."

MONOPOLY CITY STREETS will launch online in English, French, Spanish, Dutch and German on September 9, 2009. MONOPOLY CITY will be available at mass retail stores nationwide in Fall for the approximate retail price of $34.99. The board game includes more than 80 3-D buildings, district property cards, MONOPOLY money, "Chance" and "Dodge Rent" cards, and a Trading unit that requires two AAA batteries.

ABOUT MONOPOLY

Since 1935, more than 250 million copies of MONOPOLY have been sold in 106 countries and 40 languages. More than 200 different editions of the game have been published, but the most popular continues to be the classic "Number Nine." Affectionately known by its original product number, "Number Nine" is based on the streets of Atlantic City and is nearly identical to Charles Darrow's original submission to Parker Brothers. The MONOPOLY name and logo, the distinctive design of the game board, the four corner squares, the MR. MONOPOLY name and the character, as well as each of the distinctive elements of the board and playing pieces are trademarks of Hasbro for its property trading game and game equipment. (C) 2009 Hasbro, All Rights Reserved.

About Hasbro

Hasbro, Inc. is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world. As a brand-driven, consumer-focused global company, Hasbro brings to market a range of toys, games and licensed products, from traditional to high-tech and digital, under such powerful brand names as TRANSFORMERS, PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST. Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com. (C) 2009 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Google tweaks AdWords

2009-10-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Superbrand Google has made two changes to its AdWords Quality Score and Ad Rank systems programs that will affect the way ads are placed on its search results page.

All ads that go through Google have their own quality score, which is calculated through a complex formula based on a number of factors – the most important being how many times the ad gets clicked (the higher the quality score, the better the chance that the ad will appear near to the top of the Google search results page).

Traditionally it meant that ads that had been clicked more times would appear closer to the top of the page, even though they were more likely to be clicked simply because of that position.

But Google now measures the click-through rate of an ad while taking account of its position at the time it was clicked, which should increase overall quality scores.

The second change affects the way ads are shown in the yellow region above search results. In the past, if the ad with the highest ad rank did not have a high enough quality score, then no ad would appear above the search results.

The company changed the settings so that if an ad in position one does not have a high enough quality score but the ad in position two does, it is possible for ad number two to jump over ad number one and appear above the search results, meaning that more ads will appear on top of Google’s search results.

Google’s third quarter results showed that profits had risen 25 percent from the same time last year – not bad considering the world is widely regarded as being in an economic downturn.

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Hitwise - Entertainment - Television - Weekly rankings for the week ending 26th September 2009

2009-09-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Entertainment - Television
All sites
Weekly rankings for the week ending 09/26/2009
Ranks by 'Visits'

Rank Website
1. The Weather Channel - US
2. CNN.com
3. ESPN
4. MSNBC
5. Fox News
6. Hulu
7. Comcast
8. Yahoo! TV
9. FOX Sports on MSN
10. QVC.com

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Google Monopolises online game industry

2009-09-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

This could be very addictive: Google is teaming up with board game maker Hasbro to launch a Google Maps version of Monopoly. Monopoly City Streets, which launches Wednesday, allows users to compete in a live, worldwide version of the popular game, creating the biggest Monopoly tournament ever played.

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www.mediaman.com.au is a Hitwise Top 10 Award Winner! - 2nd September 2009

2009-09-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! Hitwise is pleased to announce that www.mediaman.com.au is a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner for the period January - June 2009.

During this period, www.mediaman.com.au ranked No. 7 based on market share of visits among all Australian websites in the Hitwise Entertainment - Personalities industry.

The Hitwise Top 10 Award recognises websites from over 165 industries that are leaders in their industry and brings with it the benefit of using the Hitwise Top 10 Award shield (pictured right).

If you would like to display the award shield on your website, please click on the image (or this link) and follow the instructions. To ensure that the purpose of the award is clear, display of the shield is permitted on the condition that a hyperlink to its explanation is included.

Again, congratulations. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Best regards,

Rheika Tompkins
Marketing Director - Asia Pacific
Hitwise Australia

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Google Caffeine

2009-08-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

Full report coming soon.

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Hitwise's Top 10 Gambling, Sports Betting, Poker and Lottery

2009-08-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

The Top 10 Gambling
Hitwise's Top 10 "Entertainment -- Gambling" sites for the week ending May 30, 2009.
The No. 1 sites:
Australia: TAB Racing
Canada: Loto Quebec
Hong Kong: Hong Kong Jockey Club
Singapore: Singapore Pools
United Kingdom: Betfair
United States: New York Lottery

The Top 10 Betting
Hitwise's Top 10 "Sport Betting" sites for the week ending May 23, 2009.
The No. 1 sites:
Australia: TAB Racing
United Kingdom: Betfair
United States: Daily Racing Form

The Top 10 Poker
Hitwise's Top 10 "Gambling -- Poker" sites for the week ending May 23, 2009.
The No. 1 sites:
Australia: Pacific Poker
United Kingdom: PKR
United States: Pokerstars.net

The Top 10 Lottery
Hitwise's Top 10 Lottery sites for the week ending May 23, 2009.
The No. 1 sites:
Australia: Golden Casket
United Kingdom: The National Lottery
United States: New York Lottery

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Gambling - Opening the Search Engine Spigot - 2nd July 2009

2009-08-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

It looks as though Congress may soon be voting on the Payments System Protection Act, which partially decriminalizes online gaming. The Act could have massive implications for online gaming and revenues for search engines, as it would allow search engines to sell sponsored listings to gambling companies.

Looking at Hitwise data, I was surprised to see that Gambling websites are already getting a large chunk of their traffic from search engines and some even from paid search listings.

Casino and Poker websites receive a larger share of their traffic from Search Engines than average. In May, Gambling websites received 27.24% of US Internet visits from Search Engines. Hitwise organizes the Gambling parent category into seven sub-categories. I'll focus on Casinos and Poker in this post, leaving aside Bingo, Sports Betting, Lotteries, Directories and Games for the moment. Casinos and Poker websites received 32.19% and 35.62% of visits from Search Engines respectively. This is above the average for All Categories of websites at 26.247%.

Of that search traffic, Casinos received 87.82% of their search traffic from organic listings in the four weeks to June 20th, 2009 and Poker websites 95.22%. To give you a benchmark, the average for All Categories was 92.63% organic and for Shopping & Classifieds 82.56%. Most of the paid traffic terms sending visits to Casino websites were searches for casino resorts, such as Foxwoods and Atlantis. This leaves huge opportunities for search engines to monetize all of that search traffic I mentioned earlier going to gambling websites.

Looking at the search terms sending visits to Gambling websites, one immediately notices the dominance of branded search terms. The top generic, or non-branded query, is "internet casinos" at #110 among search terms sending visits to Gambling websites in the week to 20th June. Next is "free sports picks" at #135, "free casino chip" at #231, "free bingo" at #238 and "free online slots no download" at #246.

In the UK in October, Google lifted a self-imposed ban on gambling related advertising in the UK. This offers an interesting opportunity for cross-market comparison. Comparing paid search traffic to Casinos and Poker websites year over year (i.e. since Google lifted its ban) we find a fairly marked increase in paid traffic. Casinos receive 20% of their search traffic from paid listings in the UK, up more than two-fold year over year. Poker websites receive 8% of their UK search traffic from paid listings, up more than three-fold year over year.

It will be interesting to see if the search engines decide to allow paid listings on gambling content if the Act passes. It will also be interesting to see how marketers respond in the US and whether we'll see intense competition on paid listings for branded terms. This could certainly help boost revenues for the search engines during a downturn. (Credit: Hitwise)

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Online casino and poker players prefer strong, established brand names

2009-08-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

Findings conducted by Media Man Australia and Casino News Media indicate that online casino and online poker players much prefer strong, established brands, especially in times of economic instability as is currently the case in the worlds financial markets.

The following is a summary report of the findings by geographical region, listing the overall top 5 gaming / casino / betting brands in each region. Hitwise, Online Casino City, PokerScout.com, InfoPowa News, Gambling911, Poker News Daily, Alexa, Google and Yahoo! results formed part of the findings. The Media Man Australia and Casino News Media brand is not being included in this report.

Australia

Crown Casino and Crown Poker

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com

Pacific Poker and 888

Centrebet

Sportingbet

Britain

Virgin Games

Aspinalls Online Casino, Aspinalls Online Poker and Aspers

PKR

Paddy Poker

Betfair

Canada

Loto Quebec

PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com

Canadian Poker Tour

*other brand findings for Canadian region were not conclusive

Fast movers on a global scale ranging from most well known to least well known are:

JackpotCity.com and JackpotCity.co.uk

PKR Poker and PKR Casino

Asia Pacific Poker Tour

Aspinalls Online Poker

Latin American Poker Tour

*the top 5 gaming and casino entities on a global scale ranging from most well known to least well known are:

Donald Trump

James Packer

Steve Wynn

Stanley Ho

Damian Aspinall / Calvin Ayre (tie)

United States

BetUs.com

New York Lottery

Bodog

PokerStars.net

Daily Racing Form

China (Macau)

City Of Dreams

Asian Poker Tour

World Series of Poker

PartyPoker.com

PKR

* Microsoft, Sony and Wikipedia are making significant movements into the gaming and igaming industry, however are not classified as gambling brands in these findings.

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Microsoft and Yahoo gang up on Google - 29th July 2009

2009-07-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yahoo and Microsoft have reached agreement on a long-awaited web search partnership that will unite the two companies against market leader Google.

Under the no-cash deal, Yahoo will use Microsoft's new Bing search engine on its own sites, while Yahoo will act as the exclusive global sales force for the companies' premium search advertisers.

According to research firm ComScore, Google has a 65 per cent share of the lucrative search market. The combined forces of Yahoo and Microsoft will have a 30 per cent market share.

Yahoo, which last year turned down a $US47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft, said it stood to gain about $US500 million in annual operating income and $US200 million in capital expenditure savings through the agreement with the software giant.

Yahoo also estimated the deal would provide it with a $US275 million benefit to annual operating cash flow.

"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of internet innovation and development," Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz said in a statement.

The partnership, Microsoft said, "will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry."

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said the deal will enable Bing to better compete against Goggle, as well as attract more users and advertisers.

"Through this agreement with Yahoo, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company," Ballmer said.

"This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search."

The agreement, which has a 10-year term, will be subject to review by US regulatory authorities, the companies said.

It is restricted to internet search and related advertising revenue, while the pair would retain full autonomy on other properties and products such as email, instant messaging and display advertising.

Calling the link-up a "significant opportunity," Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock said the company's board backed it with its "full and unanimous support."

"Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future," he said.

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Global Gaming Directory Website Network Updated

2009-07-29T14:25:00.001-07:00

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Global Gaming Directory

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Google Profiles

2009-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

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Hitwise's Top 10 "Gambling -- Poker" sites for the week ending 23rd May 2009

2009-07-17T04:16:00.000-07:00

Australia: Pacific Poker

United Kingdom: PKR

United States: Pokerstars.net

Take Your Bets - Hitwise To Go - Asia Pacific - 30th April 2008

2009-06-29T01:22:00.001-07:00

According to Hitwise Australia for the week ending 26/04/2008, 75.3% of online traffic to the Gambling industry goes to local websites, where Australians spend an average time of 17 minutes and 21 seconds. TAB Racing ( www.tabracing.com.au) was the most popular Gambling website, receiving a 12.40% market share of visits to the industry. Now you know.

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Google uses Britain as gambling guinea pig, by Ben Russell - The Independent - 17th October 2008

2009-04-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

Bookmakers and online casinos will be able to advertise on Google, the world's most popular internet search engine, from today.

The company, which yesterday received royal approval when the Queen visited its British headquarters near Victoria station, was condemned as "irresponsible" by MPs and church leaders for lifting its four-year ban and allowing gambling companies to buy "sponsored links" on its site in Britain.

Google introduced a global ban on gambling adverts on its site in 2004, but decided to end it for British customers after rules on television advertising for bookmakers, casinos and gambling websites were relaxed.

Google insisted that all advertisers using the service would have to be regulated in Britain or Europe and would have to have internet links to organisations helping problem gamblers. But critics condemned the move, saying the adverts could attract people hit by the global economic downturn.

The Church of England led attacks on the decision, which came a day after figures were released showing a 25 per cent increase in people seeking help with gambling problems.

A CofE spokesman said: "Whatever people are searching for on Google, it probably isn't the chance to risk developing a serious problem that could have a hugely negative effect on themselves and their family. As people are facing more financial uncertainty, the fantasy of instant wealth could become particularly attractive and the consequences of losses correspondingly serious."

Figures released this week by the gambling addiction charity GamCare showed a huge increase in the numbers of people seeking help. Nearly 38,000 called its betting hotline last year, compared with just more than 30,000 the year before. Callers had racked up average debts of £17,500.

Last night, MPs of all parties warned Google not to exacerbate the problems of online gambling. Peter Kilfoyle, the former Labour Defence minister, said: "It's the height of stupidity. It seems probably the worst of times for people to be encouraging gambling... after we have been facing a financial crisis built on reckless gambling in the markets."

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman, added: "Clearly this is perfectly legal but it is of huge concern that we have further expansion of the advertising of internet gambling when we know it creates problems."

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow Culture minister, added: "At a time when calls to GamCare have increased by a quarter I would hope Google would exercise some corporate social responsibility... At the very least [it] should ensure all advertisers meet UK gambling regulations irrespective of their country of origin."

The Salvation Army said the move was "effectively encouraging vulnerable people into debt" warning that it contributed to a "creeping normalisation" of gambling in society.

A spokesman said: "With widespread use of the internet, use of online lotteries and betting opportunities [are] increasing. And with 16- to 24-year-olds among the most frequent users of the internet, it is not unrealistic to be concerned this group will be particularly affected by this poor decision."

Google insisted that its UK-based advertisers would have to be registered with the British Gambling Commission before advertising, while European operators would also have to be licensed in their home country. All would have to have links to the GamCare website.

He said it would be for companies to decide which search words would trigger adverts for their services but stressed that the advertisements could be screened out by users.

James Cashmore of Google said: "We've decided to amend our policy to allow text ads to appear against search queries related to gambling in Great Britain. We hope this will enhance the search experience for users and help advertisers connect with interested consumers. Gambling ads will automatically be classified as Non-Family Safe which means they will not show on any search where the user has applied the Safe Search filter."

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Virgin Games hires Latitude to raise profile - NMA Magazine - 16th April 2009

2009-04-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Virgin Games is to ramp up its marketing activity as it expands its portfolio of online games to make the most of traffic to gambling sites. Virgin Games, which was launched three years ago and has casino, poker and bingo sites, has appointed Latitude as is first search optimisation agency to ramp up content on its properties and gain prominence on search engines. The company is also increasing display, affiliate and paid search activity, taking advantage of Google's decision...

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Hitwise Australia Online Performance Awards Winners 2008

2009-03-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

First time recipients of the awards include Webjet, Fox Sports and Toyota.

Melbourne- 24 March, 2009 - Hitwise, the leader in online competitive intelligence today announced the most popular websites from more than 100 industries in Australia during 2008.

The annual Hitwise Australia Online Performance Awards recognise outstanding online business achievement and acknowledge the most successful Australian websites as categorised in Hitwise’s key industries, defined by the market share of user visits to a website received during 2008.

As Hitwise reports on the anonymous online usage of approximately 3 million Australian Internet users – the largest online sample of its kind and more than 140,000 local websites throughout the course of the year – this unique awards program recognises excellence in online performance through public popularity.

“This is truly a ‘people’s choice’ award, as ultimately, organisations receiving a Hitwise Online Performance Award have been determined by Australian consumers,” says Michael Walmsley, General Manager of Hitwise Asia Pacific. He adds, "Website visits provide an excellent measure of a website’s success and popularity".

Hitwise congratulates the 2008 winners, which include major online and offline brands such as AMP, Wotif.com, ninemsn, and Medibank . First time recipients of the award include Webjet, Fox Sports, JB Hi-Fi Australia, and Toyota.

For more information on the awards and a complete list of the 2008 winners visit www.hitwise.com.au/awards or email Rheika Tompkins at press.au@hitwise.com.

About Hitwise:

Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,500 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.

Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise’s patented methodology anonymously captures the online usage, search and conversion behavior of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.

Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian (FTS:EXPN) www.experiangroup.com operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.

For up to date analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.com.au/datacenter.

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Popular websites get Hitwise

2009-03-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

27th March 2009

Online monitoring company Hitwise has announced their Australia Online Performance Awards, recognising the most popular websites from 2008 in more than 100 industries.

Both online and offline brands were named at the top of their respective industries, including Wotif.com, ninemsn, Sony and BHP Billiton. Directories were also popular, with Natural Therapy Pages taking out the alternative medicine category and the Home Improvement Pages taking out the building and construction category.

“This is truly a ‘people’s choice’ award, as ultimately, organisations receiving a Hitwise Online Performance Award have been determined by Australian consumers,” says Michael Walmsley, general manager of Hitwise Asia Pacific.

The Hitwise ‘voting’ method involves a sample of 3 million online users and their usage of more than 140,000 local websites throughout the course of the year.

For the full list, see: www.hitwise.com.au/awards

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Fast Mover - Reader's Digest - www.sweepstakes.com.au - Hitwise Australia

2009-03-27T17:25:00.001-07:00

May 2008

Reader's Digest - www.sweepstakes.com.au

The Reader's Digest - Sweepstakes.com.au website provides information about lotteries hosted by the magazine, as well as details of recent winners and prize lists. A fast mover in All Categories during the 4 weeks ending 10/05/2008, this website moved up 1835 places to rank 995 and increased its market share of visits by 204%.

Social networking website Bebo (www.bebo.com) drove 44.28% of upstream traffic share to The Reader's Digest - Sweepstakes.com.au in the week ending 10/05/2008, followed by email service Yahoo!7 - Mail (mail.yahoo.com.au) and portal frontpage Yahoo!7 (au.yahoo.com) with 9.69% and 9.38% respectively. Of www.sweepstakes.com.au's total upstream traffic, 74.09% consisted of new visitors.

The Hitwise Lifestyle Demographics tool provides insights into households that have the propensity to visit competitor websites. Based on the 12 week period ending 10/05/2008, of the 11 Mosaic Australia 2008 Groups, 18.93% of traffic to www.sweepstakes.com.au came from 'Community Disconnect' users (older blue-collar workers and retirees in country and coastal locations) and 15.55% of traffic came from 'Family Challenge' users (mixed family forms with stretched budgets in outer suburbs). (Credit: Hitwise)

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Hitwise Releases Online Performance Awards

2009-03-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

24th March 2009

Online research company Hitwise has released the winners of its Online Performance Awards, revealing the most popular Australian websites of 2008.

Across numerous subdivisions within categories including automotive, business and finance, lifestyle, news and media, and sport, Hitwise names the most visited site based the internet usage of approximately 3 million Australians visiting over 140,000 websites.

Following on from the awards last year, new entrants to Australia’s most popular sites include Webjet, which was top of the “Agencies” division within travel, while Toyota was most popular site among “Manufacturers” in automotive. Another new entrant was Fox Sports which had the most viewed site of “Networks and Channels” site within the TV category.

The most popular site for bands and artists was thewiggles.com, while in the food and beverages category coles.com.au topped “Brands and Manufacturers” and taste.com.au was most viewed in “lifestyle and reference”.

The Awards were held at Dalton House in Sydney today. (Credit: B&T)

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Wotif

NineMSN

Sony

Fox Sports

Foxtel

Toyota

beyondblue

OurBrisbane

Google

Yahoo!

Hitwise

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Search Engines

Google, Yahoo! deal gets EU probe - Marketing Magazine

2009-03-24T01:09:00.000-07:00

While news of Google’s attempts to foil its archenemy, Microsoft, from purchasing Yahoo! still lingers, an advertising alliance between the number one search engine with Yahoo! is under review by the European Union competition regulators - this is on top of the existing scrutiny from the US antitrust authorities.

The partnership between the two search engines sees them combine their search advertising systems, which allows Google to sell advertising on Yahoo! in return for a share of the profits.

This means millions of dollars in revenue for Yahoo! and the strengthening of Google’s dominance over the search engine advertising market (a classic case of the biggest getting bigger).

Since the alliance was announced in June the partnership has been criticised heavily by The World Association of Newspapers (WAN), an international organization representing 77 national newspaper associations and over 18,000 newspapers worldwide.

WAN president, Gavin O’Reilly, says the competition that currently exists between Google and Yahoo! is “absolutely essential to ensuring competitive returns for online advertising revenues of its member titles”.

His concerns echo those made last week by the National Association of Advertisers (ANA) in the US.

The ANA, which include huge corporations like Procter & Gamble and General Motors, said that the partnership would result in a 90 percent stranglehold of the search advertising market, severely diminishing competition.

A spokesman for the European Competition Commission, Jonathan Todd, says “In mid-July, we decided to open a preliminary investigation on our own initiative into potential effects of the Google-Yahoo! agreement on competition in the European Economic Area market.”

Even though both corporations said that the partnership would only affect those in the US and Canada, many European media heavyweights believe the deal will have a negative impact on advertising revenues around the globe.

Greg Tingle comment...

Google in the UK is now gambling and online casino friendly! Just like the Australian government, once they get a taste for the revenue, that's it. Bingo!

By the way, what's this I hear about Betfair, PokerStars and PokerNews making the ACMA blacklist of websites? What is about them to be banned? Our Casino News Media is still on the air and The Bingo Affiliates, BetCruise, PartyCasino, William Hill, JackpotCity, PKR, InterCasino and others are still accessible from a computer in Australia, but it may be a matter of time before some of them start being blocked if the word on the street is correct. Virgin Games online isn't always connecting as this is being written. No wonder casino warm bodies and newsagent lotto ticket sales are down. Internet is taking over. Be watching out for more World Casino Directories and Multi Currency Casinos. More news soon from the Media Man. Bingo! Packer and Murdoch, your throw of the dice! Expect a war between Google and Yahoo! for the online gambling market. Google has landed the first strike and they have support from the EU.

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Google may use games to analyse net users

2009-03-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

· Players' behaviour could be used by advertisers
· Tracking idea disturbs privacy campaigners

Internet giant Google has drawn up plans to compile psychological profiles of millions of web users by covertly monitoring the way they play online games.

The company thinks it can glean information about an individuals preferences and personality type by tracking their online behaviour, which could then be sold to advertisers. Details such as whether a person is more likely to be aggressive, hostile or dishonest could be obtained and stored for future use, it says.

The move is intended to customise adverts shown to players of online video games by tailoring them to specific tastes and interests. But it has worried privacy campaigners, who said the implications of compiling and storing such detailed information were "alarming".

Sue Charman of online campaign Open Rights Group said: "I can understand why they are interested in this, but I would be deeply disturbed by a company holding a psychological profile.

"Whenever you have large amounts of information it becomes attractive to people - we've already seen the American federal government going to court over data from companies including Google."

The plans are detailed in a patent filed by Google in Europe and the US last month. It says people playing online role playing games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft would be particularly good to target, because they interact with other players and make decisions that probably reflect their behaviour in real life.

The patent says: "User dialogue (eg from role playing games, simulation games, etc) may be used to characterise the user (eg literate, profane, blunt or polite, quiet etc). Also, user play may be used to characterise the user (eg cautious, risk-taker, aggressive, non-confrontational, stealthy, honest, cooperative, uncooperative, etc)."

The information could be used to make adverts that appear inside the game more "relevant to the user", Google says.

Players who spend a lot of time exploring "may be interested in vacations, so the system may show ads for vacations". And those who spend more time talking to other characters will see adverts for mobile phones.

The patent says Google could also monitor people playing on any game console that hooks up to the internet, including the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's Xbox. It says information could be retrieved from previous game details saved on memory cards: "Such saved information may be thought of state information, and offers a valuable source of information to the advertisers."

Not all the inferences made by monitoring user activity rely on subtle psychological clues, however. "In a car racing game, after a user crashes his Honda Civic, an announcer could be used to advertise by saying 'if he had a Hummer, he would have gotten the better of that altercation', etc," the patent says. And: "If the user has been playing for over two hours continuously, the system may display ads for Pizza Hut, Coke, coffee."

Some web companies already scan online activity such as internet searches and email for keywords in order to display adverts based on basic attributes and behaviours. But the extensive profiles proposed in the patent go some way beyond existing examples. It would be relatively straightforward to combine information sources to put names and addresses to the anonymous profiles, experts said.

When contacted by the Guardian, Google said it did not have any plans to roll out the technology in the near future, and that it was just one of a large number of patents that it has filed in recent months. A spokesman said: "Google registers different patents irrespective of whether we actually intend to use them."

The company, which has built its success on delivering adverts over the internet, spent $23m (£11.5m) this year acquiring a game advertising company called AdScape. The move was seen as part of a broad expansion of its business into other media, including television and radio.

Although using the proposed profiling techniques would require games publishers to actively incorporate Google's technology, industry experts said that games publishers are increasingly looking for new ways to make money.

"Publishers are becoming more like media companies," said Justin Townsend, the chief executive of IGA, an in-game advertising company. "More games are being optimised for advertising." But he said that privacy concerns should be paramount. "Both consumers, publishers and the advertising industry are very aware of privacy issues," he said. "You cannot afford to be vague in these areas."

Booming market

Experts estimate that around $500m (£250m) will be spent on advertising inside games this year, rising to $2bn by 2010. While more straightforward games such as online poker are already hugely profitable, it is predicted that virtual three-dimensional worlds and role-playing games will soon be among the biggest moneyspinners on the net.

One of the biggest titles is the Lord of the Rings-style fantasy game World of Warcraft, which has more than 8 million subscribers worldwide who each pay around £9 per month to take part in the action.

Second Life, an online virtual community which mimics the real world, has more than 5 million registered users and 1.2 million regular visitors. It is famous for allowing its residents to buy and sell virtual goods, or rent "land" inside the game for up to $300 per month.

A recent report by analysts Screen Digest suggests that the market for virtual worlds in the west already surpasses $1bn per year.

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Google matches ads to users' surfing habits - The Sydney Morning Herald - 12th March 2009

2009-03-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

Google will use its surveillance of web surfing habits to figure out which ads are best suited to each individual's interests - a practice likely to illuminate just how much the Internet search leader has been learning about millions of people around the world.

Under the program announced on Wednesday, someone who frequents sites about dogs might see more ads for flea treatment products even when visiting another web destination that has nothing to do with pets.

The tactic relies on technology that Google got last year in a $US3.2 billion acquisition of the Internet ad service DoubleClick. Some of the opposition to the deal revolved around potential privacy intrusions, but Google overcame those misgivings during an extensive review to win regulators' approval for the deal.

The ads, set to debut within the next few weeks, initially will appear on Google's YouTube and thousands of other sites that belong to Google's ad network.

Google is following major rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft that already have been customising ads based on the past activities of specificwWeb browsers. Until now, Google had been tying its ads solely to search requests and the general content on web pages.

Although Yahoo and Microsoft already have been tying ads to people's presumed interests, Google's embrace of this "behavioural" targeting is more troubling to privacy watchdogs.

That is because the company already has used its dominant position in the internet search market to build a huge database of potentially sensitive information about the kinds of things that people are looking for on the web.

Now Google is taking it a step further by tracking people's favorite websites to divine individual tastes and then package ads falling under the same areas of interest. The company intensified its monitoring activity in December when it began putting a sliver of DoubleClick's computer code, called a "cookie," on its advertising partners' websites.

"This is a very serious development," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "I don't think the world's largest search engine should be in the business of profiling people."

Rotenberg is hoping Google's embrace of behavioural targeting prompts the Federal Trade Commission to take another look at the DoubleClick acquisition and perhaps mandate privacy safeguards.

Hoping to avoid a backlash and appease regulators, Google has set up its system so individuals can specify their areas of interest or shun certain forms of advertising at http://www.google.com/ads/preferences.

"We are pleased that our launch of interest-based advertising includes innovative, consumer-friendly features to provide meaningful transparency and choice for our users," Nicole Wong, Google's deputy general counsel, wrote in a Wednesday blog posting.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, applauded Google for creating a "gold standard" that puts the company's stamp on behavioral targeting ads and provides clear explanations on how to avoid them. The group brushed off the criticism of Google's expansion into behavioral targeting as "paroxysms of privacy hysteria."

Google is betting most people will enjoy seeing more ads catering to their interests. In the process, Google is hoping it can boost its revenue, which climbed 31 per cent to nearly $US22 billion last year despite a recession that hammered many of its customers and partners.

Anyone can also opt out of the targeting program, a choice that Google probably realizes the overwhelming majority of people won't take the time to do, said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. Both Yahoo and Microsoft also offer opt-out features.

Echoing a familiar sentiment among consumer activists, Chester believes people should be subjected to behavioral targeting only if they give their explicit permission.

"It would have been nice if Google had taken a stand against behavioural targeting instead of endorsing the model," Chester said. "We are now in an arms race of digital data collection where companies are trying to outdo each other in pursuit of the 21st century's Holy Grail - advertising."

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Online gambling reaches well beyond our shores - ZDNet - 26th July 2001

2009-02-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

With debate raging over the Federal Government's Interactive Gambling Bill and the feasibility of attempting to ban gambling on the Internet, it is worth asking just what level of penetration has so far been achieved by online gaming in the Australian marketplace.

Gambling-related sites, including online gambling, lotto, casino promotion and betting tips, attracted 0.45 percent of Australian Internet traffic for the month of May 2001, a figure that has remained consistent throughout the year. To put this in context, Australians are viewing more gambling content on the Internet than traditional Australian activities like AFL Football Web sites (0.32 percent), and Real Estate Web sites (0.40 percent). The Gambling sub-category is also the second most popular of the 16 'Entertainment' sub-categories behind Television.

Despite the Federal Government's rationale of preventing the creation of a 'casino in every lounge room', Web sites relating to Horse Racing are clearly the most popular destinations in the sector, with the top two sites--www.racetab.com.au and www.tabcorp.com.au--receiving more than 20 percent of all traffic to the category. Sports betting and lottery Web sites dominate the top 20 Gambling Web sites with the most popular of the online casinos--www.casinoonnet.com--ranked fifth with a 3.5 percent share of traffic to the category. The proposed ban on online gambling is therefore unlikely to have a great impact on the composition of the top 20 Web sites in the Hitwise Gambling category.

Overall, almost 40 percent of Australian visits to Gambling Web sites are directed offshore. The large number of Australians already using the Net to access gambling Web sites offshore also indicates the enormity of the task before the Government in its pursuit of overseas operators who offer online gambling services to people within Australia.

Hitwise monitored 346 gambling-related sites throughout May 2001 and less than 100 of these were classified as Australian. The majority of this traffic is captured by the top 20 Web sites. The average visitor to Web sites in the Gambling category over the past week spent 8 mins 23 secs at the site, just above the overall average for Australian Internet traffic of 7 mins 50 secs.

The who and when of online gambling?

The busiest day of the week for the category is Saturday, when almost one quarter of the total weekly traffic to Gambling Web sites is received, coinciding with major Horse Racing meetings and 'leisure time' for most Australians.

Hitwise demographic analysis of the online gambling audience indicates that men make up 63 percent of all visits to the category, with the majority of visits being from 25-44 year olds. In terms of the Web sites visited before and after Gambling, Hitwise Click Stream data for the week ending 16 June shows that the majority of Gambling traffic arrives via Web sites in the Entertainment or Sport categories as well as from other gambling-related Web sites.

Search Engines and directories deliver 11 percent of traffic to the Gambling category, well below the average for all Web sites of 23 per cent.

Click Stream data for individual Web sites also shows a clear delineation between casino and sports betting sites. For example, the top Web site visited before www.casinoonnet.com is www.jackpot.com, whilst the top Web site visited before www.racetab.com.au is www.tabcorp.com.au. This indicates that there are two distinct groups of punters online, with the flow of traffic to sports-based betting Web sites unlikely to be affected by the proposed ban. (Credit: ZDNet)

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The Top 10 - Gambling

2009-02-04T04:09:00.000-08:00

The Hitwise Top 10 "Entertainment -- Gambling" sites for the week ending Jan. 24, 2009 (based on visits):

Australia

1. (10.26%) TAB Racing (VIC) - www.tabracing.com.au
2. (8.88%) TABOnline - www.tabonline.com.au
3. (7.07%) Golden Casket Lottery Corporation - www.goldencasket.com
4. (4.99%) Tattersall's - www.tattersalls.com.au
5. (4.63%) Tabcorp Wagering - www.tab.com.au
6. (4.47%) Tattersall's Lotteries Online - www.lotto.tatts.com
7. (3.83%) TABOzbet - www.ozbet.com.au
8. (3.53%) Lotterywest - www.lottery.wa.gov.au
9. (3.38%) Betfair - www.betfair.com
10. (2.27%) Ozlotteries.com - www.ozlotteries.com

Hong Kong

1. (47.58%) Hong Kong Jockey Club - Bets - bet.hkjc.com
2. (23.26%) HKJC Football Betting Limited - bet.hkjc.com/football
3. (15.44%) The Hong Kong Jockey Club - www.hkjc.com
4. (3.17%) News.7m.cn - news.7m.cn
5. (1.43%) Macau Slot - www.macauslot.com
6. (0.83%) Football.orisun.com - football.on.cc
7. (0.63%) New Star - www.nn1111.com
8. (0.52%) Star Soccer - www.star728.com
9. (0.42%) ET007.com - bf.bet007.com
10. (0.36%) Venice - www.vv2222.com

Singapore

1. (36.66%) Singapore Pools - www.singaporepools.com.sg
2. (8.07%) Sport Bookie Online - www.sbobet.com
3. (6.29%) IBC bet - www.ibcbet.com
4. (6.11%) AsianBookie.com - www.asianbookie.com
5. (4.23%) AsianBookie Forums - forum.asianbookie.com
6. (3.80%) Singapore Turf Club - www.turfclub.com.sg
7. (3.79%) Freelotto - www.freelotto.com
8. (3.31%) PoolzConnect - Singapore Pools - poolzconnect.singaporepools.com.sg
9. (2.04%) Ladbrokes.com - www.ladbrokes.com
10. (1.96%) 7M.cn - www.7m.cn

United Kingdom

1. (13.27%) The National Lottery - www.national-lottery.co.uk
2. (6.79%) Betfair - www.betfair.com
3. (6.42%) Ladbrokes.com - www.ladbrokes.com
4. (4.10%) King.com - www.king.com
5. (3.53%) William Hill Sportsbook - www.willhill.com
6. (3.00%) Racing Post Online - www.racingpost.co.uk
7. (2.45%) Bet365 - www.bet365.com
8. (2.42%) Gala Bingo - www.gala-bingo.co.uk
9. (2.13%) Paddy Power Bookmaker - www.paddypower.com
10. (1.77%) tombola - www.tombola.co.uk

United States

1. (6.06%) Florida Lottery - www.flalottery.com
2. (4.56%) NY Lottery - www.nylottery.org
3. (4.38%) FreeSlots - www.freeslots.com
4. (3.71%) Pennsylvania Lottery - www.palottery.state.pa.us
5. (3.57%) Texas Lottery Commission - www.txlottery.org
6. (3.06%) Powerball - www.powerball.com
7. (2.49%) Ohio Lottery - www.ohiolottery.com
8. (2.25%) California Lottery - www.calottery.com
9. (2.12%) Illinois Lottery - www.illinoislottery.com
10. (1.98%) Virginia Lottery - www.valottery.com

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Google News Profile Updated

2009-01-24T23:25:00.001-08:00

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Hitwise releases its UK Online Gambling Report

2009-01-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

July 2005

Do opportunities still exist to acquire customers through affiliate marketing? How important are search and email marketing to gambling websites? What is the demographic make-up of gambling websites and how does this differ for different types of gambling?

The recently released Hitwise UK Online Gambling Report contains the answers to all of these questions and many more. To request your complimentary copy of the report, click here.

Some key insights from the report include:

There is a clear skew toward international sites for poker and casinos. Fewer than 1 in 5 visits to poker websites and 1 in 15 visits to casino websites are to domestic sites. By contrast, nearly 19 in every 20 visits to sport betting sites are to domestic sites. This is likely a result of the tendency for punters to bet on local teams and events.

Online gambling is a highly competitive market with gamblers moving among casino, poker and sport betting sites. For example, more potential gamblers reach casino sites from poker sites than from other casino sites.

Gambling sites receive a smaller share of visits from search than average for the internet. Among gambling sites, lotteries receive the largest share of visits from search, with about one quarter of visits coming from search engines. However, these sites receive 13% fewer visits from search than average for the internet.

Bingo, casinos, and lotteries receive about 9% of visits from web-based email services, such as MSN Mail and Yahoo! Mail. This is about 70% more visits from email than average for the internet.

Among the top five casino sites, there was an average 77% gap in the sites sending visits to each site in the month of May 2005. A gap is defined as a site that sends one site visits but not another. On average fewer than 1 in 4 sites sending visits to casino sites overlap. Gambling sites rely heavily on affiliates for traffic and so this gap is an important indication of the opportunities that exist to grow market share.

Similarly, there is a large gap in the search terms sending visits to lottery sites. In the twelve weeks ending 18 June 2005, there was an average 95% gap in the search terms sending visits to lottery sites. This means that either these lottery sites were not bidding on or optimised to receive visits from 95% of terms that were sending visits to their competitor's site.

Gambling sites on average appeal more to men than to women. Compared with the profile of visits to all internet sites, the Hitwise Gambling category attracts 8% fewer visits from female users. Sport betting holds particular appeal to men, with 3 in 5 visits from men. By contrast, bingo sites attract more visits from female users, with nearly 3 in 5 visits coming from women. (Credit: Hitwise)

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